The rise of atypical forms of employment invites us to scrutinize unemployment benefit provision. Unlike the modern world of employment, based on “standard employment contract,” wage-earners in the performing arts advocate for the highly flexible regime of “intermittent” employment. Through the study of the effects of a deregulated market on careers, status and meaning of work, shared by atypical wage-earners, our aim is to understand the informal role of this compensation policy for their self-conception.