Private and corporate buyers book a set they can trust with their guests, so the clean version of your act has to be written, tested and timed before anyone pays for it. Learn what each buyer means by clean, build the set at the lengths events ask for, test it in mixed rooms, and keep the proof.
Where you are, the tests for the next stop, and the steps between, in the order most comics take them. The steps are the Career Field Manual's; mark each one as you go, and the day goes in your passport.
These are the tests the next stop’s buyers set in their own published rules. Tick each one when it’s true for you.
0 of 4 true
15 steps in 4 parts, from the Career Field Manual. Each has its “done when”, a D.O.C. tool for it, and your status, note and target date; star up to twelve for your 90-day plan.
From the Career Field Manual: Choose your starting point and Explore specialty markets. In the D.O.C. book: topics 1–20, 435–455, 132–142 and 143–173.
Choose your starting point · start-04
Done when Three audience descriptions, not follower counts.
Explore specialty markets · specialty-01
Write down what clean means at a club’s clean night and what it means at a client’s event: the second often rules out subjects as well as words.
Done when Two clearly defined content policies.
From the Career Field Manual: Grow the act without padding and Write original material. In the D.O.C. book: topics 51–70, 115–131, 435–455 and 21–50.
Grow the act without padding · set-02
A clean version is a real set, not the club set with the words bleeped: rebuild each bit on its real idea, or replace it.
Done when An actual timed set, not censored placeholders.
Grow the act without padding · set-03
Done when A ten-minute recording and notes.
Grow the act without padding · set-04
Done when Two usable opening and closing choices.
Write original material · write-07
Done when A shorter version that still closes clearly.
Grow the act without padding · set-05
Events often want a longer set than a club spot; grow the clean version toward that length, one tested piece at a time.
Done when A recording that shows pacing across the act.
From the Career Field Manual: Become the comic rooms trust and Build a repetition habit. In the D.O.C. book: topics 400–434, 96–114 and 415–434.
Become the comic rooms trust · pro-02
Ask each room for its content rule before the set, and write it down: rooms and clients set different limits.
Done when A note for rooms with different expectations.
Build a repetition habit · reps-01
Done when Venue, date, minutes, set and room notes.
Build a repetition habit · reps-03
Done when The findings you choose to act on.
Build a repetition habit · reps-04
Done when Two versions and the reason for the change.
Build a repetition habit · reps-05
Take the clean set to rooms with mixed ages and strangers, not only your home mic: a clean showcase, a community night, an early show.
Done when Two-room comparison rather than one verdict.
Become the comic rooms trust · pro-05
Done when Consistent finish times over several sets.
From the Career Field Manual: Explore specialty markets. In the D.O.C. book: topics 132–142 and 143–173.
Explore specialty markets · specialty-02
Done when A live recording of the specific clean set.
Explore specialty markets · specialty-03
Count only the clean minutes that have held a real audience; that number is what you can sell.
Done when A proven runtime, not an optimistic estimate.
Habits, not a timetable: the atlas has no stopwatch. Keep these going, and the proof for this stop builds up week by week.
Each buyer's published rule, quoted from its own page, checked on 10 November 2026. They differ, so send each one what its page asks for, and read the page again before you send.
Not all its shows are clean, but many are clean or PG-13, and the video you send it should hold no explicit language or content.
Not all our shows are clean.
many shows are clean or PG-13 (naughty not vulgar)
No explicit language or content.
Funny Girl Events’s page ↗ · checked 10 November 2026
It sorts acts into four content lanes, from family-friendly to mature adult, so a client’s kind of show can be matched to the act. A lane describes the content, not the comic’s talent; its clean adult lane is PG-13, with minimal profanity.
Lanes describe content range and expectations — not talent level.
Lane 2: Clean Adult
Minimal profanity
Wild Hair Entertainment’s page ↗ · checked 10 November 2026
Clean shows at venues public and private, where how clean depends on the venue, and where clean alone isn’t enough: the material has to suit a high-end show.
The spots require clean sets, with various degrees of clean depending upon the venue
We’re selling high-end shows.
So just being clean isn’t enough.
The Ivy League of Comedy’s page ↗ · checked 10 November 2026
Places that publish how a clean comic gets in, each checked on 10 November 2026. Save one to your booking desk to keep its status, a follow-up date and a note. 62 places in all, on the Career Atlas →
Published routeNationwide · Clean comedy · Form
Its comedian form, the first step to booking gigs with the clean-comedy network; producers have a form of their own.
Worth knowing. Joining the network doesn’t promise a date or a fee.
Checked 10 November 2026Published routeOklahoma City and Tulsa, OK, and its other clubs · Club spots · Form
What it looks for in a paid MC, before you apply: a clean 10–15 minute set, no worse than PG-13 even when the headliner works dirty, and a comic who’s easy to work with, polite to staff, sober on stage and keen to learn the MC announcements.
Worth knowing. Its page calls MCing a difficult position that sets the tone of the night, and not for everyone.
Checked 10 November 2026Published routeSoutheastern Virginia and beyond · Show / roster · Form
A form to join its list of comics asked for availability: your experience, a bio and a link to a 5–10 minute performance clip.
Worth knowing. Being on an availability list isn’t an offer of work.
Checked 10 November 2026None of the buyers on this page publishes a fee, and a test set may pay nothing at all. What you need at this stop are answers: what clean means to this buyer, for this audience, at this length.
Ask before you promise a clean setQuestions to ask before you say yes · Road Maps: the Math of a Gig, with your own numbers · Get Paid, Get Back: the deal in writing · The IRS on gig work ↗
Fill in what you know once: it fills every note below and stays on this device. Anything left blank shows in [brackets], to fill in by hand.
1. Who's in the audience: what ages, and do they know each other? 2. What does clean mean for this event: no profanity, or no adult subjects as well? 3. Are there topics you'd like left alone? 4. How long is my set, and when do I go on? 5. Is crowd work welcome, or would you rather I didn't? 6. Is there a microphone, and someone who can adjust the sound? 7. May I record my set for my own use?
Subject: A clean set for [The show] Hi [The host's name], I'm [Your name], a stand-up from [Your home town]. I'm testing the clean version of my act, [Your clean set's length, in minutes] minutes, and [The show] has the mixed audience I'd like to try it on. A recent clip: [Your clip's link] I'm free [The dates you can do]. Thank you, [Your name]
[Your name]'s clean set runs [Your clean set's length, in minutes] minutes: [Your style, in a few words]. No profanity, and no adult subjects. It has been tested in front of [The rooms where you've tested it]. It suits [Who it suits].
CLEAN SET: [Your clean set's length, in minutes] minutes Open: [Your opener] Close: [Your closer] Cut first if the time runs short: [The bit to cut first] Topics this client asked me to leave alone: [The topics to leave alone]
Tick each piece when you have it: the day goes in your passport with it. The passport keeps your whole career's record on this device, to download, print and review once a year.
Nothing yet: your status changes and ticks appear here, each with its day.
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The buyers' rules are quoted from each buyer's own page, checked on 10 November 2026. A buyer can change its rules at any time, so read its page before you send anything.
By D.O.C. Editorial. This is one stop of the Stand-Up Career Atlas: private & corporate, stop 1 of 5. It's a way to plan, not a promise of bookings: it gives no expected years, its only figures are the ones buyers and venues publish on their own pages, and the buyers' rules are theirs. For what a buyer means by clean, read How do you write a clean comedy set?.
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