Comedy Archives - Page 243 of 298 - Ben Rosenfeld

January 14, 2010January 13, 2010

Performance Critique: January 7b

The second open mic of the night

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDUron7WYNY

0m11s I’m in a coat cause it’s freezing

0m21s Even at an open mic, I’m trying to address the situation in the room before going into material

0m48s There were no girls at this open mic, so I had to play pretend

0m53s It was really loud

1m53s You know a joke is going too far if the comics are shocked by it

3m45s I was more focused on scrolling down and it got a better response, this is the funniest line in the Yelp joke

4m24s Two waitresses walked in loudly, so I addressed it

4m38s A better tag would’ve been, “so if any of you run shows and want me to try stealing the girls you bring there, give me a guest spot”

5m45s I almost never expect an applause break but I was so giddy about this joke while writing it, I could see it in my head

6m06s The Shakespeare one liner is two for two on the day

Overall: This went fairly well for an open mic and fully convinced me I need to significantly tighten my Yelp joke. The Shakespeare joke is ready for a real audience and the suicide joke needs to keep being tinkered.

January 14, 2010January 13, 2010

Performance Critique: January 7a

This is a 4pm open mic, there are five other comedians in the room

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zBkpECDEjs

0m32s It was an accidental pause between “dropped out of a phd program in neuroeconomics” and “because it was getting in the way of comedy” but that pause might cause the line to get a laugh

1m32s I didn’t do a big enough smile after the line

3m01s It was a server putting down candles, whoops

4m01s Start the scroll slow, then speed it up, this can be stretched out for dramatic effect

5m35s I’m excited about this joke, but I need to make it a lot shorter

5m57s This is me trying to write a joke on stage, it’s a lot harder to do this at an open mic than with a real audience

6m56s I did a similar version of this joke off the top of my head in improv class two days earlier and it got a huge laugh, but I didn’t write it out and tighten it for stand up yet, and it shows

9m23s Decent improvised reaction

9m33s This isn’t me doing a joke, I’m just working on being conversational on stage

Part 2

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwGn_wgYTh0

Overall: Even at a five person open mic I still learned something (mostly because this was a lot of new material that these comics hadn’t heard before). The Yelp joke needs to be a lot shorter but has potential and the superpower joke will be funny once I figure out how to present it. It was nice to be able to do a set longer than seven minutes, even if it was for other comics.

January 13, 2010January 13, 2010

Performance Critique: January 6

Wednesday Night Show, I’m the MC

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO34BjES57E

0m22s I’m working on being super friendly when I’m the MC

0m58s I should’ve waited an extra second before introducing myself

1m18s After “you’ll get yours” I should’ve added “if you ask nicely”

3m09s I’m trying to not crouch when I do my mom’s voice so that it sounds more consistent and doesn’t use my throat muscles as much

3m38s Put more emphasis on the word “all”

4m08s That was a fun save of turning a complete miss into making it seem like I was right the whole time

4m22s Good job making it a running joke that there’s a contest for my affection

4m47s Truth in comedy

6m29s Say “that failed” instead of “that didn’t work out”

7m16s After not being able to explain Medicare last night, I was able to dumb it down into three words tonight

Overall: This was a good MC job, I did some material, I did some crowd work and I seemed friendly like a good host should. Not all of my jokes got huge laughs, but a few did and I created some inside jokes that only make sense for this specific audience which I referenced in between comics (hitting on the multiple groups of girls, etc)

January 13, 2010January 13, 2010

Performance Critique: January 4

Monday night show

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzbpxFNP_Xw

0m20s There was about 10 people and eight were on one side, and two on the other, so I commented on it

0m53s I should’ve added a second joke about the man date right after that

1m56s Good job doing a long pause, keep doing that

2m12s And they almost have a pulse

2m43s I did the mom lines way too quick, I need to pause after each one

4m30s It’s fun to call out something an audience members does and then watch them do it again (as long as it’s not talking while I’m talking)

5m44s It was a mostly foreign crowd so I decided to explain Medicare, and humorously failed when I couldn’t think of an explanation

Overall: I didn’t have a good set but I did learn to milk my pauses for longer during my opening Facebook joke. Almost every joke only had two or three people laughing (a.k.a 30% of the audience).

