Forum: Stage Time

Hello comedic pursuers, Remember the days where you went to an open mic in New York City just to watch talented up and coming comedians and the occasional crazy person? Me either, but legend has it that the entertaining Manhattan open mic once existed 10, 20, 30 years ago and I believe that it...

So I've worked my ass off the past 6 months getting a weekly open mic night set up in my town and keeping people interested in checking out local talent. This past month, there has been a nasssty open mic'r come in and do about 10 minutes of horrible, low brow stuff. Talking about child abduction,...

I came up with a good idea for a show, and no one else wants to spearhead it, so it looks like it's up to me. The show will be either free or just cheap enough to cover our costs. Hopefully free. Here's what I have so far: 1.) an idea for the show. 2.) some people to be in the show...

Previously my only experience opening for a band was a fifteen-minute spot at a Little River Band show at a biker fest when I was only six months into doing open mikes. Needless to say, that was a disaster. There were probably fifty people there when I was onstage. The show this Saturday will...

Hey everyone, I am putting together a resource to post on my stand-up comedy blog Premise Punch Tag that lists the addresses of some good comedy blogs on the internet. I did a recent one listing Toronto podcasts, and I hope to do a follow-up podcast round-up that is larger in scope in the...

Hey, I'm new here, I have been writing comedy online for years now in a bunch of blogs and online mags, some ghosting and some not. I also started my own blog recently NY Humor, which basically gives me an outlet for the type of writing I feel I am best at: sarcastic comedy. I am sure many...

Hey everyone, In the last two weeks I launched a new blog about stand up theory called Premise PUNCH Tag. It was partly inspired by the intellectual discussions I have enjoyed reading on this forum. The purpose of the blog is to explore stand up theory, offer resources to comedians like...

Interesting chat on WTF between Marc and Whitney Cummings about this. Marc wonders if he should talk specifically about a topic, or generally. Marc: "So as soon as you say, "I", it's you and them. And the risk is, how many people are really going to understand this? Is this going to be...

Looking to try freelance comedy writing, but have no idea where to submit. So far I've submitted to MAD magazine, and plan to try for New Yorker's shouts and murmurs section. Here are the submission guidelines. http://www.dccomics.com/mad/?action=submissions...

What are they saying with their clappage? What does it signify? Aren't laughs preferred? Let me know....

removed, thanks for the advice all!

My friend and I are putting together a showcase/open mic at our college and are a little puzzled over how to light the stage. It's going to be in a small coffee shop on campus, but we want the room to be dark except for a spotlight on the stage. We have limited funds to work with (i.e. whatever...

It's happening this Saturday Night (Saturday September 18th at Flappers Comedy Club in the Yoo Hoo Room.) at 9:30. You don't want to be heckled by some novice who is lost and easily confused? Get heckled by pro-heckler and master comedian Eddie Pepitone. Eddie makes you feel special when he...

So I've been at this about a year. Initially I was shy of starting a night b/c of the consistent commitment and uncertain turnout. But I'm coming around to the idea of having a weekly opportunity to do 20-30minutes. As I work full time getting out every night is impossible so I typically do 2...

I'm finally starting to get back into stand up, it's been almost 8 months and I just wanted to know what the boundary on religious jokes may be. I know it depends on the audience, but sometimes I feel I can go too far with things. I was thinking of something alone the lines of, "Hey Jesus, how's...

Hey all, Long time lurker, first time poster. I've learned a lot following the conversations on these forums and I thought I would ask for some opinions from the group on this one: I'm working right now on building a Microsoft Access 2007 database for my routines which is going slowly because...

I couldn't think of a good thread name but w/e I am just starting out and I want to know if you guys think it's important to be a comedian who only sticks to one style because I have a side of me that is very passionate about social issues and another side that is still young and just wants to...

Hey guys, here's a set I did last night. I'd really appreciate any thoughts/criticism. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zN5IQJitTU Matt

(I'm not sure if this post belongs in this area so apologies if it's OT.) I'm a sketch comedy writer and I moved to L.A. about two weeks ago. Since I didn't come with an intact troupe, I'm looking for a way to get myself noticed and hopefully meet people who are interested in forming a troupe. ...

I always want to strive for the most original premise, and overall joke. But what if I write a joke and there's a ring of familiarity to it. I don't want to perform that joke right? But I honestly thought of it on my own. when it comes to a joke sounding familiar, when in doubt throw it...

