What do you do with a BA in Theater?

Avenue Q, the delightfully raunchy puppet musical spoof of Sesame Street, starts out with Princeton, the main protagonist, singing the line:

What do you do with a BA in English/

What is my life going to be/

Four years of college and plenty of knowledge/

have earned me this useless degree

Princeton shouldn't complain so much. When I did a search on the career opportunities for an individual with an English degree as opposed to a theater degree, it was pretty clear that companies would hire Princeton, a puppet with an English degree, before they hired me. I would probably do the same. English majors tend to have a more consistent work ethic for the tedious and detail oriented professions and tend to be more academically inclined. Apparently it works out better for data-entry positions.

Actors who want a relatively cushy job are faced with a catch-22: they don't have the time or the leeway to go out and audition for most paying work. Commercial projects will typically audition during the week from eight in the morning until five in the evening. Most employers with the ability to set you up with a 401k don't want you leaving in the middle of the work day to audition for an egg donation commercial.

Maybe serious actors are destined to work the tables and the odd jobs. It seems that almost every success story I know of took an interesting road to get where they currently stand. I looked up the various odd jobs that many actors held before they became prosperous in their field, all of which are attainable with a BA in Theater:

Amy Adams worked at Hooters.

Dan Akroyd worked for the post office.

Adam Brody worked at Blockbuster.

Sandra Bullock worked as a coat checker and a bartender.

Jim Carrey was a janitor.

Tim Allen dealt cocaine.

Soon to be added on to this list:

Jas worked as tour guide and mentor to poo-pelting demon children.

Look for it on Before They Were Famous in a couple of (and by a couple of, I mean six or seven) years.