Bombing is part of the job: how rejection built comedians, writers and musicians
September 28, 2026 · 22 min read
Jo Koy, Yakov Smirnoff, John Grisham's story and bassist Tal Wilkenfeld all treat failure, rejection and falling off the cliff as the path to their best work, and Josh Waitzkin says the same about losing. It gives creators a reason to take more risks and recover faster rather than avoid failing.
The rules, numbers and steps worth keeping in front of you.
- Koy: the real failure is not trying; accepting a challenge and failing counts as a win.
- Koy got his breaks by never saying no to a gig, however small or awkward.
- Koy bombed about 25 more times after his first bomb before it clicked.
- Having made it does not last: Koy had several false dawns, and Smirnoff lost his contracts within six months.
- Smirnoff rebuilt from 17 people in the seats by adding breakfast and a second daily show.
- Grisham, as Robbins tells it: 28 publisher rejections, then straight on to the next book.
- Wilkenfeld: play at the edge of the cliff where mistakes are cheap; recovery is a skill built by falling.
- Wilkenfeld: bringing fear to the bandstand limits you.
- Wilkenfeld: some sessions call for playing it safe.
- Waitzkin: study the loss, even months later; one loss taught him a principle that won a later title.
- Waitzkin: don't pretend results don't matter; care, and hold your future self's view.
- Reinvent after a win too, as Marcelo Garcia and Smirnoff did.
- Critique the work without attacking yourself (Wilkenfeld).
- Failure is no guarantee of success, and artistic risk is not physical risk.
This is the short form. The full insight has every expert's reasoning, their own words and the sources.