In the nation’s capital Alex worked as a Legislative Intern for a Congresswoman and then a non-profit. But without a trust fund it is not easy to live in Washington and do such jobs for a long time. This drove Alex to private practice and from 1994 to 1996 he was an Associate in the DC office of then Anderson Kill Olick & Oshinsky. While at Anderson Kill he worked on cases involving coverage for Celetex for asbestos liabilities, Dow Corning for breast implants and a variety of hazardous waste claims.

Unfortunately, Alex wasn’t involved in stand-up during his Anderson Kill days. So my hopes of learning that he was telling jokes about the continuous trigger or pollution exclusion were dashed.

Alex’s days as a coverage lawyer were short-lived. He spent the next twelve years doing plaintiffs’ class action work in DC and New York. He became involved in stand-up in 2004 but not with any sort of professional devotion. He did what many upstart stand-up comics do – take classes, do shows where you have to bring your own audience, perform at open mics and just try to get any stage-time you can.

Next came 2008, the financial crisis and struggles for many law firms. The New York office of his firm that he was managing closed. At age 41 and out of a job, Alex took the opportunity to throw himself into stand-up comedy. He was single so this was easier than it might have been. To pay the bills he landed a job with the New York City Law Department as a Special Assistant Corporation Counsel. He still holds this position today, where he handles litigation involving New York City water, sewer, and roadway infrastructure, as well as civil rights claims. The benefit of working for the City’s Law Department was that, unlike a litigator in private practice, he had his nights and weekends free and a predictable schedule.

For the next four years Alex went full speed ahead into stand-up comedy. It was during this period that he went from someone who dabbles in stand-up to a true stand-up comic. He performed at clubs and colleges nationally and made the contacts needed to succeed. Part of his success came from something as simple as a willingness (that others didn’t have) to rent a car to do gigs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and other places that were inaccessible to comics in NYC without cars – which was just about all of them.

Alex married and his son was born in 2011. Once again a major life change called for a response in his stand-up career. Tired of the grind of the road and with the need to spend time at home, Alex has now turned to producing stand-up comedy shows. He currently produces four different shows at Gotham Comedy Club in New York City. Gotham isn’t just any club. It is one of the most prestigious in the country.

This is where it was easy to see that Alex is a really smart guy and understands the business of comedy. There are a lot of funny comics. But the vast majority can’t make a living at it. For most, stand-up comedy does not offer a middle class, Alex explained. Comics either live in abject poverty or achieve superstardom.

But understanding how difficult it can be to fill seats in a club, Alex doesn’t just produce the typical stand-up show that includes a few comics each doing a set of whatever it may be. He produces shows with themes. His shows are designed to appeal to a certain audience. By offering comedy that the audience can relate to, they have more of a reason to attend.

He produces “Glass Half Full” – A reminder that even when things seem like they’re at their worst, there are still plenty of things to provide laughter and joy.

“The Diversity Show” -- Bringing people together one joke at a time. Three comedians – an Indian, an African-American and a white Jewish male seek to break down racial and ethnic barriers through laughter. Alex is Jewish and married to an African-American woman (who converted to Judaism) and this plays a large part in his comedy.

“Dads of Comedy” – A comical view of fatherhood.

“Comedians at Law” – This is a comedy group that Alex co-founded and, as the name suggests, it is made up of lawyer stand-up comics. The group performs nationally. There are currently eight members of Comedians at Law (half in NY and half in LA/Phoenix). The material is definitely not all lawyer jokes. The extent of lawyer/legal humor varies by comedian and venue. In other words, more lawyer humor is used at a show for a bar association or law school.

Alex has been featured in numerous media, including The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post and CNN.com. He has much bigger plans for stand-up comedy – both performing and producing. But his hard work, intelligence, understanding of the business of comedy and willingness to rent a car have all put him on the right path.

But Alex it’s never too late to go back to insurance coverage. Read a few cases about trigger and allocation and it’ll be like you never left. And I bet that Celotex asbestos issues are still floating around.

I wish Alex Barnett all the success in the world.

More about Alex Barnett here: http://www.alexbarnettcomic.com

More about “Comedians at Law” here: http://www.comediansatlaw.com

And lots of clips of Alex’s stand-up on You Tube.