Well.. you probably are
Do you fancy trying stand up comedy?
Read on..
If people enjoy your stories / jokes, and they laugh, and you think, I’d make a good comedian. You probably will
Similarly - If your mates say, “you should do stand up, you’d kill it”, and you reply, “nah. I’m only funny around you lot.” That makes you modest. Which means you’ll most likely do a great comedy routine. You make your friends laugh and you think you couldn’t make strangers laugh. Mentality, this often leads to hard work. Meaning you’ll write jokes, rehearse and try the jokes in front of family and friends before taking your routine to the stage. I’ve seen this happen
Modest people work hard
If you’re an entertainer, such as a magician, singer, juggler, busker, dancer, DJ etc, you already know the fundamentals of grabbing an audience’s attention and holding it. To be a comedian, all you need to do now is add the jokes
Stand up comedy is about the jokes, yes. But it’s more than that. It’s about your ability to perform. My set has jokes, but not direct jokes. It’s more about storytelling. There’s a set up (beginning), middle (the lead up to the punchline), and a punchline (the end of the story, which (hopefully) gets the big laugh)
Stand up comedy has no strict rule, a way it must be done. If you tell a short story about part of your life, and perform it in a comedic manner, your audience will laugh. Even if there was no obvious punchline. It’s because your audience like you and the way you tell stories
The writing and rehearsal is important. The way you perform is more important. Anyone can tell a joke. Not everyone can perform a joke. You get your performance spot on, you’re sorted
One of the most important rules of stand up comedy is to be original. That doesn’t mean you have to be yourself, it mainly means, don’t steal jokes. You can totally be yourself, or you can perform in character. I used to perform in character. My character was camp and a bit silly and scatty. It was okay for a bit, but I got bored of it. And because of that, my audience didn’t laugh as much
Your audience can always tell when you’re not enjoying yourself
I later decided to scrap the character and perform as myself. This worked better for me. It felt easier and more natural. It felt easier to get the laughs
Stand up comedy can be seen as “a brave thing to do”. Why? Because it’s scary talking to an onlooking audience? Because people might not laugh? Because you might get booed of stage? I see why some people deem the performance of comedy scary. But you could look at it as just… challenging; which is a good thing really. Challenge yourself to be funny
Don’t worry…
Don’t worry about people not laughing. Don’t worry about being embarrassed. Don’t worry about what people think. I know this seems like a weird thing to say, because you want your audience to laugh, and you do care about what they think, because you want to give them a great show. But just change your mindset from, “fuck, what if they don’t like me”.. to, “fuck it, of course they’ll like me.” If they do (which they most likely will), great! If they don’t. Forget it, then go do another show. Keep the confidence (not cockiness) and get out there
No comedian in the world is loved by everyone, and they’re not trying to be. Few won’t like your act, most will
I’ve died on stage a few times. But I’ve succeeded way more! A few people don’t like my act, but more than a few do
So again.. Don’t worry!
I didn’t worry when I got booed off stage years ago, performing my double act with Dave. The next day we did the exact same act and got a standing ovation by the whole audience!
I didn’t fret when I did my stand up in a comedy club in St Albans where nobody laughed even once, and 4 people walked out. A week later I did the exact same stand up show in Sheffield and they fucking loved me!
Just write your shit, rehearse your shit, and perform the shit out of your shit, and you’ll do just great!
Enjoy your journey.
Enjoy your writing.
Enjoy your rehearsals.
Enjoy your stage.
Enjoy your audience.
Enjoy your time.
RESPECT YOUR AUDIENCE!
They came to see you
If you want to have a go at comedy...