Heh, that's pretty interesting. I don't know if it's the sort of thing you want to keep doing, but if you know the audience isn't going to care, it's fun to do things like that.
Like I've mentioned, the venue I most regularly perform at is a terrible bar where nobody really pays attention and it's hard to win the audience over. On one particularly bad night, a comic friend of mine just went up, sat down on a stool, and read a chapter out of his math book.
It was hilarious.
It's "dibs" and Mitch Hedberg beat you to the "back to the crowd" stance, and he probably wasn't the first either.Originally Posted by Brian J.
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Zach Galifianakis did it for a joke, too.
And Jason Yellow
Oh, originality... we weep for you.
In The Doors movie they had Jim Morrison performing like that. So obviously it's an idea that's been done, I was just wondering if any comics had done it as an exclusive thing (i.e. for the whole set). I also remember seeing a clip of Hedberg performing lying down but just for a few jokes.
Did my third time last night - In an Irish Bar who's never done comedy. My friend-of-a-friend runs events there so I kinda put together the evening. Myself and two other young comics, I went last.
It was a packed place, but was distracting as hell, 1/3rd paying attention, 1/3rd sorta paying attention, 1/3rd couldn't give a shit, and lots of drunks yelling out stuff. The young guy before me bombed, so I was digging myself out of a hole, but by the end of my set people were paying attention and enjoying themselves.
I actually got paid, we three split 200 euros (like $250), but we had to do longer sets than we were ready for. Here's what I learned...
- If the setup is more than one or two sentences, the joke will fail, people's attention spans were shit.
- Like you all said, any intellectual-ish jokes failed.
- My set gradually got better and better, more and more people paid attention, I ended off on a high note which was nice.
- Next time I need to practice with like heavy metal in the background, my timing was thrown because of all the distractions
- I worked the crowd a bit, had fun with the hecklers, kinda brought them into my act, improvised. Never done that before, it was a fun experience, didn't realize I was kinda good at that.
- My blue material killed, should have done more maybe.
- I did wayyy too many new jokes. Alot of my friends were coming who've seen my act before, so I wanted to try new stuff, and had to fill a longer slot. But too much new material is too much to prepare for.
- Some people said I ruined the "comedy illusion" for them when I said like, "I got one more joke" or "Now back to the jokes". Alot of people think I'm just improvising or something, maybe I shouldn't be all Demetri Martin-ish and say "here's my jokes etc..", save that for the alt-comedy nerds.
One thing especially I need to figure out - Am I doing stand-up for me or for the audience? I thought me. But jokes I'm proud of (stuff you alt-comedy nerds would enjoy) are for a very specific crowd. If I would have got up there and just did fart noises and worked the crowd, I would have KILLED. But that shit sucks, if that's what it takes to win over crowds, I don't want to do stand-up. But I always won't have the perfect room to perform in, so I need to like "dumb down" my set to win the crowd over. Any thoughts?
I've yet to decide I actually LIKE performing or not. I love comedy, I've been writing comedy for years, I love coming up with jokes, perfecting them etc.. But does it bring pleasure to me making complete strangers laugh? I dunno.
But I guess performing is the necessary final step to comedy. Like you couldn't really do poetry without sharing it with others, or be a painter and not have an exhibit etc..
I don't know where else I'd be able to tell those jokes. My jokes aren't the type you can tell your friends, "hey wanna hear a joke?" and I can't pretend that they're real stories about my life, cause I'd be lying to my friends. And they don't work on paper. They only work on stage.
I've only performed three times so far, and I know this takes YEARS, but I'm not sure who that guy on stage is. Each of my jokes can be identified with my favorite comics, like "That joke sounds like something Todd Barry would say" etc.. What is a "Phil Schwarzmann joke"? I have no clue. And the problem is I'll try to perform a joke like Todd Barry would do it, but I'm not Todd Barry, I haven't different strengths.
I still don't yet know what my strengths are on stage, which I could then exploit and incorporate into my act. Like last night I worked the crowd a tiny bit and did that well which surprised me. I dunno, I need to stop trying to be other people and just be me, but I don't who I am up there.
Like in real life I'm a little obnoxious, but I hate obnoxious comics, so should I suppress that behavior? Or exploit it? But I don't want to be like a Jimmy Pardo. That man can work any room, but every room has its idiots and its true comedy fans. I see lots of comedians getting the idiots to laugh, but the true comedy fans silent. Do I care about the idiot laughs? Is it better to get the 75% of the crowd who are idiots, to laugh? Or the 25% of the audience who are true comedy fans? To any bystander, if 75% are laughing, that comic performed better than the comic who only got 25% to laugh.
I guess it depends on what you want to do with comics. It seems that alot of comics just use stand-up as a stepping stone to acting or something else, they'll do anything to get famous. And some others want to make a career out of stand-up, which means they need $$$$, so they'll do anything to get people to laugh and get booked more. Me, I'm just doing this as a fun hobby, I want to do comedy I'm proud of, I never want to sell out.
...I'm hungover....
I've been doing this for a while now (but not really as much as I wish) and I know exactly what you are getting at. The most I can say is that any preexisting characteristic can be used to heighten your work if you approach it the right way. When I did my first club show in Boston, I was nervous a hell before I went up. I have a joke about panic attacks and by tossing that into my set that night I was able to create some semblance of a persona. Enough so that an audience member commented that they enjoyed how I seemed a bit nervous when, by roughly a few jokes into the set, I was actually feeling pretty comfortable. If you have a characteristic of yours that comes from some place of truth, don't be afraid to use it. Just don't use it as a crutch.
