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An old co-worker of mine used to do "racy" pinup photos on the side under his own name. He was told to remove it by our employer (didn't fit our company image)

An old co-worker of mine used to do "racy" pinup photos on the side under his own name. He was told to remove it by our employer (didn't fit our company image) which he complied. If he had used a different name or a pen name for his photography, he probably would have continued doing it. I guess you can't really do that with standup comedy since your face and voice are clearly visible and audible.

codetrotter 3y ago
> If he had used a different name or a pen name for his photography, he probably would have continued doing it. I mean. Maybe he did, and he wisened up this time and didn't tell anyone about it after he picked a new name to continue doing it under.
chongli 3y ago
You can do comedy under different faces and voices. Put on a mask or clown makeup and make wacky voices. Some voice actors and impressionists are so good they can do completely different voices from their own. You’d never be able to tell!
- hgomersall 3y ago
  I've seen one guy do two different routines, once dressed in ski gear (goggles and all), the other dressed as an iguana (if I recall correctly). I'm either case he was unrecognisable, though I suspect his voice was the same.
- ben_w 3y ago
  Yes, Randy Feltface comes to mind, but that's an extra skill in addition to needing to be good at comedy.
- alamortsubite 3y ago
  See also Murray Langston, who kept his identity a secret for a long time on the Gong Show as The Unknown Comic. He was a hit, too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unknown_Comic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unknown_Comic
brandall10 3y ago
A former coworker was a standup for a few years prior to transitioning to software dev and continued to do it on the side. We got on pretty well while pairing and after a few weeks he let me know his secret under the condition that I couldn't let anyone on the team know. His concern really was having HR getting wind of this and scouring the internet for material.

codetrotter 3y ago

> If he had used a different name or a pen name for his photography, he probably would have continued doing it. I mean. Maybe he did, and he wisened up this time and didn't tell anyone about it after he picked a new name to continue doing it under.

chongli 3y ago

You can do comedy under different faces and voices. Put on a mask or clown makeup and make wacky voices. Some voice actors and impressionists are so good they can do completely different voices from their own. You’d never be able to tell!

hgomersall 3y ago
I've seen one guy do two different routines, once dressed in ski gear (goggles and all), the other dressed as an iguana (if I recall correctly). I'm either case he was unrecognisable, though I suspect his voice was the same.
ben_w 3y ago
Yes, Randy Feltface comes to mind, but that's an extra skill in addition to needing to be good at comedy.
alamortsubite 3y ago
See also Murray Langston, who kept his identity a secret for a long time on the Gong Show as The Unknown Comic. He was a hit, too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unknown_Comic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unknown_Comic

brandall10 3y ago

A former coworker was a standup for a few years prior to transitioning to software dev and continued to do it on the side. We got on pretty well while pairing and after a few weeks he let me know his secret under the condition that I couldn't let anyone on the team know. His concern really was having HR getting wind of this and scouring the internet for material.