Open mic experiences

[ASR]

another time, I brought a stuffed cat with me on-stage and did my material as if I was an emotionless, Teutonic villain from a Bond movie (complete with petting the cat between every joke.

So awesome.

[Phil]

Jerry already knew all that stuff...and got to be one of the best at all that stuff...and, yet, without his act, he became little better than an open-mic'r...until he could, through constant work, rebuild a new act.

After you become a multi-millionaire, I wonder how hard it is to come up with material anymore. What is he gonna write jokes about, owning 200 Porches? "What's the deal with turbo charged 911's from the 80's!?! Seriously folks..."

My guess is that success and $$ will kill your material. Be thankful we're all broke and depressed, that shit is a goldmine that audiences can relate with.

[ASR]

I dunno', I'd think there's a market for rich-people comedy.

[Phil]

I dunno', I'd think there's a market for rich-people comedy.

Zing!!

(...goes the bell on Wall Street)

[ASR]

"Homeless people ARE trashy, he's right! They SHOULD get jobs! How observative! We must leave a tip for the jester, dear."

[John Santana]

What are some of the problems and mistakes you notice watching amateur stand up acts at open mics? Do you ever offer advice or criticism to these struggling/bad amateur comedians?

[nathansmart]

I think the biggest problem I see is people dragging out their jokes. There's a lot of explanation - and no jokes within that explanation - so when you get to the punchline you're too exhausted to give the laugh a joke deserves.

I don't really say anything to the ones I'm not close with because I don't want to come off as high and mighty but I definitely give advice to my friends.

[Alex Mac]

nathansmart nailed the big one here but to add to it there are also moments where you can tell they havn't completely run all the way with the material. An idea is presented for a quick laugh when there are clearly times when they could have built upon it. Even if it is just adding an effective tag line.

Posture and appearance is another large one in my oppinion. Many people will derive an expectation about you based on you you look and hold yourself on the stage. Now, obviously, your actual presentation matters more overall when you combine this with the actual telling of your jokes and the physical and vocal affectations you give those.

But, in many cases, when someone is not comfortable on stage, there are many signs that can distract from your set and give off the wrong impression. Not planting your feet, not knowing if you work with the mic in the stand or freehand. Small touches like that. If you have your preferences and maintain a poise on stage, you are already projecting a certain legitimacy outwards towards your crowd, I think.

Obviously, these are subject to change as you experiment and find your voice but generally I think that many people visually show off way too much uncomfort and unless you are geoing that route as a persona, it will read a simply unconfident. You're the one with the mic, you're the one doing something (public speaking) that statisically more Americans would rather die than do. That places you in a certain position alerady which can be used to your advantage.

[drieux]

If somebody approaches another comic and gives unsolicited advice, they are either an old-timey pro in a movie, appearing like an angel to guide our hero towards the promised land...or most likely they're another comic in the first 6-12 months of their standup career, who upon having achieved up to three decent sets in a row has decided they are the Crown Prince Of Hilarity, and they will tell this comic youngster the proper way to structure that "jizzing on my lady's face" bit, just before they sell them a bumper sticker with their soon-to-be-everywhere catchphrase, "Wiggly-Waggly, Y'all!" that they printed up at the local Kinko's as soon as they were sure that at any moment, the ghost of Johnny Carson would discover them at their next open mic performance. In the meantime, they will advise everybody they come across that the keys to success are racial jokes, saying degrading things about women and racial jokes that degrade women.

Open mics are designed to be there for all the struggles, but I've found that it never hurts to watch the show, say hello to people whose performances you enjoy and in most cases they'll be happy to chat and talk about comedy. But if somebody you've never met before seeks you out and tries to ambush you with advice, beware.

[Alex Mac]

That's a really good point which is general advice to anyone involved. I feel we're free to talk and give advice here because many of us are on the same wavelength insofar as wanting to produce the best comedy we can. At least all of us here want the various perspectives and the discussion. Other people may not want to hear it at all. Just as much as you want to be weary of people who offer you unsolicited advice, you want to be just as cautious about giving it out.

However, the more you get on stage and the the privilege of working with people who have done it a long time, you should never hesitate to tap that resource for whatever advice you can. Don't be overzealous and don't be overly insistent and waste their time but never feel too shy about saying hello, introducing yourself, and chatting. After the show, that is.

[pg13]

I was recently told by someone in Seattle's alt-comedy scene that "One of the most commonly heard complaints about you, Peter, is your willingness to give unsolicited advice."

