Comedy Questions From Beginners For Experienced Comics

[Roadside Phil]

You'll do scores of gigs in places with weird names, weird audiences, weird mic stands. Just think of every show as an adventure. Don't crap on the venue, as they usually don't like it.

And as to the "that's my time" question... I too hate that phrase. Ending a show is tricky. Ideally you want to get your best line out, huge laugh, exit stage. My long shows end with a song and people are conditioned to clap, so it's a little easier. But when I don't have the guitar, I still know what my best closer is and go with that.

I think a gimmick exit can be cool. Like the half a joke and leave. One night a buddy of mine called the waitress over and asked her to hold the mic for a second. He then left the stage through the back door and never returned. Funny.

I pretty much just say "Thanks, I'm Phil Johnson. Good night." Simple. Don't wait to plug your merch until then though. They're clapping and they won't hear you. If you're only going to do it once, do it just before your last bit.

[Cerak]

Ah, yes, merch.

I don't have any, and I've only seen 2 comics try to plug theirs in real life but is there a not-awkward way to work that into your set?

Also, how do you guys juggle working and comedy? Or, do you even? Temp work, what's that about?

[Cameron]

Ah, yes, merch.

I don't have any, and I've only seen 2 comics try to plug theirs in real life but is there a not-awkward way to work that into your set?

Are you headlining or featuring? Because it's my feeling that emcees or (especially) open micers shouldn't be selling anything. As an open micer or emcee, you should just be worried about getting better, gaining experience, and making connections, not selling a dick joke t-shirt. Plus, a lot of clubs don't allow their emcees to sell and even if you are at a club that allows it, you should probably get permission from the headliner to do so.

[Cerak]

No, no, no, I'm not planning on selling any. Not for a LOOOONG time, anyway, I just saw it happening and the question came to mind.

[Cameron]

No, no, no, I'm not planning on selling any. Not for a LOOOONG time, anyway, I just saw it happening and the question came to mind.

Gotcha. In that case, the more you see it happening the less awkward it seems. It just becomes a normal part in seeing a road comic. And it makes sense because it's damn near impossible to make a living as a road comic without it.

[Cerak]

Gotcha. In that case, the more you see it happening the less awkward it seems. It just becomes a normal part in seeing a road comic. And it makes sense because it's damn near impossible to make a living as a road comic without it.

Well, that pretty much answer my work/comedy balance question too.

Thank you!

[Davescotts]

i was thinking of doing improv only because i cant realy tell a joke or story very well i honestly dont know what way to go improv or stsndup i know that this is horribly put though

[Alex Mac]

Those things don't have to be exclusive to each other. Do what you want and if that means doing both, you do both.

[Davescotts]

yhea thats what i thought but im sort of torn of which one to start with i think

[drieux]

Sounds like your only option is to curl up into a ball and cry. Good luck!

[Davescotts]

I will try that as well

[drieux]

I realize my last post in this thread could totally be interpreted as me being a dick, so I apologize for that. But this has been covered in the stage time thread before - people who haven't done either standup or improv yet who say they want to, but are coming up with excuses as to why they haven't.

If you want to try standup, find an open mic and write out a set and give it a shot. If you want to try improv, find a group or a class and see what you can do to participate. I guarantee the actual experience of doing both, and learning how to get good at both, are totally different than what you think they are.

I encourage you (and everybody that says they want to try these things) to go out and do it. But if you don't, realize that most of the things stopping you from doing it are of your own creation. Whether you start one or the other first means nothing.

[ErikNielsen]

As far as the required commitment goes, I will say this: you're going to have to do a certain amount of training before your first improv show, and classes generally cost money. Stand-up, by comparison, is quick and free -- as the guy says, you just go out to an open mic and start telling jokes.

I'll also say that that's a mixed blessing. The speed was the main thing that drew me to stand-up in the first place, actually -- I had just spent two months planning a novel that went nowhere, and a year off-and-on trying to draw an Internet comic strip that I never quite managed to commit to. I wanted something that I could do and get immediate feedback on.

At the same time, I know that if I had bombed my first couple times up, I probably would've written comedy off entirely. Given that I killed my first few shows, that didn't happen. But the fact that I didn't make any easily correctable mistakes that nevertheless doomed my first couple sets doesn't mean I couldn't have done so. If you're not feeling confident, you might be better off with something like improv, where someone's going to lead you into the basics, you're not expected to know what's going on from the beginning, and even if you do take some time to get up to speed, you're not facing a series of discouraging on-stage failures.

[Cameron]

Anthony Jeselnik just tweeted this:

"If you write me for advice on how to be a comedian, the nicest thing I can do is not write back. Just do it."

[Vercetti]

Anthony Jeselnik just tweeted this:

"If you write me for advice on how to be a comedian, the nicest thing I can do is not write back. Just do it."

Good advice. It really is that easy. Or hard, depending on how you look at it.

[MJEH]

[ErikNielsen]

Harrumph.

[Cerak]

I know this sounds weird but, what do you guys do when you get complimented?

After sets, if someone comes up to talk to me, my social anxiety shifts into high gear and I have a really hard time knowing the line between beingajerkbynotbeinggraciousenough and beingajerkbecauseI'moverllygracious.

[CaptainBreakfast]

Mostly my head screams "LIES!!!" and then I avoid people for a few days.

[pg13]

I know this sounds weird but, what do you guys do when you get complimented?

Smile.

Then, say "Thank you."

pg--Was raised right.--seattle

PS--Optional bonus... After saying "Thank you," ask the person who just complimented you what their name is (assuming you don't already know it)...then, after repeating their name back to them accurately, thank them again while shaking their hand.