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| "Can you hear me now?" |
Open Mic Night for every comic is as important as a microphone dectector is to Mel Gibson.
It's THAT important!
There is no getting around this necessary tool.
But a funny thing happened during your Open Mic Night performances. You noticed you weren't getting many laughs. Surely your material is HORRIBLE! Or worse yet, maybe you're not as funny as you thought you were! And so, you began listening to what the other comics at the Open Mic Nights were saying in order to get laughs. Then, you began writing new material that would kill at the Open Mic Night. The only problem was, when you performed THAT material in front of a real crowd, you weren't getting the laughs.
What the HECK is going on?!?!?
SIMPLE: You fell into the trap of trying to entertain other comics and not real people.
What's the difference?
SIMPLE: One group has paid money to be there and deserve to be entertained and the other is filled with other comics desperately trying to discover what they can do to make themselves funnier to a real audience.
So who are you trying to impress?
To try to make your peers laugh is a very natural thing by the way. After all, we got into this making our friends, family and co-workers laugh. We assume this is a natural extension.
BUT IT'S NOT.
Other comics during an Open Mic Night are thinking about their own material, not listening to yours. That's the best case scenario. The worst is that they are competing against you for the most laughs and are purposely NOT LAUGHING.
The material usually devolves into filthy bits being performed in order to shock the distracted Open Mic Night audience. Which, unless this is your natural style, will turn off a real crowd.
Remember why you are there: To gain experience working out your material on stage.
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| "Why can't I make a good movie?" |
That's not to say if you're not getting laughs at an Open Mic Night then your material is great, or even good. In fact, it can be as bad as the last several M. Night Shyamalan movies.
But you'll have to learn this through performing in front of a real crowd. I'm saying that to adjust your act/material/character/theme based on the reaction (or lack thereof) at an Open Mic Night will only get you one step closer to becoming another jaded comic who no longer knows what funny is.
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| "Help! I'm imploding on stage!" |
EXAMPLE: Look at what happened to Michael Richards (Kramer) when he lost sight of his material/character and tried to shock a crowd...
Open Mic Nights are a great tool. But they are just a tool.
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| "I'll burn this !@#$% blog down!" |
Kind of like Mel Gibson!
So who are you trying to impress?
