Nothing is as exciting as putting your comedy off the shelf for your audience. It is exciting, engaging and dangerous. But if done right, there’s nothing better than this to attract your crowd. As every professional comedian may agree, that having already-compose sets and scenes is only a part of developing a worthy act. But being able to interact with the audience and connect with the crowd is the key to winning the room.
What’s greater than witnessing an imposing comedian working the crowd, and blossoming beautiful comedy, right? Those stand-up comedians who are skilled with this talent, work like hunters and are one step ahead of their prey. They know the right thing, in the right place and at the right time.
Crowd work is interacting with one or more members of the audience, and apparently making a joke out of the conversation you’re having. This skill makes you stand out from the rest of the comedians, and portray you like an engaging and confident comedian who lives in the moment, and not just who throws out a speech they have performed many times.
Why Do Crowd Work
Crowd work is your chance to connect with your audience and make them admire you for your outgoing and communicative personality unless you are a comedian who bore the people with their monotonous shows. The real connection between the artist and the audience is often the result of a better comedian rather than a newer comedian.
You need to be great at making jokes to be successful in crowd work. Even a swift interaction with something or someone out there can instantly make the show more vibrant, confident and comfortable. Of course, comedians who perform well with the good crowd work is like watching a true work of art. It’s fair to lose the passion for carrying out the same material night after night and bore your audience, but knowing how to work the crowd can bring amazing elements and add a lot of color to your content.
Crowd Work The Right Way
Conversely, it is almost unbearable to watch someone struggle trying to interact with the audience in crowd work. But the right question is, when should the new comedians start working in the direction of crowd work into their performances? Well, it depends on a few factors. Some comedians will tell you to wait until you take a rigorous show to start working with the crowd. You should always focus on creating great material. However, it is unrealistic to think that you should wait a few years before you start crowd work. It is recommended to immerse your toes in the water and find opportunities to test your skills.
Now the next big question is, how to do a good crowd work? More specifically, the comedian must need to establish the room control, study the crowd and adjust the night’s atmosphere as effectively as possible. Starting as an emcee at a club or show is a great way to learn crowd work. You can start the show with some jokes, address a few birthdays from the audience and attract members into the conversation, then go along with the rest of the show. Its a simple way to dip your toe into crowd work and learn the dynamic. Crowd work will help artists make each of their performance unique. It also gives you the opportunity to create new material from audience interaction.
The more experience you have as an artist, the more scope you have to engage with the crowd. For skilled comics doing crowd work and wrapping the kit with some solid jokes, resulting in a victorious show is no surprise. However, if you are a relatively new comedian, it is highly recommended to work with your sets and incorporate crowd work later. But knowing your crowd is important, and how to win them over even more so.
Miniature Crowd
If the audience is only made up of a few people, they sometimes feel too stressed to laugh at every joke. So, they let others around them decide their actions. They wait for other members in the room to respond first and then go along with it. Just be polite, and interact with some people by directing a few words to someone specific in the crowd. If they are too bashful, and not willing to interact, just let it pass.
Poker-faced Crowd
Let’s assume your material is wonderful, but if the crowd does not respond to your attempts or genuinely funny jokes, then surely there is a “tension” in the room. The crowd can be “difficult” at times and you may need to step up your game. It could be how fast or how slow you are moving with the performance, or just not choosing the right material for your room. If that doesn’t work, then the audience has not picked up on your material just yet. Establishing a relationship with the crowd can help them become more responsive.
Babbling Crowd
If the crowd is too talkative, the crowd work can prevent them from talking to each other and focus on the material you’re delivering. By asking questions to specific members from the audience, you can attract people’s attention. You can engage well with the crowd who are responsive and can have an on-going conversation that will entertain the whole room, and put out an eagerness of what’s going to come next.
Often a crowd who is too engaging is hurting your performance so having a few quips and lines will let them know that this is your show and they need to respond with laughter and clapping not taking and verbal feedback.
Well-known Crowd
At some point, you will be introduced to a well-known group of people that are familiar with one another. Perhaps it could be a birthday party, office gathering or just a private show, who wanted to have a fun evening and decided to attend your comedy club.
The rest of the audience will be made up of people who have nothing to do with the party. In this case, the party members may expect some special attention. You can engage with the whole audience with a little crowd work, so no one feels left out for the rest of the show.
Is Crowd Work Necessary
Crowd work is sometimes an essential skill. So, the answer is yes! You must keep working on it throughout your career. Beginners are advised to perform them less often, like on the open stage and amateur nights, where expectations are slightly different.
Once you understand how to use crowd work, it will be another comedy weapon you can use on stage and get laughs or return the show to be on time. In other words, it’s best to have the crowd work as a skill without needing it.
