Stand-up Comedy: Your Break to Fame

Welcome to my little guide on how to do well in the business of stand-up comedy. One thing to remind you is that through personal experience this guide has helped a lot. Hope it does the same for you.

A good joke or something stupid is a sure fire way to get someone to laugh but what about a whole audience. Jokes will only make people laugh if they can relate to it. If they can’t understand it or if it insults them if wont work.

Laugh at yourself

One of the most important tools a comedian needs is humility. Being able to laugh or make fun of yourself. An example is if you are a parent then you could do a whole routine about what parents like you do to get your kids to bed or telling them they cant get a dog. Kids are a good topic but don’t wear it out. Stereotypes are another hot topic, but be careful. It may be the most popular, but using stereotypes is a very hard skill that requires you being able to judge your audience. Only use a stereotype routine if you are actually the aimed stereotype. Like if you are a blond then blond jokes are okay. Just remember stereotypes are one of the best crowd pleasers but can also be lead to a day in court.

Writing your own routine

Now that you have an understanding of what tools a comedian possess, its time to write your own routine. A good routine includes are a brilliant introduction, then once they are in the funny mood the body of the routine is where you will crack open your best jokes but leave some for the ending and lastly the ending must tone it down a bit so that you leave the audience with enough comedy for one night. You don’t want to use your best jokes in one night and have to do the same routine to another audience. Always know which jokes you are going to use and which jokes you are going to leave for the next gig. Writing the introduction is probably the hardest part of any routine. If the audience doesn’t like it you could say goodbye to a good evening. Always do the unexpected as it is fresh and the audience will then become intrigued by this new type of act. This should then put you on a roll as the jokes just keep coming.

Putting it all together

Once you have written your routine you’ll want to make sure that your speaking can be heard and that you aren’t to soft. Sometimes a good routine goes to waste because of bad public speaking skills. Face expressions and other movement is a skill that is essential to any comedian. Look at Mr. Bean, he doesn’t say much but yet he has his own show. Now that you have looked into a bit of stand up comedy you can say for sure whether you’ll make it in the business or even do it at the local pub. Just remember your fist gig might be bad but as you get more experience you’ll be able to take on the world of comedy.