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!

Resolution Time!

Happy New Year!

As you look back at 2010 and decide what you'd like to work on in 2011, let me offer one resolution that pertains to your Stand-Up Comedy careers: PERFORM!

You will get better each time you PERFORM. 

You will become more confident each time you PERFORM.

Even the nights you BOMB are helpful (more to come on this in a future post!)

This should be done during OPEN MIC NIGHTS around town.

As mentioned in a previous post, I would not drag your AUDIENCE to these OPEN MIC NIGHTS (save them for when you are PERFORMING a quality show: one that has all (or mostly) good COMICS.

You should look to PERFORM at least once a month.  Really, the more the better!

So now it's time for you to get involved.  Here is a checklist of things to do for the New Year:

1. Sign up to this Blog and show you are serious about the Art of Stand-Up Comedy.  It is free.
2. Log onto the Comments Section of this Post and list the club information of places you've PERFORMED and your experiences.  This will be helpful for all to read.
3. Using the Comments Section, please let me know what you'd like me to work on to help you.
4. Commit to PERFORM once a month.
5. WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!  New MATERIAL is always right around the corner.  You just have to keep looking!

With your hard work, my commitment to help and a little luck, 2011 may just be the year to make us all LAUGH!

Writing Buddies: Dispelling the Myth of the Lone Comic

Writing jokes is not like your singing ability.  You are not better doing it alone in the shower!

Think about the times you were the funniest off stage.  Were you sitting at a desk, alone with a tape recorder?  More likely you were with friends, laughing and enjoying life.

This is why you need a WRITING BUDDY, someone to help you create and refine your good MATERIAL.

But choose wisely.

Not all buddies are created equal.

Choose the person who will give you the best chance of success on stage.

You may feel comfortable asking your spouse his or her opinion on a joke.  But unless your spouse is a Comic, the only thing he or she can offer you is support.  In other words: "For your sake honey, I hope that is funny."

Think of your WRITING BUDDY as a real life Bomb Squad specialist.  You are new to the team and tasked with diffusing a bomb.  If it blows... it's curtains.  You can choose to call someone else on the Bomb Squad team, who you've seen in action and trust can handle the situation... or you can call your wife.

Now if you choose to call your wife, you may want to tell her you'll be late for dinner!

Comics like to seclude themselves and work on their jokes alone.  This is because we want to spare ourselves the public insecurity of revealing just how difficult it is to write good, original MATERIAL.  We assume everyone thinks this is easy.  If you're funny, you're naturally funny and the jokes should come easy.  Right?? 

WRONG.

This is hard.  It takes work.  There is no shame in getting help from those you trust are working in your best interest.  And the easiest way to earn that trust is to be a WRITING BUDDY yourself.  This give-and-take from one Comic to another is essential to master joke writing and delivery.

So just remember: if you're determined to write MATERIAL alone, the outcome you are most likely to get is the same as the object of your Explosives Expert friend: a BOMB.

Your next show is coming, still feeling like flying solo?

Tick... Tock... Tick... Tock...

Who Am I? Finding Your Character

Ever hear the true term: "You have to consider the source"?

In other words, why would I listen to what you have to say if you have nothing to do with the subject?

This is why your CHARACTER is important.  It is the core from which your MATERIAL stems.  It is the glue that holds each BIT together into one cohesive ACT.

My friend (and excellent Comic) Kriss Bross is 6 foot 7 inches tall.  The first thing you notice about him is that... you guessed it, he's very tall!  It only makes sense then that Kriss' gripes about the world should be viewed through a tall man's lens.  Suddenly, the cramped seating on an airplane makes a lot more sense and is funnier because the audience can see exactly Kriss' frustration.

When your MATERIAL matches your CHARACTER... BINGO!

"Hickory Dickory Dock..."

Take Andrew "Dice" Clay. 

Surely misogynist MATERIAL had been done before this leather-clad-Fonzie-on-steroids hit the scene.  But when spoken through the CHARACTER of "The Diceman", the result was uproarious.

"When I played in the sandbox the cat kept covering me up!"

What about Rodney Dangerfield?

His one-liners about "getting no respect" are funny because of his bug-eyed lovable loser CHARACTER.










"Mom loves me more!"


The Smothers Brothers have made a long and successful career out of playing the CHARACTERS of older and younger brother.










So who is your CHARACTER?

How do you set yourself apart from the countless other Comics out there who make funny quips about today's current events?

To develop your CHARACTER you can look to your obvious physical attributes: tall; short; fat; thin.  The genes your parents cursed you with could be a blessing in disguise!  But it doesn't have to be just about what you look like.

EXAMPLE: My friend (and excellent Comic)Therese Comor is a Middle-School Teacher. Her take on students of today, dating, and life itself are very unique and identifiable.  I can already picture her sitcom on NBC's Thursday Night line-up!

EXAMPLE: My friend (and WRITING BUDDY) Matt Roberts made a name for himself as an excellent Comic in Los Angeles as "The Average Guy."  And while there was nothing "Average" about his MATERIAL, his everyday CHARACTER was a play on the stereotypical white male between the ages of 18-45.

ADVICE: Your CHARACTER can be completely made up, but the closer it is to who you actually are, the more BELIEVABLE it will be.

After Performance Night has ended and audience members are back at work regaling their trip to the Comedy Club, they may not remember Kriss Bross' name.  But they will remember "that Tall Guy was funny".  And after some time of plugging away at it, people will get to know (and more importantly seek out) that Tall Guy.

But Am I Funny To Strangers?

Oh sure, your friends/family/co-workers have all said you're funny.  They may have even suggested you become a Stand-Up Comic!

And they've seen you perform onstage and say: "You are really funny!"

But in the back of your mind you wonder:

"Am I funny to strangers?"

We assume this is the test for whether or not we should even pursue our comedy careers.  After all, if I'm only funny to people who know me then I must not be very good.

BUT THIS IS A MISTAKE.

You are looking at it all wrong. 

The GOAL is to build an audience (or fan base) not simply to be funny to strangers.

What's the difference?

• A FAN will follow your career. 
• A FAN is excited to see you perform.
• A FAN will pay money to see you.
• FANS will get you work.
• FANS will make you a PROFESSIONAL COMIC.

Many Comics start with zero fans by performing in secret, not wanting to reveal themselves.  This is needlessly difficult and usually results in the comic spinning his wheels... until finally giving up.

But it's smarter to stack the deck in your favor.

HOW?

SIMPLE: Utilize your premade fan base: your friends/family/co-workers! Get them to come to your shows and bring one or more of their friends.

You will get more laughs with your fan base than any random crowd.  This will make you funnier to your friends and friend's friends. 

NETWORK with your friend's friends and turn them into your FANS. 

Then watch your fan base GROW.

It is a lot of work to get your fans to come to see you, over and over.  They'll demand new material constantly (something I'll discuss in a future post).  You must strategically decide which shows to invite them to.  But don't confuse that with never inviting them.  As hard as it is to get your fans to come and see you, it's a Heck of a lot harder to get strangers to come.

There is one BIG secret to getting strangers to laugh.

Turn them into FRIENDS.

Your Open Mic Night Performance Bombed! You Must Be Horrible!

"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.

"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. 

"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.   

"I'll burn this !@#$% blog down!"

Kind of like Mel Gibson!

So who are you trying to impress?