Stand Up Comedy?

A friend of mine started in comedy the same way. He started doing open mic nights, then started doing amateur stand up competitions, then last year opened for Ralphie May on a nationwide tour, all within the span of a few years. I have nothing to offer, but I could probably put you in contact with him. http://mat-alano-martin-comedy.com/

Just try not to gag too much...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x77s52_sweet-dee-charlie-stand-up-comedy_animals

Try it. I would love to though the thought of standing infront of a group of people intimidates me somewhat. I am tempted to go to an improve class since I would have have other people there too and I think I would be better at it. I already spend most of my day interacting with people for my own amusment.

A few of the more talented performers from our weekday show (and me) are doing a show of extended sets tonight (15ish minutes vs the 5-8 we normally give ourselves). If all goes well we'll be streaming here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/jpasterjak starting around 9:20 eastern. NSFW. Unless you work someplace cool.

jg

I've been working on some material... I have scheduled my first "set" on Wednesday, March 20 at the Cleveland Improv... If any of the Clevelander GRMers would like to come, I'd be glad to have the support.

Make sure you get some video!

In reply to Maroon92:

wear your cleanest GRM shirt under a tweed or navy blazer, with decent jeans and black wingtips. classy and sexy!

Maroon92 wrote: I've been working on some material... I have scheduled my first "set" on Wednesday, March 20 at the Cleveland Improv... If any of the Clevelander GRMers would like to come, I'd be glad to have the support.

godspeed, young skywalker. I'm jealous of your courage.
I've been obsessed with standup since I was 10 years old but can't imagine being able to go up in front of people to perform

corytate wrote:

Maroon92 wrote: I've been working on some material... I have scheduled my first "set" on Wednesday, March 20 at the Cleveland Improv... If any of the Clevelander GRMers would like to come, I'd be glad to have the support.

godspeed, young skywalker. I'm jealous of your courage. I've been obsessed with standup since I was 10 years old but can't imagine being able to go up in front of people to perform

I'm doubtful that it will fill up, being a Wednesday evening, but the place holds 400 people...

AngryCorvair wrote: In reply to Maroon92: wear your cleanest GRM shirt under a tweed or navy blazer, with decent jeans and black wingtips. classy *and* sexy!

Cleanest GRM shirt? Isn't that an oxymoron?

Honestly, I didn't think about what I was going to wear until just now...

In reply to Maroon92:

Don't swear too much. When you fall back on the f-bomb for quasi-comedic effect, it falls flat. Plus, it makes it funnier when you actually get around to using it.

Talk about what you know and be comfortable talking about it. If you're already good at public speaking, it helps. I teach and a good part of that (to keep them awake) involves being a vague facsimile of a standup. I can get them to chuckle at will and a big part of that is to act like you're having a comfortable conversation with them rather than reciting a bunch of lines.

Be fearless in your performance. Going outside of your comfort zone just might work. Remember--you're in control. They're watching you, so you're in charge of their attention. You can control that. That was my philosophy as a musician.

Hecklers? Make funny advances on their girlfriends while emasculating them in front of her every step of the way. Go as brutal as you can, then go farther. He'll shut up. Youtube has a TON of vids where hecklers get absolutely destroyed.

Don't believe your friends. They'll be sycophants and tell you you're funny because they can't be objective and don't want to hurt your feelings. You'll be in front of strangers--if you're lucky--and their opinion is what matters.

As others have said--bomb. I'm guessing once you bomb, you'll know how bad it feels and then you'll know what the fear is about. Afterwards, you don't dwell on it, you get out there again and try something different.

The regret of not doing it will be much worse than the feeling of not doing well at it.

I look forward to your youtube clips.

gamby wrote: As others have said--bomb. I'm guessing once you bomb, you'll know how bad it feels and then you'll know what the fear is about. Afterwards, you don't dwell on it, you get out there again and try something different.

in addition to this, remember that you will NEVER, EVER bomb as badly as Neil Hamburger, so you even when you really blow it, other people do worse. That should help you still feel sort of okay after bombing

In reply to barrowcadbury:

My breath is in my mouth!

also.

