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.