ADVICE: a book on Stand-Up Comedy

[The Institution Theater]

I hate to bring negativity into the beautiful Land of Austin. But, Jeff, when I see you, I am so going to kick your ass.

[Jeff]

1st time i've laughed out loud at a forum post in weeks. thank you, tom.

[The Institution Theater]

I'm not joking. You're a dead man.

[Jeff]

I'm not joking. You're a dead man.

Why wait around for a chance meeting, pussy? I'm comin' over to where you are right now.

[sirnoze]

thanks Tom... I actually read STAND UP COMEDY by Judy Carter the other week and shared this ditty on the Brand Autopsy blog:

http://brandautopsy.typepad.com/brandau ... -your.html

[York99]

I'm going to appear onstage with a man-sized grimoire. Maybe I'll crawl out of it before I read from it.

Hack magician.

[York99]

A comic who has made a dedicated commitment to his or her act can make an audience laugh just on the strength of confidence alone. It doesn’t really matter what is being talked about.

That's the writer's ugly truth. Good writers don't necessarily make good performers (The Bruce Vilanch/Whoopi Goldberg Principle). Good material doesn't necessarily make a good piece if the performance isn't there.

Conversely, a good performer can make crappy material into a good piece (The Farley Dynamic).

[starkserious]

If you really want to learn Stand-Up start going to open mike at the velveeta. You only 3 minutes so if you suck it;s over quickly. The key is just start writing and get up on stage and try it out. Test each joke out 3 times and if it gets a laugh keep it. If it doesn't try changing it around too see that works. All the successful comics I've worked with did lots of stage time to try out material. (nobody gives a shit if you bring a notebook or paper on stage for Open Mike--Comedy central doesn't watch Open Mikes!) When it comes time for the big show then know your material cold. It's ok to bring a set list though because you might want to change it up depending how audience is buying your material and performance. I've dropped bits before that I felt wouldn't work with certain crowds. Also a good idea is tape every set you do. GO back and listen to it and see where you really got laughs on your jokes. Time the seconds of laughter and then you can start to figure out where to place the good jokes., It's best to put a couple a good ones at the beginning, one or two in the middle and save your best jokes for the end. Most audiences only remember your closing if it's strong. You can even bail a mediocre set out with a strong ending.

as far as getting good stand up training check out Sam Cox and the http://www.comedygym.com here in Austin. Sam is my stand up mentor and taught me the basics and he's a great guy. Funny too! Unfortunately he's taking a hiatus because he just got a new liver and can't go out in public for awhile.. Talk with Rob Nash too. He knows standup and is a good tutor.

Judy Carter's books are ok. I also like Zen and Art of Stand Up Comedy by Jay Sankey and Books by Gene Perrett - he was one of Bob Hope's chief comedy writers.
John Vorhaus also has a good book about writing with a point of view I like. Just can't think of the name of his book now. Melvin Hitzner has a book called COJMEDY WRITING SECRETs that breaks down most of the comedy patterns and has good exercises to get you writing. Go to amazon and you'll find all these books.

Terrill "a recovering stand-up comic" Fischer