Want to try doing Stand up Comedy?

Have you been in the situation when you laugh at something, and people around you look at you wondering what’s going on? Then you tell them what you thought about and they laugh too? If that so, you’ve probably got something. Of course that’s not the only criterion, but if you have the gift of often seeing funny stuff in ordinary things, articles, TV-commercials and everyday situations, it is a big benefit if you want to try stand up. A comedian is like a big mirror, reflects the funny stuff and “translates” it so other people can see what so funny with it. They might have seen this milk carton all their lives not realizing how funny it is until you tell them. I don’t say that anyone can be a great stand up comedian, but if you have something of this you can give it a try. Everybody started somewhere…

Now, if you already thought of this you might think “Well get to the point you semi-old fool!” But if you use that kind of language to me you can just forget I tell you anything! All you other folks are welcome to keep reading.

 1) WATCH
Start watching stand up comedy LIVE. Find every single comedy club in the neighbourhood and consider these places as your second home. YouTube is great, but it still can’t beat the real thing. The magic between a comedian and his/her audience never goes through a screen. Taped comedy is a complement, but not more.

 2) NETWORKING
While being in those clubs, start to talk with the comedians. Tell them that you want to try it onstage and ask for tips. Ask who you could contact, if they know any try out-club around and so on. Try get into the network of comedians where you live, make friends! You can learn much and maybe get some help. People doing comedy are mostly very helpful and nice people.

 3) COLLECTING
Collect material to your own first act. How? Buy a small notebook and keep it in your pocket together with a pencil. If you forget to change your underwear, it’s ok, but always bring your notebook around. It has never happened that one find something funny and remembers it in the end of the day. Write it down! At once! If you say something funny to your friends and they laugh, if you see a commercial and laughs, if you read something you consider funny, always write it down.

One thing is really, really important! You should never use other comedians’ material. Only time that would be ok is when you pay them to write comedy material for you. But that definitely won’t be the first to do when you are a rookie.

4) PUT TOGETHER
Now when you have some notebook-material, find the funniest parts of it. It’s probably a lot of rubbish, but some percent might be comedy gold! Put the best together, and try also to write down something about yourself. The city where you come from, your funny accent or that you seldom changes your underwear. Put the funniest joke first in your act and the second funniest joke last. Always start strong and finish strong. Try to get some experienced comedian to have a look at your written act and give you some advice too.

5) YOUR FIRST GIG
When you get a spot in a try out-club, you might have about 3-5 minutes onstage (this vary a bit, but we use that as an example). If you want to come back it’s a good idea to respect the time limit. Remember that 3-5 minutes onstage is equivalent to about 2-3,5 minutes in front of the mirror at home. That’s not much, but managing to tell so many jokes as possible there is three golden comedy rules. Cut, cut and cut! Look in your text where your setups and punches are. Cut away words that you don’t need for the joke to work. They probably are many more than you think, especially in the setups. If you get rid of the unnecessary words your punches come more often and you probably do a better show.

6) REMEMBER
Last, and most important: Have fun! Have fun collecting material, have fun onstage, have fun with your new comedy buddies.

NOTE: Of course this whole process often implies with some anguish, lack of self confidence and stress. That’s perfectly natural and nothing to worry about. You are healthy if you are scared of climbing a stand up scene. But once you’ve tried there is a risk that you want to do it again.

Good luck!