Comedy Questions From Beginners For Experienced Comics

[Umlaut]

You aren't supposed to be offended by anything a comic says. They're trying to be funny, and probably not trying to hurt someone's feelings. Don't be uptight about it.

Man, now I REALLY don't know how to feel about Michael Richards...

[John Bennerman]

As I begin to build up a longer set, I've noticed it's harder to remember the order of jokes and sometimes leave out/forget to tell a few jokes. What are some of your methods for remembering all your material? I don't want to go up with a cue card or notes.

[JuanCarlos]

I've had the same problem. The only answer I have is to rehearse and rehearse and rehearse, until becomes second nature to you. That's what I've found out.

Stewart Lee writes it all in his hand, at least he did for his Comedy Vehicle, but those sets ,I'm told, where all done in a single evening, so it was like 4 hours of material. I once tried doing that, and I made a bit (too) about staring at my hand. But I didn't like it.

Michael Showalter seems to walk out with his laptop or a folder.

Hey, I have a question too!

How do you guys feel about comics using one of those wireless mics that go in the ear, like the ones britney spears or telemarketers use?

Performing-wise, it seems like a good thing, you have your arms to perform now. But I can't help but feel it seems a bit lame. That there's a lot of cultural (and probably phallic) power going with a regular mic in a stand.

[scamboogah]

I would, fairly or unfairly, immediately lean towards disliking a comedian with the Shamwow guy headset.

Mainly because I would feel like he's about to sell me a Shamwow.

[Kon Darp]

As I begin to build up a longer set, I've noticed it's harder to remember the order of jokes and sometimes leave out/forget to tell a few jokes. What are some of your methods for remembering all your material? I don't want to go up with a cue card or notes.

I don't know much about performing stand up comedy, but I know a fair bit about mnemonics.

If you want to tell your jokes in a specific order, then try to come up with a phrase that includes your order and the topic of the joke.

For example, you want:

Dog joke
7-11 joke
relationship joke
buttfucking joke

So as long as you know each bit, you just have to remember "The dog went to a 7-11 and got relationship advice about buttfucking"

The goofier/weirder the phrase is, the easier it will be to remember. You can do different phrases for different parts of your act, and then even have one "master phrase" to help you remember the order of the different phrases" Just say it to yourself during a dramatic pause or applause/laugh break.

This'll probably work unless you're doing a bunch of quick jokes, in which case the order probably isn't that important anyway. I mean, if the mnemonic phrase is longer than an actual joke, it's probably not very helpful.

Often I find that putting in the effort to actually think of a mnemonic is enough to remember what you were supposed to remember in the first place.

Hope that helps.

[Chase Roper]

Also, don't try to ignore crowd chatter over your set (if there is any). If the audience is talking amongst themselves more than listening to you - try to single some people out and talk with them. It forces them to re-engage with you. that's my two cents anyways.

[ErikNielsen]

Ah, you see, I'd say the opposite. Acknowledging those guys just lends them power. It makes the talking part of the set, not an aberration.

Now, if you're going to do crowd work anyway, go with that -- talking audience members are SUPPOSED to be part of your set, and if you go after guys who are being jerks, it's easier to get the rest of the crowd on your side.

But if you're not planning on crowd work, don't let some jerk in the crowd tell you what to do. In the long run, you're always going to be better off if you do what you actually do -- and if what you do is material, you don't give up that advantage when you're already struggling. That's a desperate move, and the kind of thing that will frequently turn an off-night into an outright fiasco. You can live with an off-night; fiascos are never okay.

And always remember, they're not talking over you -- you're talking over them. You have the microphone. If need be, use that thing; the amplification of your voice will get you the attention when you need it. Of course, you need to make that stick, by doing some material that makes people laugh and holds their attention. But as far as grabbing it in the first place, the amplification of your voice is a powerful tool.

(And yeah, maybe this is what I believe because my style of comedy is ill-suited to engaging with talky audience members and well-suited to trampling over them. It's still what I believe, and it's still valid for comics who are like me.)

