Capitalism Never Stops: How Stand-Up Comedian Nore Davis Stays Financially Fresh

Where do you go for your real-world understanding of money and how finances work? You can hit YouTube and do some research, hit up some of your favorite websites, or get edutained. The term may be kinda wack, but it’s a great way to get knowledge: you learn while you have a good time. One of the stand-up comedians who makes sure to inject some financial literacy into his comedy is Nore Davis, who you’ve seen on Succession, Conan, and Group Therapy. While it’d be easy for him to spend his entire set riffing on COVID or sex, it’s awesome to hear Davis bring up paying rent, or his credit score––things every artist worries about when it comes to making ends meet.

“It’s the playing cards of the capitalist country that we live in,” explains Davis when asked about why he speaks often on being financially literate in his sets. “I’m trying to translate it into my stand-up.”

Fresh off an appearance on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon (where he riffed on likely renting forever), Davis talks money with Complex. For anyone trying to figure out how to make money (and stay making money) as a stand-up comedian, Davis has some tips, including why he got on SoundExchange, how he stays dripped in Jordans, and much more. Get edutained!

“It’s the playing cards of the capitalist country that we live in, you know what I’m saying? It’s a straight Uno deck. Know what I mean? You need it to survive. It’s the playing cards of the country, so you got to play the game, so I talk about it, and I’m trying to translate it into my stand-up. I’ve just been coming more aware of my standing as an adult in this country, and being a Black man, and also financial literacy was going on. So yeah, money. You need it, you need it—this is it. It’s the playing cards of the country, so you got to play the game.”

“I started stand-up in 2006. Actually making bread to go full time into stand-up would have been 2009, 2010. That’s when I figured out I can be funny without being famous, and make a good amount of money by doing colleges and gigs. That was the only way you can, without even having any TV credit, or even any street credit—just like, ‘Hey, you do a college, they have a huge budget.’ You can get over $1,500 to $2,500 for an hour, but you’re just performing in the cafeteria while niggas is eating pizzas. But hey, you got sustainable income for something you love.

“That’s the main thing when it comes to money, man, just trying to find what you love. And then the passion will carry you to getting money one day. Which we never learned in elementary school, or high school, or even college at all. Matter of fact, the game is, you’re negative $60K immediately.”

“It’s really just figuring out the game yourself. My dad [is] a retired police officer, my mama, retired teacher, so I have that family of, ‘Go to school, get an education, and you get a job.’ Well, even jobs today, or even back then, don’t even pay enough for you to live.

“What I figured out, [and] what a lot of comics also do, [is] go on the road with a bigger headliner. I would be on the road with Tracy Morgan, and that was a good one, because he would pay really good, and I would open up for him in theaters. Or a Patton Oswalt, or Bill Bellamy, all them cats like that. And they bring you on the road. You’d get about five stacks, and you’re like, ‘Word, all right, got a big weekend.’ But talking about money? No, it would always be about either getting money from a booker or figuring out how much your gig is to do.

“Or another [hustle] is a writing gig. That would help out a lot, too. Writing on a TV show, punching up scripts. Did that in LA; lived in LA for three months. That was 2011, before my daughter was born. I was living in LA for three months––I hated it, but I needed that $5K. It was for a pilot. It was, like, $5K, $6K. I needed that.”

“I got to give a shoutout to my mom. She definitely helped me figure out credit. I talk about that in my stand-up. I remember the type of hustle she would do. She really couldn’t afford lunch for us, so when she would do a school field trip, she would take that money, give it to us. And then from her check, she would put the money back in the field trip pot. The thing with credit, she always taught me about borrowing the money but always paying it back, so lenders will give you more. I always had that inside of me, so when it comes to sneakers and my fit, I was always able to manage credit cards, like, ‘Hey, I’m going to get my sneakers—I love these sneakers. And then I’m going to get this gig, and then I’m going to pay it off in eight, nine months.’ So I’m accumulating debt.

“I remember HSBC one time, they gave me, like, $12K of credit. I remember that shit. I used it up, and then I paid it off. I would cop my clothes from that, and with gigs just pay them up. I know there’s the interest and everything, but I can’t even worry about that, because I’m trying to do what I love, and there’s no income right now to pay off anything. Shit, isn’t America in debt? We’re all built on debt, so I never felt bad about not paying shit back. Or even student loans—like, I just started recently paying back my student loans. I held that shit off a while.

“Now I’m in a good position. I want to buy land. I want to buy a house or a condo, so I got to get my credit up. ‘All right, let me start paying these student loans, because they putting a little inkling on my report.’ That credit is my shit, man. Well, [it’s] a tool.”

“[My albums] helped me get streams, and then royalties through SiriusXM. Those royalties are basically my 401K. I remember my dad retired and got paid by his pension, but that’s not offered as an artist, period. I wasn’t educated on that. My managers and the label put me on to what SoundExchange is, and your royalties. I was like, ‘Fuck it, I’m going to put albums out, baby.’ I’m not going to wait.

“In the culture of stand-up, there’s this waiting for this Playland game fair claw to come down, pick you up, and put you in the stand-up special. But the market is so saturated, by the time you wait, you’ll be broke. You’ll feel like a failure throughout the profession you love. And next thing you know, you got to get a job. Oh, that word. [Laughs.]”

“Shoutout to Kevin Hart. He is a corporation. People always complain, like, ‘His special, this and that.’ It don’t matter; it’s the numbers. He made numbers. For me, I’m more about [being] an artist, and happiness. That’s it. All I want to do is tell jokes, make great art, and be happy. That’s it. I think trying to become a fucking mogul, or the Kevin Hart thing, and the influencer, all that, I don’t want that shit. I’ll get DMs that are like, ‘Hey, you promote our...’ Nope. I don’t want to do all that shit. My jokes is my business. I’m trying to be that dope mom-and-pop shop in the corner at LAX that you know you get the fire doughnuts from. When it’s available, you pull up. When it’s not, damn, all right, I’ll wait. That’s my position.

“It’s great. You get to a point where you want to know and navigate your brand and then look at your financial status and what makes you happy. And I think that’s the main thing people miss about making money: are you having fun? Are you having fun making this? Because if you don’t, then the money will start making you. That’s classic Players Club: make that money; don’t let that money make you. I do not strive to be corporate with extra bags. I strive to make dope shit, live, and be happy. That’s it.”