Home > It's Always Funny In Austin > Archives > 2012 > January > 31 > Entry
Sorry, did you say something? I was thinking about Cameron Fielder
Cassie Wright photo
I love comics with initiative. Guys like John Ramsey who not only are funny on stage, but come up with awesome side projects.
Of course, not everyone is that industrious, but it’s cool to watch comics apply their humor skills to different endeavors.
Which brings me to Cameron Fielder. Not only does he have a master’s in creative writing, Fielder made the finals in last year’s Funniest Person in Austin contest. And he’s recently launched a side business in greeting cards.
That might seem like a weird mix, but Fielder manages to translate what works in a comedy club into card form. Here’s a taste:
Funny, right? His cards are now carried in a handful of local stores, including Cream Vintage, Monkey See Monkey Do and Atown, and he’s branching outside the area as well.
We chatted a bit about the new endeavor. Why greeting cards? What gave you the idea? My girlfriend was having trouble with her boss at work and it kind of seemed like she was getting thrown under the bus by somebody she considered a friend. For some reason, the idea of a card with a drawing of a cute cow on the front and the words “Holy Cow!” and on the inside the same cow taking a gross dump above the words “What a (terrible) thing you did. I expected more from you, but can’t remember why now.” I drew the most basic little sketch of that card and stayed up all night making up others. I named the imaginary company Marginal Sentiments because I wanted to make cards for situations that people don’t associate with greeting cards; some of the earliest ones I can remember making up were “Sorry that thing I said seemed racist” and “Our first date was awkward but not so awkward that I wouldn’t consider going on another.” I never actually made those cards and decided to go in a different direction by actually making birthday and holiday cards, but kept the name because I still think it’s pretty fitting for what I’m doing and because I like having a company name that’s self-deprecating. It’s kind of novel. I’d love to see a restaurant called Terrible Chicken. You’d probably eat there. “They must have some great chicken if they’re confident enough to name their restaurant Terrible Chicken.” I also like that the name doesn’t sound badass. In fact, it’s a really blah sounding name, like if you’re not paying attention it just sounds like a line of Hallmark cards. So to actually answer your question, it was a fluke, but it turned out with my background in writing and comedy, the greeting card is a perfect medium. You get a set-up and a punch, and subject matter mainly concerned with aging (aka dying), religion, relationships. Also, I like how people give you money for them. How did you go about selling them? What’s the response been like? I sold some to people at work, and I’m still really grateful for the encouragement they gave me back when I was hand-drawing each card on computer paper and coloring with crayon. The cards have evolved aesthetically, I’ve gotten them into three stores around Austin. I just walked in. I also cold called stores all around the country and asked if I could send them samples. That’s how I got them into a record store in Cincinnati and some hip artsy store in Boise. I think people really like them. They’ve sold well everywhere I’ve placed them. The orders have gotten bigger and more frequent and I just sent off 12 of one design to the store in Boise, because a woman came in and bought all of them and said she was going to come back and get the rest. That’s heartening. It validates my feeling that my people are out there. I face more failure than successes, but people that like them seem to love them. I’ve had to fight against some card-selling orthodoxy. When I first show managers my cards, one of the first things they say is that’d be great if I had more birthday cards or holiday cards, but when they see that the non-event, random cards sell so well, they don’t bring it up again. It reminds me of this old Deep Thoughts from SNL that goes: “It makes me mad when I go to all the trouble of having Marta cook up about a hundred drumsticks, then the guy at the Marineland says, ‘You can’t throw chicken to the dolphins. They eat fish.’ Sure they eat fish, if that’s all you give them. Man, wise up.” So I feel like trying to expand consists of getting Marineland employees to understand that some dolphins like chicken. That being said, the people at Monkey See Monkey Do on South Congress have been amazing allies, and seem to understand where I’m coming from. They were the first store to sell the cards and I can’t seem to make a card too silly or perverse for them to sell. And in general Austin is a good place for a thirty-year-old man to hand color greeting cards and not catch any flack. Well, other than from (Austin comedian) Andrew Tompkins. You’ve got a master’s in creative writing, right? Has the job market gotten that bad? Was that a joke? I think that was a joke. Well, I’ll go ahead and answer the question given the slim chance that you’re asking it seriously. Remember that joke you tell about video game controllers and masters degrees in English? I did a joke once or twice about how I’m grateful for the terrible economy because it’s better than attributing my failures to incompetence. There’s some truth in that. I have a BA in philosophy and an MFA in creative writing. They’re not the most useful degrees in the world, but I think I would be doing the same if I’d gotten them in econ or business. I haven’t applied to any real jobs. Not after undergrad and not after grad school. I don’t know how that stuff works. Sometimes I get inspired to find a real job but just end up scanning through Craigslist postings for flower delivery men and pre-school teachers. I don’t think comedians are the most pragmatic bunch. It’s hard for a lot of us to do stuff. And that’s funny. I lived in Korea for a year teaching English. There’s a lot of humor when you’re bumbling and can’t work your washing machine or use the utensils properly or buy deodorant. I think that’s kind of what comedians are like, but all the time and in our own countries. I love the idea of pulling myself out of debt and squalor with the least practical thing imaginable, because what’s less practical than selling hand-colored greeting cards? I’ve understood my whole life that I’m free to do what I want, but in an abstract kind of way. Making and selling these cards has allowed me to actually feel that freedom. Like, “Oh, I really can do whatever I want and nobody’s going to come and stop me.” It’s really beautiful. You had an impressive foray into the Austin comedy scene, landing in the FPIA finals your first year. What got you into standup? Thanks. I’d wanted to be a comedian since I was really young, like first or second grade, like when we had assignments about what you want to be when you grow up I said comedian and drew a stick figure on stage and circles for the audience. It was never athlete or astronaut. It seems weird from this vantage point, realizing how short six years actually is, that this ambition crystallized after being alive such a short time. My dad communicates in jokes and is loud and my mom is also really funny. Maybe that was just the best way to communicate. I finally got on stage when I was 21 and still in college. I worked at a cafe in Berkeley where they had a weekly open mic. That was my introduction to that world. I did it off and on for about a year or so, not too seriously. A few times every few weeks. I was out of the country for a year and a half and then was in Phoenix for four years, so maybe did ten open mics over all that time, mainly in LA when I was home visiting my parents. So coming to Austin did feel like I was starting over at comedy. I was brand new in a way, but also had been thinking up bits over all that time. It’s hard for me to say how long I’ve done stand-up. I did my first open mic over ten years ago, but have probably only done it for like two years.
Comments
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By Lynette
January 31, 2012 10:46 AM | Link to this
Wow. This is awesome, and so inspiring. Cameron is one of my favorite comics, and it doesn’t surprise me that he’s now having success using his humor in this way…too cool. Makes me REALLY want to look outside my “real” job. Great article.
By Bryson
January 31, 2012 11:26 AM | Link to this
Great stuff. Enjoyed the article. Keep going.
By Derek
January 31, 2012 3:32 PM | Link to this
Nice!
By Nancy Fielder
February 1, 2012 11:32 PM | Link to this
That’s my boy. John, or Cameron, you are one of a kind. You have always been funny, even as a very little boy. Not only are you funny, you are very thought-provoking. What an honor for you to be interviewed for this article. I loved the article.
By Emily Wakefield
February 2, 2012 8:54 AM | Link to this
Good article and great exposure for an upcoming comedian and artist. We proud to say we knew you “back in the day”.
By Jerry
February 2, 2012 10:14 PM | Link to this
Do I know you? Your humor is familiar.