Third base!

Don't be afraid of bombing. In fact, don't be afraid of anything. At the end of the day, you're on stage, with a mic in your hand, all alone, and that's the ultimate definition of courage.

Remember that your job at this point is not necessarily to be funny. Funny will come. If it's there already, that's fine, and it's one less thing you have to worry about later. Your job now is to be COMPELLING. Hold their attention. Control the pace of your act. One of the great temptations, both when things are going right and when things are going wrong, is to accelerate your act. RESIST. Set a pace and stick to it. Ultimately you know the pace at which the material needs to be delivered. It's tempting to feed off the energy from a good audience and start to speed things up, but try and resist.

Plan on leaving something on the table. Don't be afraid to end your set a minute early if you can do it at a natural point. Any good will you build is lost with missed exits.

As to hecklers, I'd resist engaging them as best you can. For you, there's everything to lose and little to gain. For them, the opposite is true.

jg

Practice audio recording of my first solid 5 minutes

My first 5 minute stand-up comedy set. It's a little awkward, as I recorded it in my office without an audience, so the pauses are weird, and you can hear me breathing... Listen to it anyway, and tell me what you think. Be as harsh as you have to, I can take it!

Overall that was really good, man! I genuinely chuckled at some of your jokes, the "fleshy cello case" line especially . The Porsche bit was funny, but you lost me with the Ferrari/NASCAR joke at the end.

Agreed with Luke. That beginning was pretty awesome man!

Fueled by Caffeine wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: (equestrian rape humor has no place in the software industry apparently).

Pitching to Catherine the great?

Selling Oracle or Adobe stuff more likely

I had a coworker who worked as a comedian for many years. It is a tough life as a full-time gig, lots of late nights, lots of shady characters, lots of long drives. Read Jay Leno's book for some insight to what small clubs are like. (Actually, just read it, it's really good)

The advice I would glean from him is to have a stage presence and be able to deal with tough crowds. He was really good at comebacks and saves and redirections. He was also a big guy, very gregarious. He could insult you for a half hour and you still loved him and wanted to hear more. That is a real skill IMHO.

Also, are you really funny and witty and fast with a joke? I thought I was a pretty funny guy until I went out for drinks with him and a bunch of hic comedian buddies. I didn't get a word in for hours and just about peed myself laughing. There's funny, and then there's stand-up comedian funny!

If any GRMers in the Cleveland area would like to come see me perform, we're having our Comedy Workshop "graduation" performance at the Cleveland Improv this Wednesday evening at 7:30. If you mention my name (Bradley Brownell) at the door, you get in for 2 dollars. Invite your friends.

There will be a total of 10 performers (8 from our class, and two "real" comedians), so come out and support live comedy.

It's a dollar for everyone else? The Cello case was funny. Congrats on doing it. I need to work up the nerve to try one day.

Wally wrote: It's a dollar for everyone else? The Cello case was funny. Congrats on doing it. I need to work up the nerve to try one day.

Everyone seems to say that.

It'd be funnier if it weren't true...

My wife did stand up for a couple years. Had a lot of fun, but it was also demanding. The sketchy clubs were a pain, getting paid was a pain, and the requirement for "bringer" shows was incredible (you had to bring a bunch of people to the club in order to get on stage). She did clubs from Virginia to Maine. Took up a lot of time for very little money. A little snippet of her storytelling style:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auul_FpTiz8

She moved over to doing comedy with a local improv troupe and had a lot of fun for a lot of years.

Wally wrote: I need to work up the nerve to try one day.

Yes, Wally. Yes. You. DO.

I'm listening to your practice bit right now Bradley, I like it a lot!

EastCoastMojo wrote: I'm listening to your practice bit right now Bradley, I like it a lot!

Thanks!