Editing Jim Carrey (section)

===1983–1993: Move to Hollywood===
In early 1983, Carrey decided to move to Hollywood where he began regularly performing at [[The Comedy Store]]. Getting on ''The Tonight Show'' became his immediate career goal, and, by spring 1983, he appeared to have achieved it after getting booked for a stand-up set on the highly-rated late night show.<ref name="Carrey-sioux">{{cite web |first=Bruce |last=Miller |title=When Carson was king: Comedy careers were made, Jim Carrey says |url=https://siouxcityjournal.com/entertainment/television/when-carson-was-king-comedy-careers-were-made-jim-carrey-says/article_33e9c7fe-62b2-5659-add3-687641f80e06.html |work=[[Sioux City Journal]] |access-date=December 13, 2020 |date=June 2, 2017 }}</ref> However, a lukewarm club set at The Improv got him unbooked.<ref name="Carrey-sioux"/> Though struggling to replicate his success in Los Angeles, Carrey continued being a big hit in his hometown Toronto where he returned during late April 1983 to perform at the short-lived B.B. Magoon's theatrical venue on [[Bloor Street]] on three consecutive nights. While in town, [[CTV Television Network|CTV]]'s flagship newsmagazine program ''[[W5 (TV program)|W5]]'' did a feature on Carrey that aired nationally in Canada. Back in L.A., within months, he landed the main role on ''[[The Duck Factory]]'', a sitcom being developed for NBC, and, in late November 1983, still got to debut his impressionist act on ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]'' via a promotional appearance for the sitcom about to start airing nationally in the United States on the same network.<ref name="Carrey-sioux"/> In the meantime, he was cast for a supporting role in the [[Warner Bros.]] comedy production ''[[Finders Keepers (1984 film)|Finders Keepers]]'', shot in the Canadian province of [[Alberta]] during late summer 1983. For his ''Tonight Show'' [[List of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson episodes (1983)#November|appearance]] that aired on [[Thanksgiving (United States)|American Thanksgiving]], 21-year-old Carrey went through his most popular impressions—[[Elvis Presley]], [[Leonid Brezhnev]], [[Jack Nicholson]], [[Bruce Dern]], [[Clint Eastwood]], [[Charles Bronson]], [[Michael Landon]], [[James Dean]], [[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]], [[Charles Nelson Reilly]], characters from ''[[My Three Sons]]'', and [[Kermit the Frog]] and [[Miss Piggy]]—in rapid succession.<ref name="cbsnews">{{cite news |last=Leung |first=Rebecca |title=Carrey: 'Life Is Too Beautiful' |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/carrey-life-is-too-beautiful/ |work=CBS News |access-date=April 26, 2012}}</ref> After completing his set, though getting the [[OK gesture]] from Carson, the impressionist comic was notably not waved over by the host to join him on the couch—a usual indication that while sufficiently pleased, the powerful host was probably not ecstatic about the performance.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rhodes |first=Joe |title=Carson's Code |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/arts/television/carsons-code.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529200429/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/arts/television/carsons-code.html |archive-date=May 29, 2015 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 30, 2005 |access-date=January 7, 2021}}</ref> The end of 1983 saw Carrey go back home to Toronto once more for a publicized New Years' Eve performance at the [[Fairmont Royal York|Royal York Hotel]]'s [[Imperial Room]].

Originally scheduled to start airing in January 1984, ''The Duck Factory'' sitcom debuted in April, airing Thursdays at 9:30pm between ''[[Cheers]]'' and ''[[Hill Street Blues]]''.<ref>{{cite web |first= John J. |last=O'Connor |title=NBC Adds MTM's 'Duck Factory' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/12/arts/nbc-adds-mtm-s-duck-factory.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=December 30, 2020 |date=April 12, 1984 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086702/ |title=The Duck Factory |publisher=[[IMDb]] }}</ref> The same month, Carrey took a job hosting the 1984 [[CASBY Awards|U-Know Awards]] ceremony held in Toronto at the Royal York Hotel's Ballroom.<ref>{{cite news |last=Boon |first=Mike |title=U-Knows Highlights from 1984 |url=https://www.torontomike.com/2011/03/u-knows_highlights_from_1984/ |publisher=TorontoMike.com |date=March 27, 2011 |access-date=December 17, 2020}}</ref> By the time he made his debut appearance on NBC's ''[[Late Night with David Letterman]]'' in late July 1984, the network had already canceled ''The Duck Factory''; Carrey went back to touring with his impressionist act, including often opening for Rodney Dangerfield.

