Comedy & Voice Acting

Making people laugh and giving characters a voice: stand-up, sketch, late-night writing, cartoon and video-game voices, dubbing, and motion capture.

Top pay: highest pay, longest training

• Headlining Touring Comedian: Tours theaters and arenas with their own hour of comedy, often with specials on streaming. Typical pay $250k.
• Comedy Writer (TV / Late Night): Writes jokes, sketches, and scripts for sitcoms, late-night shows, and sketch shows. Typical pay $130k.
• Network Promo / Trailer Voice: Is the signature voice of a TV network or movie trailers ('In a world...'). Typical pay $150k.
• Late-Night Talk Show Host: Hosts a talk show with monologues, interviews, and comedy bits. Typical pay $500k.

Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship

• Voice Director / Casting: Casts and directs voice actors for animation, games, and audiobooks. Typical pay $80k.
• Joke Writer: Writes jokes for comedians, talk show hosts, award shows, and punches up scripts. Typical pay $85k.
• Humor & Satire Writer: Writes satirical news, humor essays, and comedic articles. Typical pay $60k.
• Comedy Club Manager: Runs a comedy club: shows, staff, ticket sales, and food. Typical pay $60k.

Starter: fastest way in

• Stand-Up Comedian: Writes and performs jokes live in front of audiences. Typical pay $30k.
• Improv Performer / Teacher: Performs unscripted comedy and teaches improv classes. Typical pay $30k.
• Sketch Comedy Performer: Writes and performs short comedy scenes on stage, TV, or online. Typical pay $35k.
• Audience Warm-Up Comedian: Keeps TV studio audiences laughing and energized between takes of sitcoms and talk shows. Typical pay $45k.
• Comedy Club Booker: Picks and schedules the comedians who perform at comedy clubs and festivals, watching sets, booking headliners, and building nightly lineups. Typical pay $48k.
• Voice Actor (Animation): Voices characters in animated TV shows and movies. Typical pay $50k.
• Video Game Voice Actor: Voices characters in video games, including combat sounds and branching dialogue. Typical pay $45k.
• Commercial Voice-Over Artist: Records voices for TV and radio ads, explainer videos, and corporate training. Typical pay $50k.
• Loop Group Actor: Records background crowd voices ('walla') and small lines added to films in post-production. Typical pay $30k.
• Dubbing Actor: Records English voices for foreign films, anime, and shows, matching the original lip movements. Typical pay $35k.
• Motion Capture Performer: Acts in a sensor suit so their movements and faces drive digital characters in games and films. Typical pay $50k.
• Comedy Podcaster: Hosts a comedy podcast, earning from ads, subscriptions, and live tapings. Typical pay $30k.
• Sound-Alike Voice Actor: Imitates famous actors' voices for toys, games, and fixes when the star is unavailable. Typical pay $45k.
• Corporate & E-Learning Voice Talent: Records voiceovers for training videos, phone systems, apps, and explainer videos. Typical pay $40k.
• Event Emcee: Hosts conferences, galas, and live events, keeping the program running. Typical pay $45k.
• Voice Acting Coach: Teaches people how to break into voiceover and improve their performances. Typical pay $45k.

Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.