Hey everybody! I help run an open mic here in Albuquerque and on the 14th my co-producer is gonna be out of town -- leaving me with the reigns. I really wanna try something different and while I was driving home last night I came up with the idea of hosting a Hack's Potluck. Basically, all of...

Gong shows suck. They promote negativity in comedy shows. I totally agree. ...but it's stage time, and probably in front of 100+ audience. So how do you win this thing? All comics get 5 guaranteed minutes before you can get gonged out. Do I save my killer shit for 4:30? Do I do longer-form...

Hi all, long time lurker, first time poster... The online reality series 'If I Can Dream' is seeking aspiring professional comedians, and I thought you all might be interested! MySpace is hosting auditions for the online reality show 'If I Can Dream.' Created by Simon Fuller ('American Idol,'...

Hey there, folks! I've kept out of "Stage Time" for a bit now mostly because I've not had too much to write about. Things have gone slow and outside of an amazing experience with my improv troupe opening a show for Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter, I've not really been getting up on stage. ...

I started stand up about a year ago. I go to open mics at least once a week and I think I am starting to sound more like a comic. I have asked for guest spots and have been turned down by several clubs. I want to take stand up seriously, but I don't want to give it another 3 or 4 years of hitting...

I'm still new here, and maybe I've somehow missed it if it exists, but is there not a place here where those of you that perform have some of your stuff posted? It seems a great many of the forum members also are comics or aspiring comics. I'd love to see a thread where I could scroll through and...

I did a good set last night, and today I feel terrible. I think it has become a bit of a pattern whenever I do a set (whether it's good or bad) I feel down the next day. I get stage time about once a month and have done about 15 sets. Is this feeling normal for the rest of you, and how do you...

I'd like to further educate myself (with the help of you lot) about comedians living or dead, preferably living and working now that are doing very unique stuff outside the box...standup as an art form, playing with its limits: i'm thinking of zach g's bait-and-switch routines, andy kaufman's...

Hey everyone, I’ve been doing stand up for about two years now, and I’m considering a move to New York from Toronto. I’ve just got a few questions about the process for anyone currently doing comedy there. How exactly does the audition process work for the clubs? Most of the stuff I’ve read...

The last time I smoked was last week and since then I have not been able to pound out a single joke or anything, anyone else who smokes experience similar problems

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2rmL1Xr4Y0 3rd time ever doing stand up.

Janeane Garofalo's recent Punchline interview got me thinking about setlists and notes on stage. What do you guys do with notes and lists and all that? Do you bring setlists to the stage? Do you make it up on the spot? Let's TALK about it. Me? I used to be a pretty fierce "by the...

So we've read all the classic standup how-to books, and we've read all the comedian biographies and interview books - Do you have any suggestions for non-standup books that might help us with our standup? Like maybe a book on improv could help with our crowd work? And Ive seen books on sparking...

This is quoted from Doug Stanhope's website. " It is very easy for a comic - or anyone I guess - to get bogged down in hate and cynicism. I am guilty of that most hours of the day. It has nothing to do with money or career or all the other trivia. While some of my bitterness could be...

IT SURE DOES! In various discussions here in the Stage Time subforum of AST, there's talk about the "rules of comedy." These so-called rules aren't written down, they're passed down--the way that "Roots" was passed down from griots to Alex Haley (now THERE'S a reference only for me)--from the...

So I’ve been watching a lot more sketch comedy lately, and reading people’s thoughts on various sketches. It seems like there are different schools of thought about what makes a sketch funny or good. What do you guys think makes a good sketch? Are there certain types of sketches that affect...

i've spent the past few weeks working on some comedic screenplay exercises, trying to develop plot characters dialogue and wouldn't mind some constructive criticism if anyone is interested. i realize the visuals are severely lacking --- but if someone wants to give feedback on why/why not they...

We have the open mic experiences thread where people post early sets in their career and then quickly remove them a few days later from embarrassment (or leave them up to languish). I thought it would also be nice to have a thread where people post sets of themselves where they thought they did...

I have a joke that includes somebody saying something offensive. I just need a couple ideas like black people are lazy" or "the holocaust never happened". Something offensive and kinda humorous to compliment the joke,

So, I've been dabbling with the idea of doing some stand up, it's always been something that has been in the back of my mind since I was a kid. Well, I hit a creative overflow recently and have been writing some material and would love to try it out, however I've run into a problem... Every...