January 11, 2010November 28, 2023

“Stealing Jokes” – My Thoughts

Ironically, I stole this image from a Google image search

You’re waiting your turn to go up on a show and suddenly you hear a bit that sounds real familiar. You’ve never seen this comic before but you know the next three punch lines. Hell you don’t just know ‘em, you wrote ‘em. “Hey, I’ve been doing that joke for weeks. What the hell?”

Many comic fear having their material stolen. I think it’s more rational to fear the microphone exploding in your eyes and blinding you than it is to be afraid that your precious jokes will be stolen. Sure this happens occasionally, but it is not as often as some comics like to think. Two of the most ridiculous statements I’ve heard over the past year are: “I don’t do open mics because they steal my jokes” and “LA open mic comics go on youtube, watch NYC open mic comics and take their material.” Both statements are excuses. The first is to excuse a comic’s laziness or lack of motivation to get on stage as much as possible. (Although I do think open mics become less valuable after you’ve been on stage a few hundred times.) The second quote is an excuse usually said by someone who doesn’t have a good video to post. It’s much easier to say “I’d post a video but I don’t want my material being stolen” instead of saying “I don’t have a video where the audience is laughing for five straight minutes, I need to get funnier.” Which of course begs the question, why are you worried about your unfunny material being stolen? If you’re afraid of getting your jokes stolen, you should put ALL of your videos online. What could make for more convincing evidence that you did a bit first?

If your jokes are being “stolen” something else might actually be happening: You’re writing hacky material or are being too topical. There’s only so many ways to do a marijuana joke and every comedian and their mother has written a Tiger Woods, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton joke. Your punch line about “eighteen holes” or “a hole in one” wasn’t stolen, it was just so obvious that five other comics thought of a very similar joke. I remember reading Lisa Lampenelli’s book and she mentions how at the Comedy Central Roasts she’d have a pen with her to cross out the jokes on her set list that the other comedians had already done about the guest of honor. Did all those professionals steal each other’s jokes? No! There’s just only so many Pamela Andersen fake tits and Tommy Lee has big cock punch lines one can think up.

So how do you solve this joke overlap? Make your material more personal. Very few comedians can steal my Russian family material because it would be inauthentic and make no sense to their stage persona. So focus on your life and find the funny in it. Hint: It usually involves pain. A comic, I forget who once told me, “comedy = pain + time” and “until you’re at George Carlin’s level, nobody gives a shit about your political opinion.” I agree: focus on your unique life situation and figuring it out how to get the audience to connect with it. Should you still write Tiger Woods jokes? Yes, because that’s still working on writing a joke, and if you get picked up by a TV show, you’ll need to be able to generate topical jokes daily. Just don’t be surprised when you hear three very similar jokes from comics you’ve never met. (And yes, I know I need to make my material more personal too, it’s a work in progress.)

Ok, let’s say your jokes are personal and they’re actually being stolen. In a fucked up way, it’s an honor to get your jokes stolen, that means you’re getting funny! And you should only be afraid of getting jokes stolen if you’re not planning on developing as a writer and performer. Fear of jokes being stolen means your jokes are coming from a place of scarcity, not of abundance. It shows you believe there to be a limited amount of jokes you’ll be able to write and that one of the 10 or 12 jokes you were able to come up with has been taken away. This usually means you’re not writing enough.

Jon Stewart, David Letterman, Conan and all those guys deliver ten to fifteen minutes of new jokes every show (sure they have a whole writing staff, but that’s not the point). If you’re trying to be around the comedy business for a long time you’re going to need write hours and hours of good material. Having one bit stolen here or there won’t make a huge difference. If you’re so funny that all your material is being stolen, start lifting weights, then say something. A comedian may have had your joke go into his subconscious and come out months later as a similar joke. Talk to them first and figure out who’s been doing it first. Comics don’t want to be known as joke thieves because once they have that reputation, everyone avoids them and 95% of your gigs are through other comics.

Wanna try stand-up comedy yourself? Consider taking my NYC Comedy Class or booking a private one-on-one comedy coaching session (in person or via Zoom)

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