Do you need to have funny bones to be a comedian?
The funny bone's connected to the sad bone
If you’re trying to break into any kind of art-form there’s what I call a talent hierarchy, and it’s very unfair if you’re on the short end of it. Some people just seem to be born comedians, they have “funny bones”. They kind of have the right face and body for it, they just ooze comedy. But I do have good news for those of you with serious skeletons - it might still work out for you if this is what you want. You just need patience and grit.
You could argue that maybe only people with funny bones should be comedians, and the rest are wasting people’s time. But that’s a bit like saying only fit people should use the gym. Everyone has a right to do whatever they bloody want! And these non-funny people sometimes make the most original type of comedians, as they’re unburdened by fitting into a particular archetype. Of course many of them are delusional time-wasters, that’s just more gossip for the rest of us!
10000 hours baybee
Ask most comedians how you get better, and they’ll say “stage time” and that is so true. Practice makes perfect for all art-forms. An amazing beginner is crap compared to intermediates, a good club act is poop compared to a pro, and a regular pro looks like barf compared to a mega-pro. You’ve got to get in your 10000 hours and be yawningly humble about it to boot.
It takes a while to figure out how to present your funniest self to your audience. You may have heard it called “finding your voice”. New comedians are presented with this mysterious comedic nirvana that they’re supposed to seek out. The annoying thing is, some comedians seem to find their voice right away - the bastards! And some comedians hack away at it for years and never seem to get there.
But here’s the good news
These irritating overachievers often stagnate (yay!) because they never learn to put the hard graft in. Everyone keeps on telling them they’re amazing from the get-go, so they just kind of drift through the first 2 years of their career, then when it’s really time to step up their game, they’re so busy with their podcast, 5 shows and crowdwork tiktoks, they’ve never really though about how to get better because they have never had to try.
In my experience you need a dash of self-doubt to propel yourself forward and to want to improve. I suppose the sweet spot would be to be a talented bugger who is riddled with self-doubt. This kind of person exists - and then their self-deprecation comes off as attention seeking. You can’t really win!
Even if you suck for a really long time, you can still make it
I’ve seen it happen. It can take some people a really long time to find their voice but when they do find it it’s something very original and magnificent. It’s something that stands out from all the sexy confident “good out the gate” wankers. So please don’t give up too soon! Slow and steady wins the race, you got this champ! 🏆 As long as you seem to be making some kind of progress, and you love doing this thing then keep going!
Lots of famous comedians famously took a long time to find their voice. Lots of famous comedians did very badly at newcomer competitions.
How do you know you’re bad?
Give yourself - I think 3-5 years, but others have said 1000 gigs. In this time you should be regularly be doing showcase (paid) gigs. Here are some signs you’re still bad (sorry).
2. You hardly ever write new material
If you just do the same set over and over again, this is a bad sign. If you never want to try new material, because you know your old stuff will go better - this is a sign that somewhere along the line you fell out of love with comedy. You’re just stuck in the addiction of performing, but you gave up on getting better.
3. People rarely offer you gigs
If you always have to ask for gigs, nobody approaches you. It doesn’t count if you run an open mic and people are just trying to get a spot ;)
4. People aren’t laughing that hard
Any fool can go on stage and make people laugh. But are people laughing hard? It might happen now and again that you kill, but if on the whole you get a tepid response - it seems like you aren’t very funny. Sorry!
Video comedy coaching
HMU for private coaching for your comedy set, or anything else comedy related, I operate a sliding payment scale - Email
Shows Berlin
Fri 14.03.25 @ 8pm - Berlin New Stand Up Award Semi-Final - I’m co-producing this, don’t miss it! - Link
Sat 15.03.25 @ 9.30pm - It’s That Time Of The Month - Improvised variety show - Link
Teaching plugs Berlin
New April Beginner’s classes are now available - Link
Vouchers for my classes/coaching make cool presents! Link
World Wide Web Plugs
Berlin Stand-Up School - berlinstandupschool.com
Linktree - carolineclifford.com
dear caroline,
another wonderful piece! here are some of my favorite sentences:
"I do have good news for those of you with serious skeletons..."
"You could argue that maybe only people with funny bones should be comedians, and the rest are wasting people’s time. But that’s a bit like saying only fit people should use the gym."
"these non-funny people sometimes make the most original type of comedians"
"Even if you suck for a really long time, you can still make it"
"Look at him now! He recently interviewed the moon!"
hahahaha thank you for sharing!
love
myq
I truly is practice practice practice to get great at your art.