How much material have you written in one year?

[Just Brett]

This may be the egg nog (alcoholic) posting, but I'm wondering how much material other comics have acquired in a given amount of time. To be honest, this past year, which has been my first year as a comic, I have acquired around 12-15 minutes of good material. When I say good, I mean material that has always gotten a positive response from the audience (shitting pants, throwing up, lung collapse... the usual). On the other hand, I have gone through about another 30 minutes of failed material. All in all, I have performed about 45 minutes, at various open mics and comedy shows (including wedding toasts and at a funeral eulogy).

How much material has everyone else done? I have the feeling i'm going at a turtle's pace. But whatev, this is a hobby...a very painful, very rewarding hobby.

My dog just licked her asshole.

[nixonjames]

Um i'm about a year 'n 4 months in.
i have 5min i feel confident about.
probably 12 minutes if i did everything i feel will keep people's attention

but probably no jokes i think i'll have next year ha.
that being said i'm getting a lot more efficient at translating my brain waves into jokes. i added most of my most recent set in the past 2 months. but of course some of those were stewing for a while before that.

i'm still just showcasing and doing weekend bar shows so i'm almost always doin 5-7m. if i ever get a car i could get longer set times around new england as opposed to in the city. but i'm in no hurry.

[Phil]

Not sure, but the stuff I've written in the past 6 months is better than the stuff from the 6 months before that. Hopefully the next 6 months will be the same.

[nixonjames]

I'll amend that at this point.

A year and a half in I have 3minutes that I consistently like.
15-20 with most of it being very hit or miss by audience.
Yay for sucking.

[Carlos]

I've written probably 3+ hours of material. I write jokes. And I also write stories, then go over them, edit and re-edit, polish them. I believe that anything can be expressed in a funny way. It's all about attitude and perspective. You can tell retell any part of your life in a funny way if you really want to.

[nixonjames]

I can't help but wonder if we have different standards. If not, please pm and lets discuss some of your approaches. I'm still trying to get in the habit of physically writing everyday. I jot down raw bits/stories/funny thoughts/retorts/memories and then think on them pretty hard for a week then write out and edit/re-edit. cull. perform probably 40% then keep maybe 5%. I go back and rework old ideas. I've been a lil too focused on technique the past few months and in hindsight realize I've been straying from topics that are truly meaningful to me. But recognizing and reacting

[mikemayberry]

I wrote around 90 minutes of material this year plus making youtube videos and podcasts. I am trying to develop a half hour set of stuff that I think is kind of funny and not overly offensive. My problem with doing longer spots so far has been that since I can just wing it for 5-10 minutes and do alright, I think I can wing it for 15-20 minutes too. I can't, I need a plan when I go up there and I need to stick to it. I am not funny enough yet to riff while I am thinking of another joke and keep the audience with me.

Most of what I have now is crap, but I have seen enough open and middle acts to know that you don't have to kill to get those spots, you just have to be confident and fill the time well - and having a good relationship with the clubs and comics helps too. I think I have enough stuff to fill out a half hour with tolerable stuff. But, in reality I only have about 3-4 minutes of material that I can do in front of any audience under any circumstances and feel totally confident. And I have about another 10 minutes of stuff that I really love, but I haven't figured out how to say it without pissing people off. That is why I hope to find a good place to live that has an open mic where I can work on doing more "preachy" stuff so that I can figure it out.

[nixonjames]

Hmm well I think if you made a point of talking to the host ahead of time and see if he was down with it you wouldn't have as much issue. It sounds like it was solid enough before that you didn't run into any issues. Maybe if you went to a room a few times not doing that stuff, got to know the guy. Or even if you just said, this is what I'm trying to do... you could have him introduce you as such and it would be less jarring?

I mean shit move to boston. there are 5 mics on monday you can always pick one bridge to burn right? =p