Drop the act and be yourself (+ 10%)

Be you, but better!

In my articles I talk very little about the structure of jokes, because structure leads to predictable humour. You might say - isn’t it good to learn the structure, and then “break the rules”? I’m not so sure. In my 10 years of observing new comedians (that sounds creepy) at my open mic & 7 years of teaching, I’ve seen several new comedians get stuck mimicking a voice that is not their own, and never be able to get out of it. I can see the appeal of cos-playing as a famous comedian. They’re already confident and charismatic, they have figured out what their voice is. But that voice is not your voice and it never will be. It’s so important to go through the steps of finding out what your unique comedy voice is, even if it takes 5-10-20 years! If you just mimic someone else’s persona, you are doomed to have writers block. The infinite well of genuine self-expression inside you will eventually become unaligned with the artificial identity you've crafted.

Many people don’t even realise they are doing it - it’s just their “performance style”. But how far is that style from the regular way you talk to your friends? If you spoke like that to your friends would they be freaked out? And of course there’s nothing wrong with silly voices and what-not to embellish your set. But embellishment is not the same as performing the core parts of your material in another’s voice.

[shtick] could extend to funny accents, weird clothing, or anything else that might get ya over for now but feel like it’s strangling you later. It’s a great argument for finding the deeper, authentic part of yourself that can get laughs – it’ll be easier to stick with that over the long run. - Funny How: Letters to a Young Comedian - Post link

It’s not always a specific other persons voice that people arrive at - but just a kind of macabre jester person. Hopping around wide eyed, their body all rigid and their limbs flailing. In my classes we have a transition from sitting down and talking about material, to practicing on the mic, and sometimes a student gets possessed by the deranged jester. I have to say “For the love of God and all of his angels, please perform this like you did when you were sitting down” and sometimes they take the note, but often then don’t. It is hard to be vulnerable in front of an audience, and creating a character can help with that, but only that.

AI Art is great if you don’t look too closely.

That being said, you are still doing a performance, so you need to perform to the back of the room. You need to be clear and emphasise. You need to really be performing your material. If you don’t enjoy performing your material then that is a whole other problem.

This “alien patter” might work very well for a new comedian, and that gives them an even bigger reason to keep doing it. I knew a comedian in London who’s style mimicked a young Eddie Murphy (minus the homophobia afaik), and he was very good at it. He had a huge stage energy, and had lots of act-outs to match. These are really good talents to have, and he had a great start in the stand-up scene. The trouble is, what does Eddie Murphy 2.0 do when they want to be vulnerable and talk about more personal aspects of their lives? He ended up finding it very difficult to write new material and kept on doing the same set for years - and then he died.

OK that last bit isn’t true but eventually he stagnated as a comic, and then he died.¹

How the heck do I “find my voice” anyway?

Be patient. Keep performing as yourself and to quote myself:

When you are on stage, look out for the moments people laugh but there wasn’t a punchline. This should point you in the direction of the moments where you are being peak “you”. 

So much of a comedians more cringey moments comes from wanting to rush to the finish line. Trying on hats that are not their own, and sure we learn from failure but make sure you are learning the right lessons, not like “I need to try that louder!”.

1. Not really