Forcasting Laughter: C.L.A.P.S. / H.B.O. Comedy Cane

In every Business, top Executives are charged with Forecasting future Revenue.  The purpose is to understand how much money is realistically going to come in for their product so that they can better plan expenditures and end up profitable. 

In the Business of Stand-Up Comedy, Laughter equals Money.

How much Laughter are you Forecasting for your SET?

The old method for discovering this was to write your JOKES and then take them to an OPEN MIC NIGHT at the local Comedy Club.  The "Forecasting" came from the makeshift audience who happened to be there.

Did they laugh?

As technology progressed, the ability to record your OPEN MIC NIGHT Performances and analyze the laughter (or lack thereof) was helpful.

But as audiences for OPEN MIC NIGHTS waned, was the data reliable?

Today, COMICS can use the C.L.A.P.S. / H.B.O. Comedy Cane as a tool to help them Forecast the Laughter of their JOKES and better place each JOKE within their SET without the need to rely on disinterested OPEN MIC audiences.

It works like this:

The Cane identifies different types of reactions of an audience.  It starts with a CHUCKLE, builds to a LAUGH and peaks at APPLAUSE.  Back down from the top comes the PEE-EWW (otherwise known as a Groan) and descends to pure SILENCE.  At this point it creates an Arc and is either positive or neutral reactions.  Dropping below the Arc are HECKLE, BOO and OUT! (which means get off the stage now!) These final three are negative audience reactions.

With this in mind, look at each of your individual JOKES and answer these two questions: 

What type of LAUGH are you expecting?

Where are you expecting it to come?    

To help discover the answers to these questions, write your JOKE on a piece of paper.  Now circle the last word before you expect your AUDIENCE to LAUGH.  Just above that circle, write the letter of the type of laugh you expect: C.L.A.P.S./H.B.O.

Now when you PERFORM your JOKE on stage and record your PERFORMANCE, look back and learn if you Forecasted correctly.

You may have predicted a LAUGH but received a CHUCKLE.

You may have expected a PEE-EWW but got an APPLAUSE.

Knowing what you actually get as a response will help you determine what JOKES to keep in your ACT and where to place them within your SET.

Now with this information in hand, give the AUDIENCE what they want... and end up profitable in the end!

 

Building A Set: Refining Your Material

You've written some good JOKES. 

You've meticulously struggled over using just the right words.

You've practiced your ACT OUT and have it down, painting the picture of the JOKE you just said.

You've performed them once or twice at an OPEN MIC NIGHT or other event. 

They've done well and have gotten some pretty good laughs.

So the obvious thing to do with this SET is...

Throw it away and start over?

Sound crazy?  It is!

Yet that is what your tendency is. 

You rationalize: "Everyone has already seen this so I have to do something new."

Apple hit a home run with the iPhone, right?  To follow up with their fans, they didn't throw out their design and start from the very beginning.  Instead, they refined it!  They made it better!

You should do the same with your SET.

How do you make it better?

By listening and/or watching your performance back and answering these questions:

Was the response from the AUDIENCE for each JOKE what you expected?  If no, why not? Maybe you stumbled on the line.  Maybe your body movement was not consistent to what you were saying.  Maybe you thought you were going to get a big hearty laugh after your line but instead you got a chuckle.

Tinkering with your SET to make it the very best is what Masters at the top of their game do. 

After you have it the very best (getting the laughs you want/expect), it is time to share it with the world.

Don't fall into the trap of getting bored with your own MATERIAL.

Remember the tag line from NBC during the summer months?

"If you haven't seen it before, it's new to you!"

Most of the AUDIENCE in any given room has not seen your SET.  You may have a good size FAN BASE but it is not the whole room.  You need to add those folks to your FAN BASE.  Give them the good stuff!

I have never had an iPhone. Simply putting something new out just because it is new would not capture me as a FAN. However, since they've refined it (and made it better!), I will be buying one. They are adding me as a FAN.

And that's the point!

Laughs: Getting A Good Return On Investment?

What is the main goal of any STAND-UP COMIC'S Performance?

If you said: "To get LAUGHS", you are right.

Yet many COMICS proceed like the main goal is to talk or maybe, to be heard.

True, to get LAUGHS you must talk.  But the idea here is to have more LAUGHING going on during your SET than to be talking. 

Believe it or not, it would be a wonderful thing if you spent one minute of talking and received four minutes of laughing from that one minute. 

Think of it as a Return on Investment.

You are investing your time and talent into crafting a JOKE and you want to get a good return on that.  Right?

So when you are crafting your JOKES you should always be asking yourself this question:

"Which words can I cut out of this JOKE yet still make it work?" or rather, "What are the least amount of words I can use to make my JOKE?"

This will allow more laughter to fill your SET, either by allowing good JOKES more time for laughter or, if you've got a dud, allowing you to move on to another JOKE.

Start by pairing out the useless words that try to get everyone on the same page by developing your THEME.  Once there, stay there as long as you can.  Make several JOKES about the same TOPIC.

And last but not least, always remember that the goal is to get LAUGHS. 

Sometimes less is more.

Tell Us Who You Are: Writing Your Own Introduction

COMICS rely on an EMCEE to introduce them to the stage.

What will the EMCEE say?

Will they even pronounce your name right?

Chances are he will tell some of his own JOKES.  This is okay.  But you are missing an opportunity to help establish your CHARACTER and THEME before the AUDIENCE even sees you.

Consider this:  Your THEME for the night is about being a Professional Bus Driver much like COMIC Manuela Webster.

Wouldn't it be great if your EMCEE had a JOKE about driving, or riding the bus, etc...

That would be Professional.

But how would an EMCEE know what your THEME is, let alone have a JOKE at the ready after just learning it?

SIMPLE: Write it for him!

Using a 3x5 index card, write a brief JOKE as an Introduction for yourself that the EMCEE can use.  This should be something that sets the stage for your arrival.
  
There are 3 tips for writing your own Introduction:

1. Keep it short and sweet.  Lengthy JOKES are hard to remember.
2. Keep it about your specific THEME or CHARACTER.  Avoid writing "And now the funniest person on the planet..." or something similarly vague.  This will beg the EMCEE to make fun of it!
3. Write your name phonetically.  For Manuela, write Man-You-Ella.   

Don't demand the EMCEE use your Introduction.  Just offer it up.  A good EMCEE won't devulge to the AUDIENCE that you wrote it. 

You seldom think about your own Introduction.

But this is the first impression of you.

Might as well make it a good one!

AMP It Up! Bringing Excitement To Your Act!

There's an old saying in show business:

"Just don't be boring."

Just because the saying is old, doesn't mean that it doesn't apply today.  In fact, quite the opposite is true.  Think about all the sources of entertainment available to us today: TV, Movies, Internet, IPods, IPads, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, Netflix, even good old fashioned reading is making a comeback on Kindle!

Each of these devices still offer more and varied bits of entertainment competing for our attention: Cable shows, Action Movies, YouTube, Music, Apps, Games, Endless Movies... even this Blog!

So how does any bit capture market share over the others?

By not being boring!

Fox News, 3D Movies, Chocolate Rain, Lady Gaga, Angry Birds, Halo, Movies on Demand.. and this Blog! are all offering the consumer not just content but exciting content. 

Your ACT should do the same.

And it can!

How?

By performing exaggerated ACT OUTS.

These are the examples of the PUNCH LINES to your JOKES.

Think about it: You've gotten the AUDIENCE on board with your THEME.  Your CHARACTER is spot on.  You SET UP your JOKE and hit with a funny PUNCH LINE.  You have painted a heck of a picture for your AUDIENCE.  Now is the time to bring it home and ACT OUT that SCENE.

This is probably the hardest part for a COMIC. It can involve mimicking, acting, voice inflection and most importantly: TIMING.


Remember the bigger the ACT OUT the funnier it will be.  The funnier it is, the more LAUGHS you will get.

And at the very least, you will not be... boring.

