My goals:
1) Make as many people I can laugh.
2) Make at least two people's whiskey shoot out of their nose.
3) Create 30 min of stand-up material in next 3 months. I have 5 min now.
4) Film 3 of my performance theaters in next 3 months. I have 0 now.
5) Be funny on my command.
Last edited by Gina Ameba; May 15, 2010 at 8:42 PM.
Number 3 would be impossible for meOriginally Posted by Gina Ameba
.
Or for virtually anyone, really -- assuming you're defining "material" as something that's been tested on stage, proven to be at least moderately effective and polished to some extent. (If it's just a matter of writing stuff down, heck, you can do that in a week. You probably wouldn't want to, but you could.)
Even assuming 5 performances as a minimum for "material," which is probably a bit low but let's go with it, that's 30 x 5 = 150 minutes. Which is certainly manageable in three months -- it's barely over 10 minutes a week. Except...
...well, when you bring new stuff on stage, a lot of it isn't going to become material. A lot of it will flounder. Either it'll just sound bad the minute you say it, or it'll never quite catch on with the audience, or it'll go well once or twice then meet diminishing returns.
Steven Wright estimates that one out of 4-5 jokes he tries makes it into his act long-term. He's a better joke-writer than just about anyone, but he also has an established set of rock-solid A material and no real reason to hang onto lukewarm stuff. But if you're new, hey, any decent material can stick around.
Let's say those factors cancel each other out, and say one in 4 jokes becomes material. Let's also say an average of 2 performances before discarding a joke that fails -- this is a low estimate. This hypothetical comic is bringing a lot of stuff on stage only to discover that it doesn't even sound right for a second.
So 90 minutes of failed attempts of material x 2 = 180 minutes. Add to the 150 minutes before, and you've got 330 minutes of stage time, or 25 per week. Little tougher now... that's 4-5 open mics.
But are you resting all your material after 5 performances? I'd say no -- it's all well and good to have 30 minutes, but you're also going to want to have a 5-7 minute showcase set on top of those 30 minutes, and you're going to want to do that material many times. Let's say your top 5 minutes, you do an average of 20 times in that span -- about 1.5 times per week. Then you've got the A- material, the next 10 minutes, which you throw into the showcase set every so often to see if it fits in there. 10 times per.
Yes, these are very rough estimates... why do you ask?
So that's 15 more performance of the A material (x 5 minutes) plus 5 more of the B material (x 10 minutes ) = 125 + 330 = 455. 35 minutes a week, 5 minutes a day... if you can get that kind of stage time in Oklahoma, let me know, because I'd have to scrounge mightily to get it in LA, and I've been doing this for almost a decade.
So that's...
...wait. Do you ad-lib?
Erik Charles Nielsen is a moderately funny fellow... right?
ZOWEY! ! I have to read that all sober. My math is fuzzy. It sounds solid though. I'm hoping to have sober moment in 2011 if I'm not asking to much. What I found out tonight is I can write 30 min in 20 min but on stage because I'm new it's like really 7 min. Also I mutter up sound writing on stage, which shortens it, but I'v done it one time tonight. This coming eve twice. Hoping that 7 can be 11. In front my mirror its much more. But Im born on a leap year so I really dont know what I'm saying about time. But I ordered an oz so I can do your math later. Im sure your correct. Because I don't know anything about comedy or writing other than I like to make others laugh and I think and hope I can do that. So please keep it coming. I need to learn a lot fast. That's why I'm on site. So, Thanks. I'll comment again when I figure it out (your math). But 4 real a decade. I cant wait to hear more from you. I also don't want to be the bitch that I am straight out, but when I say 30 min I mean 2 hrs stage time not leap year. I'm trying to hide in 30 min. But for a women in comedy for less than two months I need insight. When I have my theater performance worked out. I'll send it to you first.
Thanks all the best,
Gina Ameba
I think thats the most important part. But next is definitely math.
Well, math is math. My assistant does it for me. But to be honest I have strange relationship with math and time, mostly time, part of the draw of comedy and art. My inability to process as others. I also have dyslexia but Im pattern maker and have been chemist. So maybe it just my inability to process others. My math is sound but slow. It still going to take me a day to figure out post formula. Nice to meet you!
