Being a comedian and performing stand up comedy live in front of a room full of people is not easy as it may sound. To be a successful comedian, preparing a good set of jokes is not sufficient. The real challenge lies in executing and performing them before the live audience. I have spent years in the comedy industry, and I can tell you for a fact that there are a few things that you must keep in mind and follow to kill on stage. Here are a few tips that I think will work in your favor.
- Do Not Stick To Your Written Set Religiously
- Make The Audience A Part Of Your Performance
- Remember That You Are Talking To People
- Include Jokes From Many Subjects In Your Set
- Express Yourself Through Your Performance
- Learn Something From Every Set
You can consider my journey, from being popular as the “funny guy” among folks to capitalizing on this gift and working on my stage performance skills by following legends like George Carlin, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, and others. Although to be honest, it took me quite some time before I could go up on stage and perform for a bunch of unknown audiences. Once you know that stand up comedy is your “thing” and pursue it, then it is the most fulfilling career you will ever follow.
Do Not Stick To Your Written Set Religiously
I know this can be a little tricky when you are only a beginner, but this can be the most helpful in the long run. What I am trying to establish here is that your content should be open to improvisation. This does not mean go on stage without one single written joke and try to make people laugh. That is the fastest way to fail.
For instance, you have said a joke, and the audience has laughed in unison, but you think of a tag or second punchline. Try it out. If you are recording your set that tag could become another punchline, or give you the idea to create more tags for that joke or even an entirely new joke.
What if someone yells out something? In this case, the best you can do is not ignore the audience’s reaction altogether. You can reply with a quirky line from a previous joke to fit the situation or interject a few improved lines so that your performance looks like you are going with the flow and not pre-planned.
Maintaining your reputation in the comedy club is as tricky as a comedian, or at least a bit strenuous. So knowing your set but also being flexible is a skill that shows club owners, bookers, and other comedians that you are thinking and not just memorizing your set without feeling or emotion.
Make The Audience A Part Of Your Performance
In order to kill on stage, it is essential to see that both the parties involved in the performance are enjoying thoroughly. The two sides being you and the audience. Make your performance a fun experience for everyone present.
Comedy is like a conversation. You say the setup and punchline the audience laughs. Their laughter is the response to your joke. Back and forth it goes. It should feel like a natural conversation. I say something, you say something. But instead of them saying something they laugh which lets you know they heard you and are replying with a response that lets you know you are right.
Compare these two scenarios: one where the comedian has learned his set and is performing it mechanically on stage. Or the stand up comedian who is interacting with the audience, making them a part of his performance, and relating the experiences with those of his spectators. The following setting will emerge out to be more hearty and brilliant and spare the audience from getting bored.
A great comedian makes everyone in the audience feel like you are talking directly to them. The best way to do this is from time to time make eye contact with audience members. Breaking it up by presenting the setup to one audience member with eye contact and delivering the punchline to another audience member with eye contact allows you to connect making the joke hit harder than had you not made the connection.
Remember That You Are Talking To People
When you are performing in a comedy club, remember that you are talking to people and not for people, therefore it should be breezy, simple, and easy to understand. Keep in mind that your guests include people from all the stratus of society with varying intellectual capabilities and might not be able to break through an elaborate pun or referral.
It is crucial to work on the choice of your words. This includes the way you deliver them and their simplicity. You shouldn’t sound like you are delivering a speech or monologue. Instead, it must seem like you are the guy-next-door making jokes and being funny.
Comedy is about connection. If you can connect with an audience you can talk about almost anything. This is how Jerry Seinfeld talks about the mundane and makes it funny while comedians like Daniel Tosh and Anthony Jeselnik can talk about dark or taboo topics and still have a great following. Connection and trust go along way with a crowd. So remember you are there to connect and entertain.
Remember the eye contact advice? That is one thing so many comedians don’t do that they could do to increase the amount and duration of the laughter they receive during their sets.
Include Jokes From Many Subjects In Your Set
As a comedian the easiest way to connect and keep an audience engaged is to joke about various subjects. Your performance should have a dash of flavor. Also, speaking on a single topic will only make you sound interesting for ten to fifteen minutes, after that it will look like you are only exaggerating. Sure you can connect and even segue from topic to topic but you shouldn’t do an entire fifteen minutes on a single subject.
It is vital in stand up comedy to cover a variety of topics. Keep in mind that you do not want to jump from one subject to another without letting the audience know you are doing so as it will then make it difficult for your listeners to comprehend the shift. Instead, link the topics carefully to one another to make it more entertaining. Generally this is done via a segue.
For example you can talk about airplanes as long as you don;t just talk solely about airplanes. You can talk about seating, food, bathrooms, other passengers, etc. The more varied you are on a subject the longer you can talk about it. Just make sure you don’t solely talk about an airplane for fifteen minutes. Each subset will break up the jokes allowing you to cover many topics under the guise of airplanes without boring the crowd.
Express Yourself Through Your Performance
As a comedian you must set yourself apart from the other comedians in the business. Give your audience a reason to come back to you again and again. Find those unique qualities in yourself that you think you’ll be able to make fun of and make the audience laugh.
Tinge your performances with characteristics from your personality, for example, your style of talking, the language you use, or some of your funny gestures. All of this, when implemented in your performance, will make it unique and praiseworthy. It is also what give every comedina their “voice” or that thing that makes them unique.
Everyone knows the difference between Larry The Cable Guy and Jeff Foxworthy even though they cover a lot of the same subjects and both have accents. Their unique style or “voice” is why they can tour together without the audience feeling like they are watching the same comedian twice.
Even if you talk about the same things other comedians talk about your unique perspective is what makes people enjoy your comedy. Comedy is not solely based on the written material but also on the who and how the performer delivers the material. There is no way Jim Gaffigan could do Sam Kinison jokes it just does not fit his style or what audiences expect him to talk about.
Learn Something From Every Set
Apart from all this, there’s this one thing that you must keep telling yourself, and that is, enjoy yourself while performing. If you can do that your audience will enjoy it along with you. Comedy is something that cheers people up and gives them a break from the harsh reality of the world.
Those moments in which they are witnessing your presentation should be made worthy, and the responsibility lies with you. As easy as it might sound, staging before a crowd is quite a task. There are certain things that I have learned that have changed my perspective about being a comedian.
The greatest of all is that you should learn a new thing every day. There’s no end to it. To be the best and kill every time you are on a comedy show, you have to put forth the effort. If you keep picking up ideas, engage in your performance, and be passionate about this pursuit it in your heart and mind, you will find success and kill on stage.