How to win a stand-up competition
What I've learnt from 5 years of running the Berlin New Stand-Up Award.
We’ve just wrapped up the Berlin New Stand-Up Award 2024. Congratulations to winner Andrej Ivanov and runner-up Daisy Dick.
How to win a comedy competition
1. Lower your expectations
If you’d put money on who you thought was going to win, you probably would have lost it all. Heavy-hitting scene regulars don’t always shine as brightly as they hope in a competition. They often put themselves under far too much pressure, and present a sub-par performance. The audience can tell if someone is being too cocky, or are just being comedied at and not with. Meaning someone is just rattling through the script of their set without letting the audience in.
The reason newcomers often do better than furious scene regulars, is they don’t have anything to lose, and the audience often connects with their vulnerability. Storming out, swinging the mic around and yelling “What’s up chuckle-fuckers!?” is not necessarily gonna get the audience on side. Audiences don’t connect with polish and shine, they only want to laugh and connect.
Be humble, be nice, don’t swing mics around, they’re not yours.
2. S l o w i t d o w n
Big rooms are slower rooms. Most newcomers have only played in small bars where everyone is trauma bonding. Playing to a larger room means slowing down, and letting laughs filter all the way to the back. Commenting on how odd the room is can work in your favour. Take some time to soak in the experience. Lots of acts rushed through their sets to the point I couldn’t understand what they were saying. They spoke over laughs and generally didn’t absorb the experience.
I get it, I remember my competition days. It can be very nerve wracking even if you’re good. Maybe especially if you are good and you want to do well. Just try and take a breath and take it all in.
3. Prepare by doing lots of mics, but also watch the other acts
Stick around and watch the other acts when you do practice mics, these are your competitors! You might find the material you have been writing isn’t that original, and that’s really going to show in a competition. In Berlin we have very “Berlin” specific topics. Clubs, dating is hard, Polyamory, I’m from “not here”, Germans are weird, learning German is hard, bureaucracy is bad, immigration ETC. Absolutely any of these topics can be made great, but when everyone is doing the same topics you need to find a way to shine. You might have the best “Dating is hard” jokes around but if you were the 3rd person in a row that night you’re going to loose votes.
Always write material that you love, not what you think other people want to hear.
4. Don’t do untested material, unless you are Floe Collins
I know a few people that did untested material this year, and to me it seems like an act of self-sabotage. Like, it doesn’t matter that I didn’t go through because I was trying new stuff. Don’t worry about repeating a set, it’s part of the stand-up life. There’s usually not a big crossover of audience members, so just present your best set.
Having said that Floe Collins won in 2020 with a set she had apparently written the night before. One of the other finalists smashed their runner-up prize and stormed out :/ She did an amazing performance and connected with the audience in a very special way.
I’m all for keeping it a bit loose and messing around a bit, just know it’s a risk to try new stuff.
5. Short sharp jokes work best
Sorry but competitions are not the best place to do routines that follow a narrative arc, even if its very funny. Short punchy bits work best. It’s just a very intense environment where every second counts. I’m not saying don’t tell a story, just make sure it has lots of legit jokes in it.
6. Vunerability, charisma, originality and great jokes win every time
Vunerability comes from being honest with your emotions
Originality comes from being specific, and not pandering
Great jokes come from not being content with the first easy joke but working hard to find the gold
7. Invite your friends
There might be 1 vote between you winning and losing, so bring your friends! A competition like ours is not run for profit so the more tickets sold, the more we can put back in to the competition.
Please listen to my first Podcast episode, I think it came out really well!
Show Plugs Berlin
Tonight Fri 12.4.24 I’ll be performing with my Armando team Action Jackson - 11pm at Comedy Cafe Berlin. - Link
Saturday 13.4.24 I’ll be performing with the LGBTQIA improv team 9.30pm at Comedy Cafe Berlin. - Link
Thursday 18.4.24 @ 9.30pm I’ll be hosting The Improvised Stand-Up Show - Link
Teaching Plugs Berlin
I’ll be teaching an Intro to Improv intensive in May - Link
My Spring In-person Stand-up classes are sold out but join a waiting list or take the class in German here - Link
World Wide Web Plugs
Knife Crab satire @knifecrab
Berlin Stand-Up School - berlinstandupschool.com
It me - carolineclifford.com
dear caroline,
great piece as always! lots of good advice here!
this is a noteworthily funny line: "Most newcomers have only played in small bars where everyone is trauma bonding."
thanks for sharing as always!
love
myq