Besides being funny the most important skill a comedian can have is being confident. Confidence and stage presence come with time and experience but there’s no reason you can’t “fake it till you make it.” The ability to confidently deliver a setup and punchline is the difference between an amatuer comedian and becoming a professional, well that and getting paid.
Fear of public speaking is the largest fear among people. Many people are too scared to know that they will be under the spotlight, and scared to know that everyone will have their eyes on them. But why? It is usually due to lack of confidence – and we all are a victim of it one way or another. Comedians have to learn to conquer this fear and have confidence on stage.
Stage Fright
We might think it is easy to face the crowd, just because we are the crowd or we are the people sitting behind the screen and enjoying a session of stand-up comedy via Netflix, but is it really easy? It is not. Preparing yourself to face a bunch of people, and to with the motivation to bring your best self to the stage and make the audience laugh, is the toughest thing to do.
Jim Jefferies compared stand-up comedy with acting, saying it’s much harder than most things in acting but not as hard as comedy. If a specialist like Jefferies finds it difficult, you should believe it! But it’s not always sweaty palms and tears. Here are some tips to make you feel safer on stage.
Put On A Performance
We as human beings, tend to think about the worst possible things that could happen to us (even when they aren’t even real to happen). This is what plants the seeds of doubt and fear that keep us from realizing our potential. Many people are actually more articulate then they believe but the thought of standing in front of people and speaking leaves the tongue tied.
A pro tip for anyone who is about to face the stage and make people laugh, don’t worry or even think about worse situations. All you should be doing is thinking more about ways to make your performance work. Think about everything that can turn this performance to be your best one yet. Remember why you dreamt about being here and all the reasons why you believe in it. Good emotions increase your confidence, they never make you panic.
The best way to have an amazing performance is via preparation. Practicing in your room, car, and mirror will help you know your material, how you present it, and help you memorize it in a way that feels natural. The more you practice in small and simple environments that are not full of pressure the easier it will be to work on material and get comfortable with your set.
Listen To Your Body
The first issue that may affect the self-confidence of new comedians is the misunderstanding of how usual stand up comedy is prepared and applied. People think that a comedy show is a spontaneous process to discuss or spat out whatever is going in your mind, this is not true. Comedy is written, tested, and revised in an almost scripted way. Some people can do this but it is more a function of improv comedians. What most people forget is that our body shows the levels of confidence we have internally.
Body language is the key to gaining confidence on stage. Don’t rub your hands against each other, or place them firmly in your pocket to avoid the fact that you are fidgeting. Keep your feet firm and eye contact to the crowd. People that have confidence or at least portray that they do, will always make themselves stand tall and apart from the usual people. The opposite to this will always be the people who are left behind.
When you project confidence, even if your comedic persona or style is supposed to be a loser, the audience is more likely to go along with you on your comedy journey. You have the stage, you have the mic, and the light is on you. The moment the audience does not feel like they have to listen to you, they won’t. Confidence is key especially when delivering punchlines. If nothing else be confident in your material.
Block Out Negativity
Our memories are about emotions. All the sad events in our lives that have a negative impact on our emotions and physiology are the source of crumbling our confidence. When we recall the positive times in life, it releases a hormone that makes you feel positive and looks cheerful. Therefore, do not assume that you will bomb. Comedians who assume they will bomb will often bomb. Perception becomes reality. Treat every moment on stage as if it is your Netflix/HB0/Whatever Service Comedy Special.
Try to block all your negative thoughts and keep them away from you if you want good confidence on stage. If you start telling yourself that you can’t do this, your trust in yourself and your material will drop because you will feel like you don’t know what you’re doing. Everything you regularly tell yourself is considered reality. No matter how hard you work, you won’t trust yourself on stage if you are held back by negative thoughts.
Make Eye Contact
If you start to feel less confident, just shake your head and all the things you are feeling because of the crowd, maintain eye contact and don’t be afraid. This should remind you that you are doing well and that people are interested in what you want to do and say. Audience scanning is usually given in public speaking lessons. However, this can get you tense and make your confidence crumble – and trust me you don’t want any of them to appear on stage.
Instead, focus on one person for about 5-7 seconds as you deliver your jokes. This allows you to communicate with your audience instead of looking like a person whose eyeballs are just fluttering through the crowd. If you can’t find your audience nodding make eye contact with someone in the front and deliver your punchlines to them. With each joke setup make eye contact with someone and deliver to the punchline to someone else. This ping pong style of delivery will help you be confident when you see someone laugh, keep the audience engaged, and give you the feedback you need to sell your set.
Contrary to some advice you should not pick a point on the wall in the back of the room and deliver jokes to that spot. The audience will disengage and stop paying attention, you will lose confidence in yourself and your material leading to the cycle of losing confidence in your ability as a comedian.
The Art of Practice
Some people think that the more you read, the more you can write and speak. Others think we should go out and have more writing or speaking experience. In fact, we have the ability to write and speak the rest of our lives without having to read words or do anything. We don’t need to read more. Comedians need to clarify comedy routines which means they need to get on stage.
The best way to practice is to write jokes, tell jokes, and rewrite jokes. Comedians should write and practice as much as they can every day. Hit open mics and bar shows to practice their skills with a smaller crowd as often as they can. Unfortunately, there is nothing to replace old fashion time on stage. This hard-hitting practice gives comedians plenty of time to get up and do something, but multiplying this by 100 gives great results. There is no easy way to build a successful comedy with confidence other than practicing it.
Confidence is not a skill comedians can build overnight. Every time a comedian refines their set, takes to the stage and works on a joke they will get more confident. Practice makes perfect, and being funny is an art that takes time to perfect.