*Tell me how bad I screwed up*
Don't tell people that an element of your performance is unnecessary before you start. Self-deprecation is overrated.
Hi-def porn joke was funny. Expand it to include more things. Ass-pimples and lumpy fake tits leap to mind.
Didn't like the Groundhog Day joke. You're basically just restating the premise of the movie.
Good job with the War on Drugs joke. Thinkiest joke in the set. Do more like that, but not too many more. Maybe two or three more.
NO to the Confucius joke. No to any Confucius joke, ever.
Head on the Toilet joke was great. And the second punchline was great, too. But then you went too long with the sand in your ass and the water in your face. Leave it at "both equally uncomfortable."
On the one you fucked up: I'm assuming you genuinely fucked it up. If that's the case, don't announce that you did. Just rescue it. It's one of the key pillars of good public speaking: don't reveal the man behind the curtain--unless that's the point of your act, which I don't think is the case with you. It's pretty hard to fuck a joke up beyond the point of salvage, so practice (not in public, just in front of a mirror or in your car or whatever) fucking up every single one of your jokes, going further and further each time, to see how far you can go and still bring it back and get laughs.
God has a sense of humor joke is too easy. When people don't like David Cross, it's because they (incorrectly, in my view) think he's doing what you're doing with that joke: just saying "this group of people is inherently hilarious, so let me just mention their name and say that they're wrong."
Way to rescue the chicken-egg joke. I hate chicken-or-the-egg jokes, but you salvaged something out of it. Nice work. It's good news for you that you are able to do that with a premise like that. But unnecessary. Go with your own premises, because that way you don't start out in the red, you don't have to work to even break even on the funny-meter.
Oh yeah! One more thing. Just because the most famous practitioners of the tell-absurd-jokes-and-strum-a-guitar style have used a lazy stoner voice and posture to communicate, doesn't mean you have to do the same. In fact, you'll set yourself apart by being a more original version of yourself. Those guys aren't funny because of their voices, anyway. They're funny because of their writing.
Thank you so much, there are a lot of really good tips in that response. I am not going to try to defend myself on any of those points, I see your point. Thank you Jono11
Here's an exercise: Tell us how bad you think you screwed up and why.
Well I was pretty happy with it to tell you the truth. But what the hell do I know, this was my second open mic.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote