Learning Standup Comedy For Today’s Tough Crowd
News flash…it’s a tough world out there. Things that were funny years ago aren’t so funny anymore. We’ve got more entertainment now than we know what to do with. If you don’t have at least 200 cable stations, you’re living in the stone ages. Comedy is all around. So if you’re thinking of becoming a standup comic and making people laugh, you have your work cut out for you. Hopefully, these tips will help you get an edge on the competition.
For starters, you better know who your competition is. That means you have to do your research. Some of this is easy. Watch guys like Leno and Letterman. These guys are the crème de le crème. You can learn a lot from watching them on TV. They’re current and they’re good. In addition to that, you want to go to the local comedy clubs as often as you can and see who your immediate competition is. If you’re not as good as these guys, you have a lot of work ahead of you. Find out what kind of material they do, what goes over and what doesn’t. Make notes…lots of them.
Secondly, you want to get yourself a manager. This is going to be somebody who not only will do everything he can to get you gigs but also tell you when your act stinks. He is going to be brutally honest with you if he’s any good at all. So make sure that you perform for him before you perform for anybody else. This way, you’ll really know where you stand.
A lot of people don’t want to do this because they just think they’re naturally funny (don’t we all) but you might want to consider taking formal standup classes. They’ll actually teach you how to deliver a joke. Think about it. Did you ever hear a joke that one person told and it was a real scream that when told by somebody else fell flat as a pancake? It’s all in the delivery, and a formal training can greatly help with that delivery.
Finally, and I can’t stress this enough. You MUST have the right attitude to make it in this business. That not only means believing in yourself but also developing a thick skin. Not everybody is going to like you. Some will flat out boo you off the stage. Get used to it.
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