There are a million things that comedians are told they need to get started in comedy. Some people say take a class, some say read books, some say just get on stage. These are all great pieces of advice and I have done them all. However, there are some things comedians have to learn when they start that often many comedians skip over and regret later.
Those things are:
- Learn To Observe And Report
- Learn To Write A Joke
- Learn What Works For You
- Learn To Respect Not Fear The Stage
- Learn To Test Material Off Stage
With simply spending time on learning these facets of comedy you will jump leaps and bounds ahead of other comedians who will have to go back and learn these processes so that they can progress. Making people laugh and bringing comedy to a new living space and make it a profession is a long process. Comedy is more than just a sense of humor, but also requires patience, long hours, good writing skills, and curiosity about the world to make it sound like a joke. Being a comedian and getting a career out of it could be everything for many people so learn the following and shave time off the journey.
Learn To Observe And Report
There are as many comedians as there are podcasts. Stand up comedy is an artistic form of expression, as it usually comes from a person’s inner thoughts and how he chooses to see things. In the end, unlike collaborative media for film, television and even music production, comedians usually create 100% of their material alone. At first glance, you might think comedy is a lot about joking, but you would be wrong. It’s about relating.
Yes, comedians really surprise people by their jokes and the fun part is that most of the best jokes you hear in your life by comedians are mostly true. A good way to start is by keeping a diary or notebook for thinking and observation. Save your feedback of the world and everything you see, see how people react to somethings and record anything which seems hilarious or unusual. With this being implanted in your head you will always be looking for the funny in the world around you.
Learn To Write A Joke
Most people think it’s all about the jokes, but there is a major difference between a joke and a funny joke. This may seem obvious, but the hardest part for comedians is the joke writing part, communicating these jokes with people, and making them laugh is much easier than crafting a joke.
If you want to get a career out of your comedy, then writing your own jokes and sets is the best approach to help you. Nobody wants to hear those jokes found on Google. Plus that’s considered joke theft. People usually laugh at jokes which resemble an essence of them or their daily life. Being relatable to the people is the new black when you are looking for steeping in the world of comedians.
Write jokes that fit your tone, style, and voice not just what you think people will laugh at. If you can have a style not only will you be unique but people will gravitate to you because they understand you and your comedy which makes them invest their time and energy into listening to you.
Learn What Works For You
You don’t have to go to college or get a bachelor’s degree to become a comedian and you can’t. In fact, you can spend money and time learning comedy. It is important to improve the skills by learning and being criticized by professors. Criticism encourages your skills to learn and develop, and a network of friends and colleagues can encourage your creativity and make you think beyond what you already know. Performance improvement courses offered by some universities give students the opportunity to be more rigorous and freer to overcome the fears of facing the stages.
Although there is no comedy degree, non-credit classes can teach comedy style and jokes. You will also find courses that teach navigation and listening skills. When you start your comedy career, remember the old proverb: true comedy comes from failure. The comedy was not successful before, why? because they left when they faced failure. It is impossible to avoid this often-occurring situation of failure.
If you walk on the stage and joke 5 times in 3 minutes, you can theoretically lose 5 times and then leave with this terrible feeling in your heart. It is important to remember that it is all part of the job and if you don’t like the idea of failing and trying again, then being a comedian is not worth learning. However, that could not be farther from the truth. Every bad set is also full of lessons. By spending time listening to your sets, watching yourself and studying comedy you will learn what is working for you and what is not. Spending this time to figure that out now will save you years in the future.
Learn To Respect Not Fear The Stage
Nobody will think of you as a comedian until you show yourself there on the stage. Do you think joking around your friends and making them laugh will give you a career as a comedian? No. This means that you need to speak, act and react in front of the microphone, tell jokes to an audience, rewrite your sets, chat with other comedians, make friends with them and work on your craft.
You have to get familiar with the world of comedians and see what keeps them going. On this long journey, it is better to spend the night at the comedy club and then wake up at 9:05 in the morning instead of playing video games and doing a 9-5 job. Get enough sleep, plan your time wisely, eat properly and exercise regularly. Even if you only go up on stage once a week you have to get up. Take time to get on stage and learn to respect that time. Use it wisely to work new material, get comfortable in front of crowds and work on stage presence.
Learn To Test Material Off Stage
Finding the voice of your comedy is what will lead you towards your career. It can be accomplished by many things and in the artist’s life, we call it trial and error. It is different when people are doing comedy in movies, but when it comes to stand up comedy, all you have to do is test everything with a crowd. Start with small stages, college halls, tell your jokes and sets to see what works for you. Test everything and create a unique and funny way to add new material to your comedy. This can be done with friends and family by working your bits into conversations and seeing how people react.
Since most people see stand up comedy as a monologue they don’t think this works. But stand up is a conversation. The comedian tells the setup and punchline. The crowd responds either with laughter, silence, or a mix of the two. This continues until the audience has their last laugh and the comedian has run out of time. Take chances with the material in the real world. Some of the best bits have come from real-life conversations or comments.
The comedy world is actually one of the most unique creative professions. Except for people in the crowd and microphones, a real tool required for this task. And that is your creativity. You just need to be able to accept the idea from the atmosphere and convey it in a funny way. Usually, you need to work in a public place in front of comedy clubs and others, so you need to be very comfortable on stage. Learn to be creative and find ways to mine material. Once you can learn to observe, write, perform, rewrite and revise you will learn that comedy is a process, one that you can master.
