My understanding is that the realistic way a musician makes a living without "making it" is session recording and teaching. What's the equivalent of that for comics?
I can't speak for the US, but in the UK there's a broad spectrum of "professional standup", from people playing 10 minute slots at comedy nights for £50 a time, through people touring small theatres and arts centres with 100-200 seats, all the way up to people playing arenas and doing TV.
The general rule of thumb here is that you can make a comfortable living with ~15,000 twitter followers - just enough fans to make a tour viable.
Just to add to the "working musician" profile: there are lots of opportunities for paid live performance, whether in clubs, with live orchestras or bands, or for events. Most musicians I know make most of their money with a combination of live performance and teaching, rather than with session work, which has largely dried up everywhere except LA. Even here in NYC there's very little money in recording anymore.
Assuming your write your own material, the rough equivalent for a comic is getting a writing gig. TV shows, for other comedians, etc. You basically write "session" material as a comic the same way a "session" musician would be a hired gun.
Absolutely - I didn't intend to downplay being a TV writer.
In that vein, being a session musician is also "making it" as well. But "it" is subjective - if "it" is being on stage, you didn't "make it" in either case.
The general rule of thumb here is that you can make a comfortable living with ~15,000 twitter followers - just enough fans to make a tour viable.