Comedy:
Life’s Not Always Funny If You Want a Stand-Up Comedian Career
There’s a saying that clowns are the saddest people in the world. Similarly, fun and laughter doesn’t always figure in a stand-up comedian’s life. If you’re determined to have a stand-up comedian career, prepare yourself for lots of challenges ahead!
IT’S NOT EASY TO MAKE OTHER PEOPLE LAUGH
You scare people by posing a threat to them – it may be physical, emotional, or take any other form. You make other people cry by making them either sympathize or empathize with your plight. The most difficult reaction to wring out from your audience is laughter. People have different kinds of funny bones, and you need to know how to quickly and accurately identify what those funny bones represent.
MEMORIZED OR IMPROVISED
If you’re as successful as Jay Leno or Conan O’Brien, then yes, you have the right to use cue cards. Since you’re not them you only have two choices when it comes to perfecting and delivering your material: do you want it memorized or improvised?
Memorizing dialogues is easy to do but the danger lies in delivering it as you might end up sounding mechanical. With memorized dialogues, your mind might be too caught up with recalling what you have to say that you don’t have any mind space left to consider the best way to deliver your punchline.
When it comes to improvised speeches, delivering a punchline is usually a breeze but your biggest problem is if you have enough material to last you four to ten minutes on the stage without getting booed out.
Other Tips on How to Have a Successful Stand-Up Comedian Career
Have a good sense of humor and don’t take yourself seriously. If you’re able to laugh at yourself, you’ll have in your possession the best material for your career: yourself!
Basketball players learn from the techniques used by other basketball players. Do the same and watch shows of other stand-up comedians like yourself. Learn, learn, and learn some more if you don’t want to run out of ways of making other people laugh.
Never copy or steal another stand-up comedian’s career. Besides being grossly unethical, this can also ultimately make you lose your natural ability to make other people laugh. When you keep on relying on other people’s material, you might gradually lose your ability to create jokes by yourself due to seldom use.
Lastly, be professional in all your dealings with your manager, producer or bar owner, and your audience. Stand-up comedy is still a job after all so you need to act professional!
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