Comedy Questions From Beginners For Experienced Comics

[pg13]

OK, fine...here's a less pithy answer.

After sets, if someone comes up to talk to me, my social anxiety shifts into high gear and I have a really hard time knowing the line between beingajerkbynotbeinggraciousenough and beingajerkbecauseI'moverllygracious.

Realize a couple of things...the transition from stage to normal is just as fraught with emotion swirls as the transition from normal to stage--it's just that there's are names for the "normal to stage" transition (stage fright, jitters, etc.) but nobody really has given a name for the post-show mindset.

First, a comedian goes from getting instant feedback from a group of people...to being locked inside his own (often hyper-critical) head, instantly upon leaving the stage. Our thoughts are a jumble of pride, ego, analytical method, regret, self-doubt, need, relief, etc.

Often, someone giving a comedian a compliment immediately after they've stepped off stage is met with a barrage of self-doubt--as the comedian is remembering everything that they either forgot to do while on stage...or remember everything that didn't go quite as well as we'd hoped. We've also come from a place where we've been self-deprecating for positive effect. It is easy to sandblast a casual well-wisher with our self-hatred and denial. (Which makes them second guess whether or not they should have complimented us...)

If you can recognize that in yourself, as a performer, it can be a good thing to simply disappear back into the green room immediately after you've performed--put on headphones and just allow yourself the time to transition into a more normal headspace...

Realize that the opposite reaction is just as true--that comedians, pumped from the high of having just been performing for a room full of people, can be too full of themselves...and react to any post-set comments with a barrage of "yeah, how awesome am I?!?"...which can be at odds with someone who didn't really know WHAT to make of your on stage efforts and thought that a quick "Nice Set" was a reasonable way to gloss over things without being rude.

Other comedians, especially, are polite enough to say "Nice Set" to almost anyone coming off stage, regardless of what they actually thought of what they've just seen (if they've even paid ANY attention to it at all, as they're probably concentrating specifically on what THEY'RE going to do.)

That's why, a simple "thanks" is almost always the best answer.

No one is expecting much more...and if they are, they'll ask you some questions or they'll tell you what they specifically liked about what you did. It's still best to stick with a simple "thank you" as long as you can...but if they ask for every stray thought stuck inside your head, it's their own damn fault when you give it to them.

pg--I, myself, have a strong tendency to complain about what I've just done on stage immediately after my dismount. I'm still working on taking my own advice.--seattle

[James Smann]

PG is a fucking mensch!

I don't know if this helps or whatever...but after sets I actually get pretty massive panic attacks that are centered around not wanting to die. I've been getting them for about the last two years with or without gigs; but I notice that after a gig it's particularly acute. So I think for any performer the brain "unwinds" from performance mode in a number of different ways and social anxiety I bet is a pretty normal one.

[Cerak]

Thank you so much for the advice. I had a situation the other night when somebody said something nice, and I said "Thank you" and kind of small talked it, then I patted the guy on the back, said goodbye, and headed straight out of the building -- even though I had planned to hang around AND my group of friends were still inside.

It was a weird autopilot/end-this-in-a-way-that-makes-sense reaction.

Thank you again.

PG IS "a fucking mensch!"

[JuanCarlos]

Stephen Fry's talks about this issue in one of his blessays and reminisces about John Cleese's advice on it. I always remember this when I get complimented:

If anyone praised me in my early days as a comedy performer I would say, “Oh, nonsense. Shut up. No really, I was dreadful.” I remember going through this red-faced shuffle in the presence of the mighty John Cleese who upbraided me the moment we were alone. ‘You genuinely think you’re being polite and modest, don’t you?’ ‘Well, you know …’ ‘Don’t you see that when someone hears their compliments contradicted they naturally assume that you must think them a fool? Suppose you went up to a pianist after a recital and told him how much you had enjoyed his performance and he replied, “rubbish, I was awful!” You would go away thinking you were a poor judge of musicianship and that he thought you an idiot.’ ‘Yes, but I can’t agree with someone if they praise me, that would sound so cocky. And anyway, suppose I do think I was awful?’ (which most of the time performers do think of themselves, of course.) ‘It’s so simple. You just say thank you. You just thank them. How hard is that?’ You must think me the completest kind of arse to have needed to be told how to take a compliment, but it was an important lesson that I (clearly) never forgot. So bound up with not wanting to look smug and pleased with ourselves are we that we forget how mortifying it is to have compliments thrown back in one’s face.

http://www.stephenfry.com/2007/09/27/let-fame/9/

[funkyrhino]

Do you drop a joke if you heard someone else do it (last comic standing the other night)? I'm not talking the premise, I'm talking the premise, punchline etc almost word for word. Do you drop it or rewrite it and change it around?

