Ten Steps to Become a Great Emcee (Host)

01 March 2009 | By Ben in Comedy

Multiple pro comics I know say that nobody wants to Emcee anymore but that Emceeing skills train you to become very funny very fast and give you the ability to headline quicker. With that in mind, I asked one of the pros I talk to for his tips on how to be a great MC, here is the advice I took away.

  1. Come in with super high energy. You want to get the audience’s energy as high as possible
  2. Get a couple of rounds of cheap applause (“Clap it up for yourselves”, “Who’s happy it’s a Friday night?)
  3. Next go straight into crowd work, asking the standard questions like “Where are you from?”, “What do you do for work”, etc. Try to make jokes about their answers, or joke about the fact that their answers are boring
  4. Don’t ask more than 3 tables in a row, or people will hate you
  5. Get some more cheap applause
  6. Do a couple of your jokes
  7. Repeat step 3 through 6 as needed, establish the pattern.
  8. Get a final round of applause (“Who’s ready to get this show started?) then bring out the first comic
  9. When you come on stage between each comic, make sure to maintain a super high level of energy to keep the audience in their seats and excited about the next comic
  10. Most important, the emcee has to be a person. You can’t talk at people, you have to talk to them. (This applies to regular stand up spots as well, but especially if you’re the host.)

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3 Comments on “Ten Steps to Become a Great Emcee (Host)”

  1. 07 March 2009 | Comedy Critique 36: Feb 24 | Ben Rosenfeld - Comedian Said:

    [...] I did okay hosting but had a talk with the owner later about how to be a better host. You can find that post here. I plan on using these tips and being a better host next time I do [...]

     

  2. 16 April 2009 | Performance Critique: March 28th Show 1 | Ben Rosenfeld - Comedian Said:

    [...] questions that almost every host does with a bunch of tables up front at the start of the show. See here for more on how to be a good [...]

     

  3. 22 December 2009 | jimmy Said:

    i am very in need on how to be a good emcee,because it is a line of my job of my work in a progressive store company here in the PHILIPPINES. then when we have a sale we will have a show making lots of surprises and giving more prizes to our shoppers and as of now i feel confident and in a good place for being an emcee because lots of ideas i apply from your advice….thank you very much

     

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