Notes I always give to my beginner students - Part 1

Most "experienced" comedians could also benefit from this advice

I pride myself on being able to give friendly, constructive criticism to my students. Even if material is severely lacking in the ha-ha department, I never say something isn’t funny - but rather suggest how it could be funny with some more work. Even if I really hated a bit, I try and break down what is and isn’t working. Even if a bit was downright offensive, or I’ve heard it a million times before, I always try and shine a positive light on the subject - they’re beginners after all!

I am a pineapple of positivity - Photo by Pineapple Supply Co. on Unsplash

You don’t have to be a beginner to make beginner mistakes, and I so hopefully these notes can help everyone. For a bit of fun I’ve written what sometimes I’d like to say 😈

1. 😇 You have so many good topics, expand out one or two
   😈 You obviously wrote this on the bus on the way here
   This is the most common note I give and I only have myself to blame. I literally ask students to make lists of things, But people rush their lists because they’d rather spend 7 hours watching old Survivor episodes than work on their homework for 30 minutes (this is me, I’m talking about me).
   The trouble with comedy writing is people often stop with the idea when they found a good joke, this leaves a topic feeling empty and unexplored to a trained ear. Think of a good joke as just the beginning of a much larger routine. Use afterthought exercises and attitude exercises to explore a premise until it’s a lifeless husk.

1. 😇 If I’m thinking I’m not laughing
   😈 Edit! Edit! Edit!
   I borrowed this term from Logan Murray’s book. It basically means your material needs to hit like a bullet. You only have a few precious minutes to wow your audience, so make it count. Cut any extraneous words and ideas that are not funny, or are setting something up to be funny. EG if you say your parents are divorced and still live together, we either need to know all about that right away, or drop it from your set. If your words produce extra intrigue but not extra laughs, you should probably edit them out.
   

   This editing technique is guaranteed to instantly make you the best comedian in the world

2. 😇 Don’t make us write the joke / tell us why this is funny
   😈 This is not funny
   So often newer comics will throw out a little “comment” and expect a laugh of recognition, because they make the mistake of thinking their audience are all little carbon copies of them. Assumptions like “Exes are trash”, “Parents suck”, “Women be shopping”, “Men are manly”, “(stereotype) of (country) is true” are not in themselves funny or universally accepted things, and if they are true for you then we need specific examples in order to laugh really hard.
   

3. 😇 I feel like you’re just telling us things
   😈 None of this is funny
   A good joke is relatable and surprising. Without the surprise, it’s just a person saying things. You need afterthoughts.

4. 😇 This will be a tremendous 2 minute bit after some editing
   😈 That is 7 minutes of my life I’ll never get back
   See 1.

5. 😇 This will be great for a storytelling night
   😈 Have you never heard stand-up before?
   Some people come to my classes from a Toast-masters, storytelling, poetry or pure theatre background, and God help me. Some of them get it, and can remove all this weird playing to the 4th wall and self-narration. But some people have been so damaged by theatre training, they are literally unable to be authentic any more. I weep for them the tears they can no longer weep themselves.
   

   What stand-up is, and what it isn't

6. 😇 Is that story true?
   😈 BULLSHIT!
   People can always tell when you are being pretentious, or lying on stage. This is not the same as joking, exaggerating or being creative. Humans are amazingly good at noticing when “something is up”, and it gets us in our heads and away from the laughter zone. Some people like to use the stage to paint a somehow cooler version of themselves, and this is a magnificently dumb idea because we can see and hear you! I had a guy in class do some joke about having sex with a girl in the butt (don’t ask). I’m not saying he never has, but he absolutely seems like his deal was that he runs the most fantastic D&D campaigns. Why be another bro-ey guy making dick jokes when you can be the D&D guy?

   

   Who needs women when you can roll a natural 20? - Photo by 2H Media on Unsplash

7. 😇 Stay in reality for a bit longer before you get crazy
   😈 What are you talking about, friend?
   A joke has to be believable for it to work. Surprise + Believability = Laughter. Often comedians jump straight to a crazy idea, either because they are scared of being vulnerable, or they think that crazy = funny. Here’s Bill Bailey showing us how it’s done.

   This joke works well, because he heightens it gradually. We’re in a normal dentists office, then it’s 10% weird “1 over the 4 and 2…” then he heightens it even more. But he keeps grounding it by bringing us back to the patient in the dentists chair reacting normally.
   

   Notes I give my beginner's students - part 2