[pg13]

What do you think, funkyrhino?

pg--Not being sarcastic. I'm curious.--seattle

PS--For this discussion to continue further, you'll probably need to tell us the joke in question.

[funkyrhino]

What do you think, funkyrhino?

pg--Not being sarcastic. I'm curious.--seattle

PS--For this discussion to continue further, you'll probably need to tell us the joke in question.

Honestly I really don't know. I mean to avoid the '_____ did that same joke' I would guess I would need to rewrite it. It's not a good joke by the way but it's the principle of whether you should change it after hearing it done publicly especially by a more established comic.


Kyle Grooms - my name is Kyle, that's not an intimidating black name. No one gets scared if someone says Kyle is after you: " Kyle...you mean the guy with the glasses?" Now if it were Tyrone it would be a different story.


Mine - same thing (even down to the Tyrone part) just replace Kyle with Darren.

[pixel revolt]

Next time go on stage wearing a funny cat sweater, then change the joke to "no one gets scared if someone wearing this sweater is after you" then resume your normal life.

[pg13]

Generally, it is a comedy rule (whoa...which thread is this?) that "if someone does a joke on television, it's their joke...regardless of authorship, ownership or any other concern."

It's not always fair, but that's how it goes.

The basis of that rule is--the audience on television is so vast that anyone continuing to do a joke that someone else has done will always be at risk for someone in the audience having seen someone else do the joke and assuming that the performer ripped off whoever was on tv.

Now, the jokecrafter in me says--if you're doing a joke that is exactly the same as someone else's joke...why on earth would you want to continue doing the joke? It is either too obvious of an idea or too generic of a reference. Drop it and write something better...something that is more "you".

(See, deep down, I agree with Erik Nielsen.)

Could you rescue the joke? Well, maybe...but again, why would you want to? How good is the joke that you'd risk either people thinking you stole or...or the effort to disguise how similar it is to someone else's material?

Don't be so precious about your material. Material gets stepped on all the time. Be ruthless and willing to ditch material without provocation or regret. That's a very good reason to be writing CONSTANTLY...because your next joke is going to be far better than anything you're working right now, so it doesn't matter when you have to jettison something...it was about to become obsolete anyway.

pg--Edited--seattle

[pg13]

Kyle Grooms - my name is Kyle, that's not an intimidating black name. No one gets scared if someone says Kyle is after you: " Kyle...you mean the guy with the glasses?" Now if it were Tyrone it would be a different story.


Mine - same thing (even down to the Tyrone part) just replace Kyle with Darren.

Yeah. Drop it.

pg--One thing you'll find is that jokes about the obvious--your name, your ethnic heritage, your clothes, your body type--are being almost certainly being done by others who share those elements... They're as common as stock lines, and unlikely that anyone claims ownership or gets freaked out by similar bits... But, once they've been done on tv...then poof!--seattle

PS--Actually, I might be scared if Darren was after me... Which one? I'm not afraid of Dick Sargent...but if Dick York's Darren is after me, holy shit.

(See, I just combined two hacky ideas into one! COMEDY GOLD, I TELLS YA!)

[funkyrhino]

PS--Actually, I might be scared if Darren was after me... Which one? I'm not afraid of Dick Sargent...but if Dick York's Darren is after me, holy shit.

I was more a Dick York fan myself. But what about Ice Cube who played Darren in Boyz In Da Hood!