Which startled me a bit. I mean, it's one thing to know that there are complaints about me... and that there are enough complaints about me that they can be grouped by how common they are...but it's another thing to realize that someone has managed to RANK these common complaints about me in order to determine what the most commonly heard complaints are...and still another thing to realize that there isn't just ONE most commonly heard complaint, but that this particular complaint is just one of a subset of most commonly heard complaints about me.

So, I got THAT goin' for me...which is nice.

In the meantime, here's some more advice of questionable solicitation...

Giving advice depends ENTIRELY on credibility. What good is the advice of someone who doesn't know what they're talking about? If you're consistently doing good work on stage, other performers will come to you to ask you your advice on what they recognize as your ability...

Receiving advice should always be gracious...but actually putting that advice into practice depends on if you recognize the value of that advice and whether that advice better informs your process. What advice gives you is perspective--a clearer, more three-dimensional picture of things--but keep in mind that the person giving you that advice doesn't know exactly what you're looking at or what you want to see. Sometimes, you can gain information that you didn't have before from the advice that is given to you but the specific suggestion doesn't work for you.

I've always felt that it was a good move for friends in comedy to share their perspectives with each other so that everyone can improve and succeed. However, based on the information that was recently given to me, perhaps I've overestimated how many friends I have in comedy.

(Or, more accurately, I've overestimated my own credibility in the minds of people I consider as my friends.)

pg--Doesn't seem to have stopped me from chiming in on this thread, though, does it?--seattle

[nathansmart]

of course, this is solicited!

[Phil]

What are some of the problems and mistakes you notice watching amateur stand up acts at open mics?

The only two types of people I've see truly bomb either...

1. Weren't prepared enough
2. Simply shouldn't be doing stand-up

[Gene George]

The one piece of UNSOLICITED advice/notes I've gotten came from a dude who just bombed horribly, horribly horribly, horribly doing jokes with references that were too old for the crowd by about 30 years. It was a change to the punch line of one of my jokes from a dirty one to that didn't involve cussin'. Surprisingly it wasn't bad advice per se. It at least made me realize that I could have written the joke clean, but I didn't because I curse like a fuckin' sailor.

[ASR]

That's the best way to curse.

Anyway, the biggest problems I see in myself and my fellow amateur friends is merely stuff that will be figured out and fixed as time goes on, with experience. Just things like being uncomfortable on stage, posture, performance, delivery... obviously, nobody starts out perfect.

As long as you're aware of that, you should be able to find problems and improve on yourself automatically.

I've still found it extremely helpful to get feedback and discuss comedy with friends.

[Phil]

When I write my jokes, I never put curse words in cause it sounds so hackey when I say scripted curse words. I try just to naturally pepper them into my set at random times.

[Cameron]

When I write my jokes, I never put curse words in cause it sounds so hackey when I say scripted curse words. I try just to naturally pepper them into my set at random times.

I've been trying very hard to not curse at all during my sets unless it's integral to the joke. I see way too comics curse way too much and it just becomes redundant. I feel like many use it as a crutch, and I never want to do that or seem like I am.

Plus, the club open mic I go to doesn't allow open micers to swear at all, so it's just better for me to not get into that habit anywhere.

[Gene George]

When I write my jokes, I never put curse words in cause it sounds so hackey when I say scripted curse words. I try just to naturally pepper them into my set at random times.

Usually I write my jokes down as they come to me, in the vernacular, if you will. This can and does include cussin'. It might not make it into the final script, but in this case it essentially was the punch line or an integral part.

[Phil]

Just uploaded my third performance from a couple weeks ago if anyone's interested. My first time performing at a noisy bar full of drunks, hecklers and people who couldn't care less. A shame my piece of shit camera stops filming video after 10mins, cause my blue stuff at the end got people much more excited.

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[John Santana]

Hi Phil. I just viewed your clip and thought I'd throw my 2 cents in. This is just your 3rd time on stage? I thougth you'd been been able to get up more? I admire you're being able to get up in front of your girl friend, friends or family - I've done 4 open mics now and tell my friends and family to stare clear of me because I'm nervous enough as it is - I'll let them they can come see me when I have more experience. I found your jokes to be very funny. You present your self well - you having a good and clear speaking voice. The ares I thought you could improve were to try to use fewer "aaahs" and "ummms", memorize your material so you don't use cue cards, stop playing with the mic with your free hand and you don't have to anounce that you are going to make a joke - I'll quote you: "What joke did I want to do next now...".

Peace