Aspiring Comedian

[Thor Smash]

I've been told a few times before that I should become a comedian. I was able to make some ppl I've never met before (admittedly they were high on mary jane) laugh hysterically. I can also get my friends to laugh a lot too. I really love the feeling of making ppl laugh. It's pretty cool. I'd say I have a very clever sense of humor. This I know for sure, but I never thought about standup until very very recently. I'm going to be doing some open mics at my college to get a feel for my abilities and style, but other than trying to study famous comedians such as Mitch Hedberg and Gabriel Iglesias I do not know what else I should do to pursue a desire to do stand up. I would greatly appreciate any advice. Thank you

[eli]

All you can do is take on as many stages as possible. Wherever there's a mic, be there (don't avoid crappy shows, they toughen you up). Pick a time of day to write, and try doing it everyday at least a little if you can. For every 10 ideas you write down, one will be worth putting on stage.

Good luck, I hope you have fun.

[CarolineEAnd]

Mitch Hedberg and Gabriel Iglesias are kind of a strange frame of reference.

I've only been doing stand-up for about 6 months or so, but long long before I started doing stand-up I was a huge fan. I started doing it because after spending $650 in a month on stand-up albums/dvds my parents made me. Turns out I love it (and have a talent for it), but I think that the best way to prepare is listen to a TON of comics. As many as possible. Cram as much comedy down your ear holes as you can. You know how they say the best writers and the people who read a lot? I'm assuming the same goes for comedy.

Also, start doing open-mics as soon as possible. I wrote down tons of material for months before my first open-mic and after the first one, I haven't used any of that material. Getting on stage lets you get to know your voice and what makes people laugh.

So, listen to the greats (Patton Oswalt, Paul F Tompkins, Doug Benson, anyone AST tells you is great), don't be bummed if you bomb, and definitely talk a lot about the difference between men and women and how bad airline food is (that stuff kills).

[nixonjames]

You know how they say the best writers and the people who read a lot? I'm assuming the same goes for comedy.

I think this is where it's the same.
The hard part I've found from transitioning 'funny to my friends' and funny on stage is recreating the situation. In a party setting it's easier to just riff off someone or group's thought line and make them crack up. Standup makes YOU provide that placement in the setup.

But def. keep doing open mics.
I've been doin standup for about 4 months and I would say to read as much as you can (but understand it won't teach you 'how' only the different techniques). So basically if you do a close listen to all the comedy you can find you can probably figure these things out on your own. Some people are more analytical and like to crack the safe so to speak.

As far as open mic experiences go. Thus far, and I'm creepin in on 20 but about ever 4-5 mics a light switch goes off and i 'get' something about standup I didn't really before, whether it's building for a harder laugh later or incorporating the tone into the 'funny' of the joke. Still no expert but time on stage is the only way to know if you have what it takes. Good luck and if you get down on gettin mic time for a week don't go crazy on yourself just tell yourself I need this week to write more stuff and go from there. Most open mics are only 2-10 minutes with the majority in the 5min variety out here so it's not THAT hard to write new stuff consistently for that short a time frame.

ultimately, g'luck

[Thor Smash]

Thank you guys very much. I will be doing some open mics coming up here at my current college. And trying to get a feel for the best ideas and approaches to deliver them. Appreciate it!!