Get Your Friends To Help You Advance Your Comedy Career

I began writing this blog post with the intent of trying to get you to understand that Stand Up Comedy is a business like any other.  Being Funny is only part (albeit necessary part) of the equation.  You have to have people willing and able to come and see you.  This is what Comedy Club owners/bookers are looking for.

Then I received an email from a Comic Ron Rigby.

He was promoting his performance at Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle on March 23rd at 8pm to his fan base (which is HUGE!)

With his permission, I'd like to share some of what he wrote.  I think you will find it helpful:

So here is the important stuff. I'm trying to go a little further in this comedy career and you would think that all
you would have to be is very funny! I've recently been been made aware that one of the other great things you can have in your corner as a comedian is a following, or a certain number of people that you can be somewhat sure will come see you. This is a pretty big part of why this evening is taking place....of the people performing on March 23rd, Mark Ridley wants to see who has the ability to bring in a good size group of people. Now, obviously you need to be a little funny along with all this but a decent comedian with no following is just a funny guy on stage talking to himself.

Being funny is obviously a large part of becoming successful in the comedy business which usually starts
locally. If you can bring in people in your area on a fairly regular basis, you will then have the potential to open or MC for some national acts. That is basically the goal for me at this point. If I can show Mark Ridley that I can bring in a decent crowd on occasion, I think he would be inclined to give me an opportunity to open for some big people. Then you go to the next step....but I'm beginning to bore myself to death so I won't go into the "Next Step" here today.

Alright, now that you have the big picture I will tell you that the show is $10.00 per head at the door (that's $20.00 for men...no, just kidding) but you need to call and reserve at table for as many people that will be coming with you. Equally important, is when you call to reserve your table, you would please tell them you are coming to see me because they are keeping close track of how many people are coming to see each performer... 
Ron summed it up pretty well. 

In the early stages or your career, you don't have name recognition to DRAW an audience. That's okay.  But what you do have is plenty of friends and family you will support you if given the opportunity.

Ask for their help... you won't be disappointed!

Recording Your Performances: I Killed One Day And Bombed The Next; Why?

Did you ever see that video of a group of friends screwing around and one of them falls flat on their face?  After the initial shock and laugh what's the first thing everyone asks?  They turn to the guy holding the camera and say: "Did you get that?" 

Why?

Partly to try to make it on America's Funniest Home Videos or (more recently) to become the next viral sensation.

But before the thought of becoming a $10,000 winner or celebrity enters their mind comes this thought: "That was really funny and I want to experience it again!"  

In the world of Stand-Up Comedy, recording your performances must be done for several reasons:

• As you advance in your career and perform longer sets, you can sell your recorded performances to your fans.
• A recording of your live performance serves as a demo tape to Comedy Club talent bookers.  These folks sift through countless tapes to find talent to bring to their stage.
• Most importantly, a recording of your performances serves as a tool for you to watch and discover where the laughter (or lack thereof) came in your set.

When you write MATERIAL, you think you know what type of laugh you will get (from groan to clap) and when the laugh will come.  But sometimes what you were planning is different than what actually happens.  And in those cases, you'll want to remember where those unexpected laughs are.

That's nearly impossible without a recording.

Of course, a video recording is better than just an audio recording.  If you can get a video recording (even if you have to pay for it), do it.  If not, bring a small audio recorder and make sure to hit record before you go on!

You may notice that the same JOKE you said one day gets a different LAUGH on another day. 

Is this because the crowd was better on one day rather than another?  Maybe.  Or maybe you did something different.  Maybe it was something simple like the inflection in your voice.  Maybe it was a look you gave.  Maybe it was an unintentional CALLBACK to another COMICS performance earlier in the night.  None of these variances will be discovered from looking at a notebook with your JOKE written on it.

The best way to fine tune your MATERIAL is to analyze every aspect of it in full detail.  What went right, and what went wrong.

But one piece of cautionary advice: If you are audio recording via a small device in your pocket, make sure to turn it off before heading to the bathroom!