Tag Archives: audience

4 Ways Stand Up Comedy Makes You a Better Writer

Posted in Diary of an Amateur Comedian by

Writing is writing is writing, and no matter what kind you do, the goal is always the same. You want to get your point across as effectively, clearly, and concisely as possible. Unless of course your name is Herman Melville–geez, that guy!  I’ve tried to read Moby Dick like three times, and only ever get 12 pages in. Herman, read this post!

While my “professional” writing experience has been limited to stand up and sketch comedy and a couple of plays, the same rules apply. What I have learned from all this funny business is useful information for writing of all kinds.

1. Be Concise

The point of all writing is to get your point across in as few words as possible to make the most impact. Comedy is all about this. I’ve written before on the importance of being concise because, especially with stand up, no one wants to hear the five minutes of long-winded background to a joke – they want to hear the punch-lines. And if you want your readers to stay with you on your writing quests, you have to give them what they came for. Treasure!!

Cut out redundencies, choose words carefully, and create the best structure to accomplish max impact. BOOM!

2. Know Your Audience

While it may be a mutual dream for us all to write for our target audience (people with our same brains and funny bones), this is rarely the case. And we all want to spread our field of influence to gain a greater audience, right?  Right. Sometimes this means adjusting your voice to suit the type of audience that you are writing for in a particular case. I’m not going to go do a gig at a high school and tell all the dirtiest, cussiest jokes I know (I don’t actually have any…) because that would be considered “inappropriate”. Apparently. Depending on the assignment, you should adjust your tone, word use, structure, or length to accommodate a certain demographic.

3. People Pleasers

As with all art, writing is subjective and it’s impossible to please everyone with every single thing you write. There will always be some stupid dumb know-nothing idiot who doesn’t like your work or your opinion or your punctuation use, and they can all go straight to HECK!?!?!! But it is important to appeal to the audience with your writing and give people a reason to read/listen to your work.

People may offer you criticism, and you can take it or leave it, but rejection is and always will be part of the writing game. I wrote a post just last week about how accepting feedback helps you grow as a writer. Do what you love to the best of your abilities.  Keep your fans/followers/readers happy as long as it keeps you happy, and your audience will continue to grow.

4. Practise Makes Perfect

Most normal people have to really work hard to become great at the thing they are passionate about.  There are weird freaks who are naturally skilled at EVERYTHING (dicks), but they’re exceptions to the rule. Big, stupid exceptions. But as with comedic pursuits, writing is not something that people are just going to automatically start paying you for because you’re so wonderful. You have to pay your dues, do a LOT of free work, and practise perfecting your craft. But if you’re doing what you love, then doing it should be enjoyable, so no sweat!

Comedy Courtesy

Posted in Diary of an Amateur Comedian by

As every comedian is well aware, it’s not likely that you’ll do a show that is going to pay thousands of dollars and be in a theatre packed with avid comedy fans.  More often than not, you’re getting paid in leftover popcorn and watered-down beer to perform in the basementof a pizza place where comedy-haters who came for a quiet slice were herded downstairs by the show’s promoter.  As you can imagine, this audience can be a hard nut to crack.  If you see the audience isn’t reacting the way you would hope, there are a few key things that you can do that will keep you from falling into a pit to despair.

FOUR SIMPLE RULES

Firstly, try to read the audience and give them what they want.  Every audience is different and will laugh at different things.  Be aware that a group of middle-aged, wine-sipping tourists will react differently than a group of beer-bonging college kids, and be respectful of that.  It’s your job to make people laugh and in order to do that you may have to alter your set and/or delivery.

Second, commit to your jokes.  Even if the audience is sucking your will to live, stay confident.  You know you are funny and unique, so stay true to yourself.  If you normally deliver jokes as a cheerful optimist, fake that you are cheerfully optimistic and people may just believe you!  The last thing an empty/quiet/laughless room needs is negative commentary on how the night seems to be going.  The audience will remember the comic who went up there and just told their jokes in a way more positive light than the comedians who got up there and scoffed at the poor turnout and lack of laughter.

Third, keep it tight.  This particular situation may not be the time to do your seventeen minutes of new rape jokes (but then again, it never is).  Maybe you just do the tight five that you know rocks and throw in one or two new bits to test the waters.  Just try your best to give the audience what they came/were forced down there for, and that’s all you can do.

Lastly, and most importantly, don’t you DARE beg for laughter.  I can’t stand it when comedians stand up on stage and belittle an audience because they won’t laugh at their jokes.  Sometimes people aren’t laughing because the comic is just NOT FUNNY!  Pure and simple.  A comedian’s job is to entertain an audience, not scold them.  Shame on you for thinking that!  Make light of the situation and it won’t end up being such a big deal anymore.

THE SUMMARY CHEAT-SHEET

DO                                                                             DON’T

– stay positive                                                     – lose confidence in yourself

– know your audience                                      – try to force laughter

– appreciate the audience you have          – berate the audience

– your best!                                                          – give up and admit defeat

– a tight set of good jokes                               – try 10 minutes of new material

Whatever obstacles you may run into performing, all you can do is your best and give the audience what they came for.  As long as they leave having had a positive experience, who cares how much they laughed.