One thing you'll find is that jokes about the obvious--your name, your ethnic heritage, your clothes, your body type--are being almost certainly being done by others who share those elements

Thanks for the input; I've tried to keep my 'black man material' to a minimum as to not seem cliche: I've yet to write a 'In My Hood' joke but I do have some 'urban' type material that I want to use on occassions I guess just because; I'm sure there's some comedians out there that are tempted to do a premise/punch on airline food even though everyone tells them to stay away from it.

Don't be so precious about your material. Material gets stepped on all the time. Be ruthless and willing to ditch material without provocation or regret

I definitely agree. I don't want to treat any of my material like a hot chick that I'll never have the opportunity to date or sleep with if I lose her but sometimes you want to see what happens if you do decide to call even though your friends tell you not too.
(insert wink)

[pg13]

I've tried to keep my 'black man material' to a minimum as to not seem cliche: I've yet to write a 'In My Hood' joke but I do have some 'urban' type material that I want to use on occasions I guess just because

Don't get me wrong--there's good reasons to deal with the obvious in comedy. I'm a "big" guy...and if I don't address that, I don't have credibility when it comes to my talking about certain other topics.

That was something I learned in my first few months of comedy, while I was working a set that was mostly about my difficulties after a brutal break-up in finding new love. I thought it was going ok, but once I saw myself on video...I recognized a hurdle I hadn't anticipated. While I'm up there talking about going back to the world of dating, the audience was thinking, "But he's fat...doesn't he know that?" If I didn't address that fact up front, it colored everything else I tried to do...

Now, as you might imagine, the whole "I'm a guy who is over weight" is a well-furrowed field, as far as comedic premises go...and I'm not so consumed by my weight (pun intended) that I feel any great artistic need to do fat jokes. Beyond that, I'm not saying that MY material on the subject is of any great importance or exhibits much exceptional artistry--but, as long as it is honest to myself and my situation...and as long as no one else has done the same thing (especially not on tv)...I find that it helps how successful I am in a given show.

I do know, however, that these jokes are more at risk than other more personal elements in my act of being co-opted... Them's the breaks.

I'm sure there's some comedians out there that are tempted to do a premise/punch on airline food even though everyone tells them to stay away from it.

...like Louis CK's oft-talked about set on air travel on Conan? He was both tempted and successful in crafting original comedic ideas out of a thought to be bone dry premise?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk

(Air travel stuff starts at 2:00)

pg--I assume everyone has seen this...but it is still inspirational and worth watching over and over again.--seattle

[funkyrhino]

Now, as you might imagine, the whole "I'm a guy who is over weight" is a well-furrowed field, as far as comedic premises go...and I'm not so consumed by my weight (pun intended) that I feel any great artistic need to do fat jokes.

I know exactly you what you're saying and that's the thing I want to do: I'm not coming from the perspective of black people this, white people this. I'm coming from the perspective of a black man (born in the 60's) who grew up in a low to middle income mixed neighborhood, who grew up as a nonathletic nerd/class clown.

Even though it's common I want to address the 'black'
I don't need to address my bald head because bald heads are common among blacks.
I do want to address my lust for big thick white women however common it is among 'the brothas'
I do want to address the fact that I've been broke most of my life but I don't want to address it as if it's in relation to being black because it isn't.
I do want to address growing up in my neighborhood everyone thought I was so smart because I took physics, calculus etc EVEN though I did poorly in high school. (situation conditional to being from a low to mid income 'hood')
I do want to address that I listened to rock/new wave/ etc and read comic books.


These are just some things on my mind.

[JayP7]

Hey I've got a question. I'm about 2 hours West of Boston. I've got three nights a week at the moment that I can realistically perform. 2 of those nights there are decent mic's around here, one of which I'm hosting. I've gotten a pretty good roadmap from friends about how to make a little headway in Boston. However that would require taking the 4-6 hour round trip, less stage time, or even no stage time (Ex: the place I've heard is one of the best to break into you gotta go and just watch a few shows before they'll book you).

My question would be would it make more sense to stick around here, perform as much as possible, & help grow the scene here, or try and chip away at a place like Boston, best I can, where I'll probably eventually need 'to take my talents' (in the words of LeBron James) anyway, but is quite arduous at the moment?

[pg13]

Hey JayP7,

How far along are you, comedy-wise?

pg--Any advice I might offer would depend on what you're doing.--pacific northwest

[ErikNielsen]

Hey I've got a question. I'm about 2 hours West of Boston. I've got three nights a week at the moment that I can realistically perform. 2 of those nights there are decent mic's around here, one of which I'm hosting. I've gotten a pretty good roadmap from friends about how to make a little headway in Boston. However that would require taking the 4-6 hour round trip, less stage time, or even no stage time (Ex: the place I've heard is one of the best to break into you gotta go and just watch a few shows before they'll book you).

My question would be would it make more sense to stick around here, perform as much as possible, & help grow the scene here, or try and chip away at a place like Boston, best I can, where I'll probably eventually need 'to take my talents' (in the words of LeBron James) anyway, but is quite arduous at the moment?

Boston's nothing. Seriously, if you've got a solid act, you should be able to get your share of bookings in Boston almost immediately. Just get booked somewhere -- if you do well, word travels. Boston's not that large, and it's a close-knit comedy community.

Of course, I wouldn't go there without that solid act... why bother?

But honestly, if you're willing to commute for stage time, you can take the first few steps into Boston without moving. And if the first couple shows don't go well, there's always time to step back, keep developing, and try Boston again later.

[JayP7]

Thanks Erik.

Yeah, I mean I'd say my act is certainly dependably good. My problem is I don't entirely know how to form that 'strong 5/10/15'. I definitely have my favorite stuff but I dunno how to take pretty strong bits and whittle them into great bits or anything like that. I feel like my best value now is the shear volume of average/ above-average bits ive got in my belt.

Actually due to personal issues (that I won't go into), I'm actually gonna be free to go more/different days of the week so it shouldn't be that big of an obstacle anymore. Still, thanks a ton for the advise

[Just Brett]

So I bombed pretty bad last night. I have another show tonight, and I can't seem to shake off what happened last night. I was planning on using the same jokes. I don't have anything else ready...

I'm of a bundle of nerves right now.

Advice?

[pg13]

Advice?

Get over it.

It's as simple and impossible as that.

You're going to bomb, occasionally...sometimes for choices you made that turned out to be wrong, sometimes because the circumstances aligned to make it difficult for you to succeed, sometimes...just because.

Obviously, if you have the skills to properly read a room, accurate "ears" to let you know how you really did and what really worked and didn't, and the ability to take an outside perspective on your efforts in order to imagine a change in your process that would lead to greater success in your future efforts...then you probably wouldn't be nervous, because you'd understand the process.

What makes you nervous is the unknown--the "how do I not ever feel again what I felt last time?" unknown. You simply don't know if what you try next time is going to work...BUT THAT'S OK.

Not long term, certainly...you can't just let yourself bomb and not try to figure out how to stop bombing...but, by and large, every comedian goes through periods where they thought they had it figured out, then stuff goes wrong for awhile as they learn something new to once again think they've got it figured out...

Bombing, in its evil way, helps you figure it out...because something is not happening that needs to happen... Bomb and you're motivated to find out what that is and you've got every reason to try to correct whatever is wrong...and every opportunity to try things differently.

But, if you don't go back on stage...your nervousness multiplies...the problems expand geometrically in your mind until they become the block preventing you from moving forward and improving.

The most important skill you can gain is how to deal with a bad set--and the best way is to not let it stop you from continuing your process of trying to improve with every set.

pg--It's not that it shouldn't bother you that you bomb...it should, otherwise you won't improve. But you've got to be able to handle the occasional bad set. You've got to trust your desire and growing ability to pursue comedy that a bad set won't throw you off your path.--pacific northwest

[funkyrhino]

the nervousness is no different than getting up the nerve to talk to random chicks out at a club. Once you do it enough it becomes 2nd nature. The hotter the chick the more nervous you're going to be but not everyone experiences that. It's different for each person. Some people welcome a fight, some people run and some people stay but are shaking inside at the possibility of what might happen. But as soon as you get punched 4 or 5 times, or get told the piss off from a hot chick a few times you may find out it's not as bad as you built it up in your head.