[Chase Roper]

I think Erik also makes a good point. Which is weird since it seems to be contradiction to what I suggested, but if you aren't comfortable with crowd work or don't think you can easily transition yourself back into your material, definitely don't do what I said.

I did a bar set a little while ago and the guy before me stuck to his set and never wavered, but the entire crowd was chatting amongst themselves and not engaging with him at all. He didn't really do anything wrong, but never really got any reactions - bad or good - from them. He probably walked away from that set feeling complacent or unsatisfied. I guess I was just trying to think of a way to avoid that situation.

[ErikNielsen]

I guess that what I'm saying is that a set like that, while it's not good per se, doesn't disrupt the show. I'm sure you've all seen this scenario many times: a guy goes up on stage, isn't doing well, and turns on the audience. Maybe he starts insulting them en masse, maybe he decides to go into the crowd and pick on people. Either way, it's the same result: he keeps bombing, and now the crowd is not just indifferent, they're mad.

Now, which of these two guys would you rather follow -- the one who didn't get much of a reaction, or the guy who was flailing about and actively upset people? As a comic, you always have a responsibility to the other acts on the bill to minimize the damage you do to the show. If that sometimes means bombing with dignity, so be it. You can keep trying to succeed... just keep trying.

And I think it's a dangerous thing for anyone -- especially a beginning comic -- to say "I'm good at crowd work, I'll just switch to it when the material isn't working." Because being on stage when material isn't working is no time to engage with the crowd. You've bombed before -- we all have... think of the state of mind you're in while it's happening. Panicked, upset, maybe a little bitter. Desperate. Desperate people shouldn't do crowd work -- no matter what your real intentions are, it comes off like the guy in the first paragraph. Audiences can sense that desperation, and it's going to color everything you say up there. Maybe you can overcome that with time... I don't know.

[Chase Roper]

I officially retract my previous statement and say go with Erik's. After considering that I followed the guy who had the lame set but didn't piss off the audience by making the bombing work - and then I went on to have a fun set (i won't say great, but it was fun) with an audience was relatively easy to warm up, I agree completely with him.

[KevinLee]

Yes. That's all well and good, but what do the experienced comics have to say?

[CaptainBreakfast]

I'm pretty sure experienced comics have abandoned this.

[ErikNielsen]

A great way to drive away experienced comics is to make snide, ignorant remarks about them.

(Some comics are not so much offended as confused.)

[John Bennerman]

Do any of you go into character while you are on stage that is very different from who you are off stage? Is it working well for you?

[Rob Delaney]

I don't know if anyone here would find this useful, but somebody just posted a piece on Youtube that Current TV did on me a couple of years ago, when I had just gotten laid off from my corporate job (coincidentally at the exact moment I decided to go full-bore into comedy). I have made some strides since then & I talk about my approach a bit in this video. This video is not funny, per se, but more a snapshot of what I was doing at the time. I figured this forum was a good place to put it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke2L-QYAsEY

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[JuanCarlos]

Hey, that was pretty cool.

[John Bennerman]

I don't know if anyone here would find this useful, but somebody just posted a piece on Youtube that Current TV did on me a couple of years ago, when I had just gotten laid off from my corporate job (coincidentally at the exact moment I decided to go full-bore into comedy). I have made some strides since then & I talk about my approach a bit in this video. This video is not funny, per se, but more a snapshot of what I was doing at the time. I figured this forum was a good place to put it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke2L-QYAsEY

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It's always interesting to see how comics begin. What beautiful timing - to be laid off at the exact moment that you had decided to go into comedy full time.

[throb36]

Have any advice for when you've lost a crowd, or about to lose a crowd?

[Gene George]

Have any advice for when you've lost a crowd, or about to lose a crowd?

I PRAY you're writing this as you're doing a set, in mid crowd-loss.

[throb36]

Oh yeah. Everyone is waiting.