I do have advice. Fill a page every day with notes on possible sketches. Don't write 'em up yet...just make notes and try to expand on them. Then, the next day, look back at your notes and take a run at one of the sketch ideas. That distance can help, and too often young writers just dive in to writing a sketch (or feature, or spec tv show, etc) without first picking their best idea or taking the time to find the best angle in.
Related posts tagged 'Advice for aspiring comedians'
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Related posts tagged 'Advice for aspiring comedians'
i don't think standup is a place for networking or getting discovered too quickly. it's really something you need to spend a lot of time on before getting good, and it's a good idea to hold off before exposing people to your work. there are a couple of times when it felt like a break, but you can't tell a break when it happens to you. you just hope people see your work and like it. And keep doing it. About 4 years into comedy is when i got filed from my mail-sorting job and relied on comedy. it still feels like a frightening risk.
I think moving to LA was huge for my career. For those young people, eventually you go to either NY or LA. Listen to your gut. If you're in NY and think it's where you should be, you should be there. Don't believe the crap about NY. LA isn't full of plastic or phony people. I've met some of the best people in LA. If you hang in and work your ass off, you'll one day pick your head up and have made progress.
This is something I get asked a lot. My answer is to just set a date, maybe a month out or 3 months out. Whatever. Find an open mic and set yourself a date when that open mic is happening. And then tell people that you'll be doing an open mic on that date if that'll help drive you. You don't (and shouldn't) tell anybody to come. Just set that date and stick to it. You will be nervous. But once it's done you'll have already started standup.
I can't help you at all. The only road to good shows is bad ones. Just go start having a bad time and if you don't give up you will get better.
The best comedy advice in the beginning of my career was get onstage every night, as many times as possible. It’s the only way to get better. You can’t practice stand-up alone in your room. You can’t find out if a joke works by asking two of your friends.
Louis CK once told me to never let go of a bit. I tend to throw away a lot of ideas if they're not working, but now I think I'm going to go back to stuff I once believed in, and see if I still find it funny and can maybe re-shape it into something good.
A lot of people want to get into comedy and talk about it, but you don’t realize the first step to getting into comedy is actually going to do it. You can’t do things that you don’t put actions behind. So sit down, take a piece of paper, write out your thoughts and then go to an amateur night and try them. If it doesn’t go well, see what worked, what didn’t work and go back and try it again. But don’t be a talker, be a doer.
stop fuckin around. just get on stage. there's nothing else to do if you want to do stand up. you need to get on stage. figure that out and the rest will follow.
Question: how do you organize and develop your material and various jokes? Do you have notebooks full of detailed notes and jokes, or do you just sketch them out and wing it on stage?
Answer: I believe in detailed notes and jokes, and also winging it onstage. But, not for your first open mic. For your first open mic, my advice to you would be to make sure you have what you're gonna do memorized, to the point that one of your friends can gently slap you across the face, and you'll still be able to get it out of your mouth.
1 get on stage as much as you can 2 do the comedy that would make YOU laugh 3 ask yourself WHEN would i laugh if i was listening to myself? if the answer is "i don't know" then neither will the audience 4 hang with people who don't tear you down or break your spirit 5 listen to the greats, let them influence you, then shed them when you find your voice 6 don't be a dick!
This is a very common problem for most comedians. Lemme ask you this - How bad was your childhood? If it was really bad, chances are you're already comfortable with feeling like a failure. So you're actually ahead of the game!
Stand up is You vs You so tell that scared little bitch to calm down. You aren't fighting in Afghanistan or battling cancer. You're just telling shit jokes to strangers. Good luck and godspeed. Go for it!
Find other people who make you laugh and spend as much time with them as you can. They'll make you better and keep you motivated.
Start a show. Host the show. at a bar or any space. then you have guaranteed stage time and you do other comics favors by giving them spots so then they will give you spots on their shows. also hang out a lot at comedy clubs.
Tell your life stories and add the jokes in. You will be original. All you have in stand up is you and the way you view things.
you gotta deal with like a decade worth of bullshit before you start seeing the fruits of your labor. Just avoid negative people and keep writing and perfecting your set. Throw out jokes that don't work. Keep the ones that do work.
If you want to do stand up, just do it.
Broad City is fun and I'm excited for the second season.
Eric Andre is weird and talented and the show is insane and not for everyone .
Chozen is one of the easiest jobs that I have in my life.
I developed my delivery through trial and error and performing over and over.
I will destroy you in NBA 2k14
All is Lost Starring Robert Redford is not a good movie
Good comedians to check out Lil B, Don Rickles Michael Che, Jerrod Carmichael, Sean Patton, W. Kamau Bell, Bridget Everett, Nick Vatterott, Jon Laster, Kara Klenk
To all of you that didn't have a question and just wanted to say something nice, thank you.
The thing I try to remember with hecklers is just to take my time and listen to them. I believe it was Chappelle who said, "A heckler's first punch is their best punch." They're generally not clever people. You don't see a lot of scientists going to comedy clubs and heckling. They're just drunk. And mostly women. So you just have to take your time and then eviscerate them.
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