“You are so funny! You should be in comedy.” How many times have you heard that from your friends, family, or yourself? You always have a witty comeback for your friends’ playful disses. Your mom brags to all her co-workers that they all wish they had children as funny as hers. And quite frankly, there are times you find yourself chuckling at the things that run through your mind. The conclusion is obvious: You either have an over glorified sense of self-worth or you are destined for a career in comedy…or both.

But how do you do it? Cracking your buddies up at the lunch table is one thing but how do you take your role as Anytown High School’s class clown and turn it into a living? You could start by visiting NashvilleStandUp.com. The site was founded in 2000 by Andrew Sullivan and is now successfully maintained by the self-proclaimed “America’s Favorite Comedian of All Time,” Chad Riden.

From the beginning, Nashville Stand Up aimed to showcase the local comedy scene and bring attention to comics working in or native to Nashville and experiencing success in places like New York or L.A. At the site’s debut, Riden had “created on-site profiles for active local comics, listed upcoming shows, started a mailing list, began writing semi-regular newsletters, and set up a forum where Nashville-based comics and fans could screw around while on the clock at work.”

Since then, Nashville Stand Up (or N’Sup, as it is affectionately dubbed by Riden) has grown into Nashville’s top website for comedy. Not only does it supply comedians and fans with information about who is performing where, but it also provides a network of people who share their passion for forcing other people to listen to their jokes. New comics can find numerous people with which to collaborate on projects, shows, and their acts. According to Riden, when you’re starting out, “Ninety percent of the stage time you get is from your comedian buddies hooking you up with shows. I’ve tried to make it easier for comics to meet and group up with people with the same comedic sensibility and still be a part of a larger, all-inclusive thing that promotes everything everybody is doing.” Many corporate events, private parties, random bar shows, and the occasional sleazy hook up are booked through the the N’Sup site as well, which means comedians plugged into it have the potential to get performance opportunities they might otherwise have missed.

Nashville Stand Up certainly comes as a breath of fresh air in a city where most other entertainment outlets focus solely on Taylor Swift…err, I mean music. Even publications such as The Scene and Metromix tend to lump their comedy features on the last few pages, along with magic shows and Bigfoot sightings.  “Nashville is called ‘Music City’,” Riden notes. “We’ve been working to get that changed to ‘Comedy Town’, ‘Chuckleberg’, or ‘Wackyville’ but the city council has largely ignored our requests.” N’Sup caters not only to aspiring comedians, but to those people who don’t have DVRs and actually want to go see a live show. Riden believes live comedy is a niche, quite different from comedy seen on TV. But it is for those rare breeds who get a rush from the suspense of waiting to see if someone will forget their lines. “We list all of the live shows in middle Tennessee and try to write up anything relevant to our local scene. We make it easy for comedy fans to find the comics around Nashville. We also promote nationally touring acts coming to town and work to bring comics here who otherwise weren’t planning on a Nashville stop.”

While he fully endorses time spent perusing Nashville Stand Up, Riden doesn’t feel aspiring comics should waste too much time promoting themselves online. While up and coming comedians need to have a place on the World Wide Web where potential fans can readily access them, they need to be mindful not to neglect their act in favor of creating a flashy website. “It is often said that comics who are the best at marketing themselves have the weakest acts. Are you [spending time] writing new jokes or screwing around online?” Still, Riden believes new acts should not underestimate social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. He also recommends joining ComedySoapBox.com and RoadComics.com, which are more comedy-centered. These networks allow comics to develop a fan base, promote shows, and get tips from those more experienced than themselves.

So what is the best advice Chad Riden has for someone crazy enough to attempt a career in comedy? “Get on stage as often as possible. Write every day. Live as learn as possible. While comedy classes and books are essential for learning effective joke structure and character development, the only way to genuinely enhance yourself as a comic is to perform.” Riden advises new and old comers alike to attend other comedy shows when they are not performing their own. “You can learn a lot from watching others.”

The thing that separates those who merely go through the motions and eventually burn out, and those who continue to grow and evolve as performers, is the persistence to keep writing new material and improving upon the old. Everyone can poke fun at Lindsay Lohan, and most of us do. But if you want to move ahead in comedy, you need to be able to write about things that make you unique. You need to be able to get personal and write about you. Maybe not as personal as your body positioning during your last visit to the gynecologist, but a good bikini wax story is always funny. Riden says it takes years to perfect, but “when you’re writing things from a specific, recognizable point of view, then you’ve got an act.” Aspiring comedians also need to be sure they are writing bookable material. Excessive profanity and toilet humor will not get you booked at a comedy club. Not that racy sex jokes aren’t entertaining (and sometimes even arousing), but they’re a dime a dozen. If you want to get your foot in the door, it is imperative that you are able to solicit laughter from the audience with clean bits.

If you are really, truly serious about turning your passion for comedy into a sustainable career, Riden offers some financial advice. “If you want to do comedy for a living, you should know that it does not pay well for a very long time. When you’re ready to go on the road, material items will only slow you down. All you need is a laptop, a cell phone, a reliable, fuel-efficient car, a notebook, and some clothes. Prepare to be a nomad. Don’t buy a house. Don’t buy DVDs. Don’t buy anything. Save your money.” Economists will hate you but they don’t have much of an appreciation for comedy anyway.

For more information on Nashville comedy, check out NashvilleStandUp.com or their affiliate site for group comedy acts, NashvilleComedy.com. To track America’s Favorite Comedian of All Time, visit ChadRiden.com.