Michael Kosta went from being a world-ranked professional tennis player to an Emmy-winning comedian, using ideas and experiences from both worlds. Once ranked as high as 864 in the ATP singles rankings, Kosta traveled extensively, chasing a career in professional tennis. After decades battling deeply entrenched rivals on the ATP Tour, that was his total prize money. After confronting the realities of the sport, he made a shift into the world of sketch and stand-up comedy.
Kosta’s path took a big shift when he began venturing into stand-up comedy. He’s sure that this new pursuit has plenty of parallels to his past sporting endeavors. As he puts it, “I’ve risen to the top of the comedy ladder due to my experiences with loss and disappointment as a former tennis player. These challenges, though, helped shape my desire and love for comedy. This resilience has proved to be an essential pillar of his comedic career.
As an interesting aside, one of Kosta’s favoritest stories from his time on the tennis circuit happened when he played in Mexico City. He’d teamed up with a college pal to split a hotel room at the tournament. Ironically, now both were set to go up against each other. Kosta remembered, “The draw was released and we were matched up against each other. Later that night, I climbed into bed and tweeted my opponent good night. So the very next day, they utterly trounced me. This unfortunate episode is a reminder of the capricious nature of both sports and comedy.
Looking back on his career in pro tennis, Kosta admitted that the tour is a hard life emotionally and physically. That’s not the worst part, he thinks — the toll of not making it as a comedian is much more extreme. Physically, emotionally, to be a professional tennis player is much more difficult than being a professional comedian. To bomb a joke, the rejection is personal,” he added. The nature of undertaking the craft of comedy necessitates vulnerability, the failures of which can sting quite a bit more than defeats on the basketball court.
With a new book called Lucky Loser, Kosta shares what makes it special, both in tennis and comedy. In doing so, he creates fascinating parallels between the two fields, revealing how both thrive on solitude and the best type of problem-solving. So you miss a lot when you’re 864th in the world,” he added. He gave particular attention to the plight of athletes at lower levels of their sports, who suffer from the greatest challenges.
Kosta’s tennis background gave him some valuable skills that have helped his stand-up career. He has a swaggering confidence of someone who commands a room. His intense eye contact outmatches every other fresh face on the comedy scene. One thing you hear older comedians always tell younger comedians is, “When you bomb a set, just continue performing!” Public speaking, and they advise that it looks like it doesn’t affect you in the least. This sentiment echoes Kosta’s own experience. He learned early on not to dwell on setbacks but rather to use them as motivation to improve.
Even after going through all he did as a professional athlete, Kosta still carries an extremely positive, carefree attitude towards tennis. He jokingly proposes that the players all secretly possessed an unknown joker’s flair. He continues, “I think [Iga Świątek] is super funny though. When you’re No. 1 in the world, everyone’s out to get you, so she’s a little bit afraid to put it out there.” Through this raw and playful observation, we see his ability to weave humor into profound topics.
Kosta’s comedic repertoire grows and shifts as he travels to different venues and performs for different audiences. He put on a great performance at ‘The Cluster’ in Room 415 Comedy Club in San Francisco to display his talent. Their performance seen here on June 2, 2018. It’s his perspective as an athlete which informs his one of a kind comedic voice. This gives him the ability to craft rich experiences that engage audiences on multiple levels.
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