Today we’d like to introduce you to Bill Boronkay.
Bill, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was moving up the ranks in television sportscasting. When the career stalled, took a stand up comedy workshop and fell in love with it. Started performing on the side, eventually going full time and moving from Cleveland to NJ.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Similar to the tv journey, there’s no real right or wrong way to do this. Good/bad are subjective, which is freeing and horrifying. You may think something’s brilliant and the crowd just stares at you (their silence tells you they disagree).
New ideas often fail but that doesn’t mean they wont turn out great. At first it could fall flat because you’re so busy trying to remember the words you wrote that it doesn’t come across as real…or it could be bad.
May not be the right crowd for something.
Also can take a long time to “Find your voice,” which sounds made up, but the way I do things, I want to be the same on stage as off, which oddly takes work.
The other challenges are getting booked. So many comedians competing for limited opportunities. Social media followers have become more important for bookers than ever.
OK, now it sounds like I’m whining.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a nationally touring stand up comedian. Perform mostly clean, soft R/PG13 but take pride in being able to adjust to most situations. I work clubs, corporate events, colleges, cruises, churches, theaters and prisons. Hard to believe, but I’m often told my stuff is smart, which kind of makes me worry about society.
I also returned to tv, hosting the show “Cruise-In” which airs nationally on the Rev’n, Fun Roads and FanDuel networks. The funny part is, I don’t know much about cars, which makes the interviews fun…
and educational.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson I’ve learned, forgotten, re-learned, re-forgotten…the cycle continues…
Enjoy the journey. I’ve been a Dallas Cowboys fan for as long as I can remember (any team can have an off three decades). When I was a sportscaster, I was covering the Chiefs in Dallas for the Thanksgiving game, in addition to our normal duties, we were doing a live pregame show. I was so focused on responsibilities & deadlines I barely enjoyed a dream come true experience. Did that with a lot of experiences in my past career. Keep having to remind myself not to make the same mistakes during this journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.billboronkay.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billboronkay
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/billboro
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-boronkay
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@billboronkay