As far as influences, I asked Eugene Mirman about that a while back on this forum ans I think his response was a good one:
Yeah, I'd also like to add some stuff about "comedy pedigree." There are certain styles/voices that get passed down through generations, and even though there are blatant differences in each of their acts, you can still see the similarities.
The most obvious example I can think of is Stephen Wright > Mitch Hedberg > Demetri Martin.
You could point out all their differences until you're blue in the face, because there are plenty, but the fact remains that they're all extremely similar.
But yeah, you still have to find your own personal strengths and unique quirks... just don't be afraid to be a little similar sometimes.
A. I wouldn't worry about the 'joke' thing. Is it possible that they didn't enjoy themselves? Probably, but they probably don't know exactly why, or how to vocalize it, and that's just the first thing that jumped to them. The idea that a joke is ruined for somebody because you cop to the fact that you're not just talking out your ass is absurd. Funny is funny. Sure plenty of comedians try to make it seem like that, but then plenty of comedians are realistic about the fact that shockingly something high-larious doesn't perpetually happen to you 'earlier today' (Demetri Martin, Daniel Tosh). Don't sweat it.
B. Eugene's probably right. It's just takes time. The only way you really know how to tell jokes at this point is gonna be ther way you've seen them done.
Also one thing i've learned from improv is that even if you're TRYING to copy someone's style or mannerisms, you're going to filter it through yourself, and it's almost invariably going to come out different. So don't sweat it.
You got paid on your third gig? You're one lucky S.O.B.
I've had numerous friends and co-workers of mine ask, "So do you just get up there and improvise?" Like they seriously believe I don't do any preparation at all, or at best, I'm like Billy Connelly and just write down a few bullet points.A. I wouldn't worry about the 'joke' thing. Is it possible that they didn't enjoy themselves? Probably, but they probably don't know exactly why, or how to vocalize it, and that's just the first thing that jumped to them. The idea that a joke is ruined for somebody because you cop to the fact that you're not just talking out your ass is absurd.
I guess I'm kinda ruining the illusion for some. One friend suggested I say, "I got just another minute left" intead of "I got one more joke left" at the end. But I dunno, I kinda like taking away that illusion, it's a fresher approach.
I live in Finland where stand-up hasn't evolved as much like in the states. Just about every Finnish comic is a storyteller type comic, I had one comic tell me I better tell stories cause I'll bomb if I don't. So maybe people are a bit confused when they hear short, punchy jokes and not stories. But I think I'll use this 'fresh approach' as an advantage rather than disadvantage.
I'm an American living in Finland. More and more foreigners are coming to Helsinki and there's this recent surge in stand-up comedy, but there aren't too many English-speaking comics. And it's Finland, everything is wayyy overpriced, including comedians. So this pub only had 200 euros, no established comic would perform for that little, so that's when I stepped in. Little did they know I would have paid THEM to get up there.
Wow, that's pretty awesome. Take advantage of that situation. And as for what you said in a previous post with worrying about sounding like another comic, I watched a set you posted (i think it was your first set) and I don't think you have anything to worry about.
Yeah, way to get paid, holmes. Lucky guy.
ANYWAY... I just put another video of my stand-up on Youtube temporarily.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYACgTmpEg4
I'd appreciate any criticism anyone would like to share... and as always, cruel honesty is preferred over any sugarcoating. I like to keep things real, yo'.
My second Open Mic:
I was number 13 out of about 16 people. The crowd went from aprox. 60+ people to under 20 (mostly other tired Comedians) by the time I went up. This time I was not nervous like the last time, but felt more pissed because most of the audience had left and I felt like lots of Comics had bumped me on the list. I followed a couple guys who were not funny (they were bad) and although I rolled along very nicely and did a great job telling the jokes, I got few laughs in my opinion. I started to think that it might have been my fault, but when I listened to the recording I made of myself, I feel I did an excellent job telling the jokes, my timing was good, I spoke clearly and at the proper volume and I was not discouraged by the dead crowd - I kept rolling right along as though I were killing. Oh well............I thought I did a good job. The next time I'll try to get there earlier and be one of the first guys on the list and I'll make more of an effort to engage my audience if they are asleep like this audience was.
I sat through most of the other acts and some were terrible and a couple were very funny. There was one young guy with long side burns and a guitar (I hate acts with a guitar) but he was as funny as anything I'd seen. He sang a song about shooting his load all over his girlfriends apartment and then sang a song in a girl's voice where he portrayed a slutty girl - it was hilarious and really made my night. I didn't catch his name but he was great.
I thought the To kill a mocking bird bit showed some very creative thinking. Throughout your set you also came up with a lot of tag lines, which I'm jealous of because the majority of my jokes are one liners and I can't seem to come up with good enough tags to go after.
I would say you are on the right track with your writing, the performance was where you need to improve most. I think you have more personality to display than you showed. You were a little too deadpan for your writing style, which I don't think fits that style. You'll probably figure that out the more you perform.
If you never want to reach for your note card again, try this: about 5 days before your show read your set several times in order or tape it and listen to it a few times as well. Repeat this everyday until showtime. Also if you don't have problems memorizing your jokes you can memorize your set list which might be easier.
Yeah, this happens and it sucks because you have to edit yourself. Now you have to listen to your tape and decide what changes to make without the audiences help. Anything you thought was weak you have to chop, whereas with the help of an audience you would have been able to tell by their reaction.
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