This was an open mic with 6 to 8 people in the audience.
0m53s I pointed to a specific couple when I said “whipped”. Not sure if that’s a good idea to do, but it seemed to get a laugh here.
1m55s I’m a fan of saying “I’ll pander to the crowd, I don’t give a shit.”
3m02s I thought I had five minutes, but got the light after three. At open mics, I’m not great with reacting when I don’t think I’m getting the amount of time I should be. It later turned out that this guy gives two minute warnings (for reasons unknown).
Overall: I enjoyed telling my pot joke. And I need to learn to not react when I get the light earlier (or later) than I’m expecting.
I had a guest spot in Washington, DC on a sold out pro show that featured Robin Montague and Kevin Lee. This was a Valentine’s Weekend special show. I went up between two comedians who’d done multiple television appearance. I loved it.
(The person who taped it didn’t realize he was taping sideways, and my video editing skills (or software) are lacking. If anyone can guide me through how to rotate the clip, I’d appreciate it — I have Windows Movie Maker 5.1 and Canon ImageMixer 3.)
0m38s I need to look at a specific person when I ask “Do you know why that is?”
1m25s I’m still trying to figure out why some audiences die at “some people don’t realize there’s some photos you don’t put there” and others are completely silent. It has to mean something in terms of what jokes that follow will or won’t work.
1m58s That was a great tone for “you hate your dog”.
2m48s This is one of the best reactions I’ve ever gotten at this part.
2m53s I love how the guy taping me starts to comment on it.
4m19s I didn’t have a good follow up yet, so I did a little dance. Better than a dear in headlights look.
4m40s Video evidence that if I pause long enough for this joke, they will laugh.
5m16s I didn’t say “actually” the best way that I could.
6m53s Good recovery after two straight jokes bombed.
6m58s But I don’t adjust and go into my third economy joke. I should’ve known better and moved into different material.
7m40s In addition to my earlier note about doing the pole grind for longer, I should just do it instead of describing it. And try to combine it with the crazy sounds, all without words.
8m03s I was supposed to do a “tight five minute set” but I didn’t get the light until 7 minutes, so I didn’t close on my regular closer, but I’m not complaining about the extra time.
Overall: I think my first 5 minutes were solid, but I lost the audience somewhere after that. Most likely at the “still won’t blow you” punch line. This is obvious, but doing sold out or packed shows is so much better than doing 5 or 10 person rooms. I also need to keep working on my subway joke. I may even want to consider turning it into a bus joke, since most of the country doesn’t have subways.
How do you go about writing new material? Is it just things that seem funny to you in real life, or do you sit down and try to think up funny situations, or what?
Hey Andrew,
I always have a small moleskin notebook with me (and an iPhone as a backup) so I write down anything I think, see or hear that’s funny. Sometimes this will lead to me writing a joke on the spot, sometimes it’ll just be a few key words that I later try to write into full jokes. I also try to write on trains or subways through free association. I look around until I find something interesting and start to write about it. (There’s plenty of inspiration in NYC just by looking at people or advertisements, not sure if this holds true everywhere.)
Later, I’ll rewrite my notebook jokes into a GoogleDocs file. (Your hard drive can crash, Google Docs is safer and you can access your jokes from anywhere, including an iPhone / Blackberry.) After that, I’ll either try it out on stage or IM it to a few friends and get their feedback. I’ve found that not looking at a joke for a day or two will help you be a better editor when you rewrite it. And all of my jokes need to be said out loud at least 10 times before they become funny-.
Also, after trying a joke on stage, if it gets laughs, I try to think about how to add more punchlines to the same topic. You can go setup -> punchline, set up -> punchline, setup -> punchline, or you can try to go setup -> punchline -> punchline -> punchline.
One goal in stand up is to maximize the laughs per minute. You can do this by talking really fast (which is generally a bad idea) or by having more punchlines and less setup. This is also why you’ll always hear comics say “get to the punchline quicker.” (The other goal in standup is to maximize the intensity of each laugh.)
I read that Jerry Seinfeld had a long sheet of paper with dates and “X”s on it. For every day he wrote, he’d put an X. His whole mantra is to “keep the chain going”. I’ve been trying this but with three columns: sit ups (I don’t wanna be a fat comic), writing material and performing stand up. I try to do all three daily but don’t always succeed. I keep this paper close by though, so I at least remember and have something to strive towards.
I forget who said this, but I read a quote something like “I only write when inspiration strikes. However, inspiration strikes me every day at 7am sharp.” I’m working towards getting this discipline.
This is the second straight sold out show I did on valentine’s day. I went first this time, right after the host.
1m07s Put my hand to my eyes before I start asking “who is that…”
2m31s I keep forgetting to do this. If I get off track talking to an audience member, I need to go back a line and repeat it, or else my punch line falls flat.
3m03s I love it when that line kills so much that I have to start walking around to let everyone laugh comfortably.
4m27s Just like in my previous critique, I need to have a good response ready.
4m41s I didn’t have enough time to do the full dating personalities bit, so I cut out some parts. Knowing thatI was cutting “the dinner girl”, I should’ve just went from “She’s homeless now” to “I met a new dating personality, the snuggle slut” without all the words in between.
5m19s I need to say “everyone in New York” in a more surprised manner.
Overall: When you go first, it’s harder to expect to kill the whole set as people are still ordering drinks, etc. (Although Seinfeld would still kill.) As long as you get some laughs on every joke, and a big laugh in one or two places, you’re doing pretty well. I really need to remember to rewind to my setups if I start talking to audience members, so that my punch lines don’t lose their punch when the audience forgets what I was talking about.
I barked Saturday night and pulled in 14 people to the two shows that I did. Both shows were so packed and sold out, that I had to run my camera from the control room. When that door is closed, you can’t hear the laughter as much.
0m38s I stumbled over some words and had to repeat them. “Clap only if you’re here with the person you hooked up with…” is awkward to say. I have yet to think of a better way to convey the point without adding words.
0m44s If two people clap, I shouldn’t say “exactly no one” but should say “see, almost no one.” It’s best not to make it seem that I don’t consider some people to be people…
1m36s If people clap, there’s no need to say “you got social networking sites like myspace and facebook”
2m12s No need to say “then I’ll stop asking people” as I think I’m the only one who noticed I started three straight bits with a question.
2m23s Use grammar: “They’ll put him to a pet spa”, god I hate myself sometimes.
3m56s Pause for a second longer after “this or tennis”
4m41s My new “myspace” line has been getting a mix of laughs and “oooo’s” so I’m trying to think of a follow up line. As of Feb 20 (the day I’m writing this post), I think I’m going to try “Man, they didn’t tell me this was a child molesters convention” or “wow, I hope you’re all registered pursuant to Megan’s Law.”
4m55s Don’t move until they start to get the joke. It shows a lack of confidence.
4m57s The show was so packed they set up a table on the side of the stage and put two more people there. I decided to high five them, cause high fives are awesome (and my joke didn’t get a great response, so I mighta panicked a little).
5m27s I said the word “actually” with the wrong tonality and ruined the punch line.
5m43s Pause for an extra second while holding the shot glass and try to force the laugh
6m09s By reacting to an audience member saying “oh shit” the rest of the audience lost their way a little and my fan base punch line didn’t hit very well.
6m24s I got more time than I planned so I wound up closing with a joke I don’t usually close with.
6m43s Ta-ta-ta taaa, bad grammar strikes again! What the hell is a “stripper-subway pole”
6m44s If I’m gonna grind on the pole, I should grind on it for a while.
7m00s Try a call back to the crazy sound.
Overall: Not counting the few stumbles over my words, I got good laughs and the crowd had fun. I didn’t feel great when I came off stage, but when I listened to the voice recording, I felt much better.
