Stand Up Comedy Tips

From Adviceopedia

Some of the most important stand up comedy tips aren't related to the actual performance. Before you even get up on the stage, it's very important to know how to market yourself and how to prepare. Playing off the audience and performing well will come naturally if you've taken care of the marketing and the rehearsals.

Stand Up Comedy Tips: Preparing to Performing

Stay Current

Don't use jokes from 1996 and expect to get much of a life. Current events are a good way to get anything from a giggle to a guffaw from your audience, but the shelf life is generally around three days; then it's on to the next thing. Stay current on pop culture, politics, and any other subjects you're naturally drawn to. Look for the humor, use it, and then quickly move on to the next funny or ironic situation in the news.

Submit Your Jokes

You'll obviously want to watch others perform in comedy clubs, on television, and then read some books by comedians. You can also watch stand up comedy routines to your heart's content on YouTube and similar sites. However, to truly know how your jokes measure up, you might want to submit them to local television and radio stations. Depending on the type of response you get, you could use that as a marketing tool or learn how to tweak your jokes in order to get the laughs you want from your crowd.

Find the Place Where You Work Best

Some people write best at home while others have to have external stimuli and work best in a public place while they're coming up with new material. While many tips are geared to the performance aspect of stand up comedy, you'll need solid material above all else. Once you decide where you feel most inspired to work, mark off blocks of time in your schedule to go there and do the work.

Try Something New

While it's important to find what you're good at and cultivate that into an amazing stand up routine, don't be afraid to branch into other types of humor. Try going to a class to stretch your skills in directions you'd never have pursued otherwise. You may find that your skills are much more versatile than you'd imagined or you may find a whole new comedy avenue to take that you're even more enthusiastic about.

Develop a Thick Skin

Even if you're a great comedian, you'll have your bad nights. You'll have your bad audiences. Be prepared to meet a stony silence or a rude drunk who has no problem telling you what he thinks of your jokes. Come up with ways to play off the less than ideal responses from audience members in a way that will make them laugh at themselves. If you don't develop a thick skin, the negative response could quickly make your night miserable or send you into a tirade you would never have launched into if you'd kept a cool head.

Market Yourself

Since you never know whom you may meet, it's nice to be prepared. Have business cards made and keep them in your wallet or purse. Give them out and attach them to bulletin boards in public places. It also wouldn't hurt to have a few copies of your resume, CDs or DVDs that show you performing in front of a live audience, or headshots with your contact information on the back. Networking is critical in any sort of job where you need to meet as many people as possible and really sell your skills in order to make any money.

Be Prepared

Carry a notebook so you can write down funny thoughts as they happen instead of trying to remember them later when you sit down at your computer to write. Make sure to rehearse in front of the mirror or a camera before you perform.

Perform, Already!

You've heard the saying: Practice makes perfect. Sign up for open mic nights at local establishments and get ready to make your crowd laugh. If you can, record your performance and watch it later. Critique yourself. Learn where your timing could have been better, look for missed opportunities to engage your audience even more, and think of ways you could make your jokes even funnier. You can prepare and prepare for ages and read all the stand up comedy tips out there, but until you perform, you won't really begin to grow as a comedian.

Stick to Your Time

Whether you're having a bad performance or you're on a roll, stick to your allotted time slot. Leaving too early or going over your time limit can hurt your professional image. You'll need to be adaptable.