After being noticed doing stand-up by producer [[Samuel Goldwyn Jr.]] and contacted to audition for a teen horror [[sex comedy]] being developed by [[The Samuel Goldwyn Company]], Carrey landed a starring role in ''[[Once Bitten (1985 film)|Once Bitten]]'' shot in early 1985.<ref name="Carrey-herald">{{cite journal |title= Once Bitten interview: Jim Carrey |journal=[[West Seattle Herald]] |date=November 1985 }}</ref> Carrey would continue getting film roles; throughout late summer and early fall 1985, he shot a supporting part in [[Francis Ford Coppola]]'s ''[[Peggy Sue Got Married]]'' which went into a long post-production process.<ref name="Carrey-herald"/> In parallel, he decided to try out for ''Saturday Night Live'' again, this time ahead of the show's [[Saturday Night Live (season 11)|1985–86 season]] being prepared by returning executive producer [[Lorne Michaels]] who was looking to hire an all-new cast. Five years removed from his previous ''SNL'' audition, twenty-three-year-old Carrey was rejected again, reportedly never even getting the chance to audition his material—'[[Nuclear holocaust|post-nuclear]] Elvis' hybrid impression and impersonation of [[Henry Fonda]] from ''[[On Golden Pond (1981 film)|On Golden Pond]]''—in front of executive producer Michaels due to the show's producers and senior writers [[Al Franken]], [[Tom Davis (comedian)|Tom Davis]], and [[Jim Downey (comedian)|Jim Downey]] deciding that Michaels would not like it.<ref name="Carrey-snl">{{cite news |last=Tabrys |first=Jason |title=The Story Behind Jim Carrey's Many Failed 'SNL' Auditions |url=https://uproxx.com/tv/the-story-behind-jim-carreys-many-failed-saturday-night-live-auditions/ |publisher=[[Uproxx.com]] |date=October 24, 2014 |access-date=January 9, 2020}}</ref> Unlike his previous ''SNL'' rejection, Carrey now had a bit of a film career to fall back on in addition to his impressionist stand-up act; ''Once Bitten'' was released in mid November 1985 and turned out to be a modest box-office hit despite drawing poor reviews.

Back on the comedy club circuit with impressions, in fall 1986, Carrey auditioned for ''SNL''{{'}}s [[Saturday Night Live (season 12)|upcoming season]], his third attempt at getting on the ensemble sketch comedy show. Finally managing to perform for the show's executive producer Lorne Michaels at a [[Burbank, California|Burbank]] studio, with returning cast members [[Dennis Miller]], [[Jon Lovitz]], and [[Nora Dunn]] also watching the audition, Carrey was rejected again.<ref name="Carrey-snl"/> Among the group of hopefuls auditioning alongside Carrey on this occasion were [[Dana Carvey]] and [[Phil Hartman]], both of whom were hired.<ref name="Carrey-snl"/> Sensing that doing only impressions was turning into a career dead-end, Carrey set out to develop a new live comedy act.<ref name="Carrey-Ebert">{{cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |authorlink=Roger Ebert|title=Jim Carrey Laughs in Face of Success |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/jim-carrey-laughs-in-face-of-success |newspaper=[[The Chicago Sun-Times]]|via=[[RogerEbert.com]] |date=July 24, 1994 |access-date=January 10, 2021}}</ref> Much to the dismay of comedy club owners booking him, he began abandoning trademark celebrity impressions, opting instead to try adding [[Observational comedy|observational]] and [[Character comedy|character]] humor to his comedic repertoire, a process that often involved forcing himself to improvise and scramble in front of dissatisfied live audiences that came to see him do impressions.<ref name="Carrey-Ebert"/> From 1990 to 1994, Carrey was a regular cast member of the ensemble comedy television series ''[[In Living Color]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Seemayer|first1=Zach |title=Why Jim Carrey Says an 'In Living Color' Revival 'Needs to Happen' (Exclusive) {{!}} Entertainment Tonight |url=https://www.etonline.com/why-jim-carrey-says-an-in-living-color-revival-needs-to-happen-exclusive-109148 |website=www.etonline.com |date=September 5, 2018 |access-date=August 30, 2022}}</ref> The popularity of the series helped him to land his first few major film roles.