Terminal disease or just impatient?
Hey, check me out. I'm a ghost.
If you're starting out you need to learn the craft first before you say "I need to have 30 minutes in the next few months" or whatever. Because you're just setting yourself up for defeat. Take it five minutes at a time. Or best yet, a JOKE at a time. Once you have a solid five minutes that you've stage tested and have down, then move onto the next five. And the next five, etc.
I've noticed a lot of beginners, and I actually did this too starting out, do what I call "writing for your HBO special". I've seen people starting out basically write long blog entries assuming that it'll translate to the stand up stage and suddenly it'll be a new 20 minutes of material. And it never works. Quality is what you should always strive for. Not length.
But that's just my $0.02. There are certainly plenty of ways to do things.
Plus, if you're a beginner you ought to give yourself some leeway. Don't set time tables. Just learn the craft, learn structure, learn stage presense, and have fun.
Last edited by Vercetti; May 19, 2010 at 8:29 AM. Reason: Double post
This is a little late but I guess I'll add my goals.
1) Emcee one more time at a local club where they often ask open-micers to emcee for weekend act (I've done it twice in three months).
2) Advance to the quaterfinals of ACME's Funniest Person in the Twin Cities Contest (I don't expect to win this year).
3) Maintain my pace of performing atleast once a week.
4) Practice before I go on stage. I write jokes, but lately I've become lazy in working them out before I go on stage. Earlier this week I worked out five minutes of new material on my hour and a half drive to the club.
This is true. When I started out, I decided I was never going to do the same material at the same venue twice. This notion lasted me maybe a month -- but by the time it was over, I had written 15-20 minutes, most of which became solid material. When you're very new, writing more than you need is never a bad idea... you can always focus on distilling the material down to a coherent/consistent set later.
Erik Charles Nielsen is a moderately funny fellow... right?
I laughed INTO a glass of whiskey once, whiskey explosion all over the face. Laughing into whiskey, that's the one to go for imho.
Comedy is the best defense mechanism.
-I would like to move to a city where I can get on stage at least 2-3 times a week. Where I live, it's hard to get on stage 2 times a month, due to the open mic schedules.
-I also want to be able to write better, cause I do see my writing getting better every day, but I want to be able to write/edit more "clearly"....if that makes any sense?
-I want to have better gestures and mannerisms on stage. Nothing overdone, but I don't want to just stand there, either.
-I would also like to cut down on my fast food, and drinking habits. Basically, I would like to get in shape, so I have more energy on stage. But I guess that's more of a personal goal, then a comedy one.
-Have 45mins-1hr of material that I'm happy with (Have about 30 right now)
-Find a job
-Save money from said job
-Move to L.A. with said money from said job
1) Move out of Iowa.
2) Take a class at the UCB.
3) Have a internship at a studio.
Got contacted to do PUNCH! when I get back from Prague.
...been in Czech Republic for two days and haven't written anything resembling a journal. Maybe when I take the Kafka tour i'll be inspired.
Also...goal I didn't even think about posting because I thought it wouldn't happen (but already did):
Host at Cap City. Did that about three weeks ago. Super fun; definitely a learning experience. I use notes on-stage a lot but hosting requires you to just get out and connect immediately. It definitely has pushed me to write segues and make more sense.
So how's everyone doing with their goals so far?
I'll start...
1. Finding my voice is going well, every time I take the stage and write a new bit, I learn more about my voice, though I realize this will take many years, if not forever, to accomplish - but the process is really fun.
Im learning alot about what jokes I DONT do. Like I dont do wordplay, I have a few wordplay jokes, but Im not that clever, and when I bust out some wordplay amongst my other stuff, it always sounds lame.
2. I still have trouble getting back "in" to a joke after ive tried it, so Im letting each joke simmer a bit longer before I first test it.
3. Still not having fun on stage, but Im learning to enjoy empty audiences, theyre very low-pressure. Those 10 people arent going to laugh anyways, so might as well have fun.
So, let me guess...years are only five months long in Finland?
pg--You're really not having fun on stage, Phil? What's the point?--pacific northwest
We'll just take the fact that this was too long and that you didn't read it...as read.
Posting Permissions
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote