What are they saying with their clappage? What does it signify? Aren't laughs preferred?
Let me know....
What are they saying with their clappage? What does it signify? Aren't laughs preferred?
Let me know....
it's an act of agreement basically stating that they share the same belief/opinion/taste buds. Or it can be an acknowledgement of a cleverly written joke, witty observation, or subtle truth.
white folks ya'll do this...not in my hood!! In my hood we...(insert black reference)
I'm pretty sure applause is a positive thing in any situation.
On my comedy applications I always write "Laughs are mandatory. Applause is optional. Yelling is is discourage. Blowguns are appreciated." (I meant for that last sentence to say blowjobs, but my iPod spell check felt differently)
As an audience member, I clap when my laughter isn't enough. I just cant hold it in. I remember two years ago seeing Josh Fadem at SXSW and I think I clapped almost entirely through his set because I was crying and couldn't laugh anymore. It's just giving the performer additional accolades.
"Give it up for the troops..."
"Hey, everybody...I just got married!"
"Who here likes puppies?"
pg--Three of a billion things that comedians could say that would generate applause while not being remotely funny.--pacific northwest
PS--funkyrhino is right...applause GENERALLY indicates agreement more than it suggests "that was funny"...although sometimes, the agreement is "yes, I agree that what you just said was funny"...
As always, learning to read a room and have good "ears" are skills that every comedian needs to acquire and keep razor sharp. Sometimes, you can find yourself courting applause breaks instead of laughter and leave the stage with entirely the wrong impression about how you did or what the audience thought of you...
We'll just take the fact that this was too long and that you didn't read it...as read.
Yeah -- it totally depends on when the applause is happening. If it's laughter dissolving into applause, or if it's after a joke, that's good applause.
If it's just applause, and if you just got it for making a simple statement, yeah, that's not real.
I'd say the former is more common, but then again, I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.
Erik Charles Nielsen is a moderately funny fellow... right?
I find in Toronto people are so polite they will even clap at simple statements like "so I recently got married..." or "My newborn kid did a weird thing the other day..."
I guess it's the positive side of our reserved tendencies. Although I don't know if it makes up for the fact that you will get ominous "oooooohs" for basically ANYTHING that is remotely edgy. Case in point last week I did a set where I mentioned Crohn's disease. Just mentioned it, didn't make it the focus of a joke at all, just mentioned it in passing. Got a round of oohs for that.
Sometimes I wonder if learning stand-up in Canada is handi-capping the development of my style by pushing comics to adopt more conservative stances.
Stand-up Theory Blog: http://premisepunchtag.wordpress.com
That's not just Toronto, Joel...or Canada.
"So, I recently got married" hits a reflexive nerve to cause applause pretty much everywhere. Indicating that you have a child does the same thing.
Audiences who aren't too drunk generally want to like the people performing for them--which can be a challenge if your comedy style leans towards dark humor...
Like anything, knowingly generating applause lines can be a useful tool for getting the audience on your side and projecting likability...but going to that well too often or thinking that's "the point" can be very annoying. And just as the knowing use of the applause teases and pimps can be seen as pandering, it has also become a standard move to swerve the audience on a tease or a pimp--by getting them to clap for something and then reversing their expectation on that... (i.e., "So, I've been sober for three months..." --audience claps-- "...total, since I was 8 years old..." etc...)
pg--I'm pretty sure Canada is NOT handi-clapping your development--pacific northwest
We'll just take the fact that this was too long and that you didn't read it...as read.
I applaud things that I think deserve it. So yea, it just feels natural, when someone's just killing you with their shit... making me laugh til it hurts and doing jokes that almost seem catered to me, I clap. Times I don't clap that others often do: when someone is announced as coming to the stage that I'm not familiar with (if I like them, then I will certainly applaud next time I see them and they are coming onstage), and when someone is leaving stage that did not entertain me. I recently heard a friend who dies quite a few local shows say at an open mic with some awful performers "I can't do polite laughter anymore, I decided a while back I wouldn't ever do it again." This shocked me to hear. The thought of politely laughing at shit. Isn't open mic about, more than anyhting, a comic or aspiring comic learning what is and what is not well received by an audience?
My theory has always been: Applause seems to happen more often in larger rooms where the audience is detached from the stage, especially from people towards the rear of the room. Audience members want to show their gratitude, so they laugh, but when 200+ people are laughing, they don't feel recognized, so they clap.
I had comics clap and hi five each other one time after a joke,
it meant USC made an interception to seal a victory.
The thing I learned about comedy that night, was don't do a show at a TGIFriday's in Torrance, CA when the home team is on ESPN.
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