Stand up for Yourself
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After a year of performing stand-up comedy, three appearances at The Stand Newcastle’s Red Raw night and a runner-up placement at a new act of the year award… I still know nothing about comedy. That said, I’m still the type to give completely unsolicited advice on subjects I know nothing about. And now that I’m watching this year’s freshers pick up a mic for the first time, here’s a few observations I’ve made on beginner comedians. Follow this advice, and maybe you, too, could not win a stand-up competition in a years time.
Confidence
Most starting comics aren’t the most vibrant performers. That’s fine. Your Peter Kays and John Bishops weren’t either. By it’s very nature, stepping onto the one brightly lit spot to wrestle laughs from the throats of total strangers is daunting. So it’s perfectly OK to be a dry-mouthed, wet-browed mess for your first gig. Just stand there, force your jokes out and get off. It won’t be the glorious epiphany moment you imagined but it will get it over with. Now you’ve done it, you can concentrate on doing it well.
Hack Jokes
If you’re just starting to write comedy, it doesn’t have to be particularly unique. What I did, and just about everyone does, is lean heavily on established memes to produce reliable laughs. Students are lazy. Vegans tell you they’re vegans. Southerners are posh/Northerners are stupid etc. This sort of joke is reliable enough because audiences come already familiarised with the premise so it requires very little work on their part. My first set consisted of five minutes on how we ginger people are unattractive. How unique. This is all part of the writing process though and gives you a good base to launch from. Don’t be afraid of being cliché. They’re popular for a reason.
Admittance
Often the biggest hurdle to comedians is simply admitting to someone that they want to have a go. It was with me. It feels like extreme arrogance to admit you think you’re funny. Despite people at school continually saying as such and you privately agreeing. But the kid who think’s hes good at football doesn’t let that stop him from playing. If anything it encourages them.
So go on, If you want to. If someone’s told you you should, give it a go. They’re probably right.