Originally Posted by Ryan S~View Post I’ve bombed as part of a play (slapstick to a dead crowd is fucking horrible) but I could always hide behind my fellow actors and commiserate with them after. Alone. On stage. In a bar. No damn way.
It’s brutal, it really is. But in an absolutely wonderful way. Bombing is an excellent barometer, and what I hate more than bombing is getting cheap laughs or pity laughs. Bombing hurts, but in a way that compels you to do something more or better. It hurts so good.
Originally Posted by Martin SView Post Yeah but Ryan, you’re not a redneck, and you’re from Alberta. That alone is sad enough it’s hilarious!
Don’t get me started on Alberta politics, Martin. The PQs and the Bloc might be separatists but at least they have socially progressive ideas. The separatist party in Alberta are right of the Montana Freemen.
I just started listening to WTF with Marc Maron, I’ve been thinking about stand-up a lot. I’ve done a few shows, but nothing in a serious actual club setting. Been meaning to attend an open mic my friend curates, but it’s hard to muster up the courage to take that first step.
I’ve always been a fan of standup, from a very young age. I’m also shy and terrified of rejection, so I never tried. I still thought about it a lot, especially after I saw Hicks twice.
From an outsiders long-time-fan and comedy nerd perspective, I think you could do far worse than:
Listen to every episode of WTF With Marc Maron (excellent start, Patrick!). I also recommend The Nerdist, Doug Loves Movies, and The Adam Carolla podcast (fast forward is your friend - he gets many good comics on the show), and Comedy Death Ray Radio
Start lurking the boards at aspecialthing.com (Doug Benson and a bunch of other comics post there)
Follow as many comedians and writers as you can on Twitter
From listening to all of those podcasts, it seems like LA chewer comics should basically live at UCB, Largo, and maybe The Comedy Store, though the last sure gets demonized by Maron and others.
Just starting in LA contains many pitfalls, one of which is getting seen by the right people too early, before you’re ready. Try to stay under the radar for the first two years and develop your voice/act.
This is nearly all stuff that I’ve heard comics say on podcasts. Take it as you will.
Jake, if you and your boyfriend Tati come to the east coast, I’ll take you to the Comedy Cellar in NY, or Helium in Philly. You’ll dig it. Otherwise, let’s check out some stand up in LA next time I’m out.
Originally Posted by Eyeball KidView Post I’ve always been a fan of standup, from a very young age. I’m also shy and terrified of rejection, so I never tried. I still thought about it a lot, especially after I saw Hicks twice. From an outsiders long-time-fan and comedy nerd perspective, I think you could do far worse than: 1) Listen to every episode of WTF With Marc Maron (excellent start, Patrick!). I also recommend The Nerdist, Doug Loves Movies, and The Adam Carolla podcast (fast forward is your friend - he gets many good comics on the show), and Comedy Death Ray Radio 2) Read “The Satiristas!” http://www.satiristas.com/ 3) Start lurking the boards at aspecialthing.com (Doug Benson and a bunch of other comics post there) 4) Follow as many comedians and writers as you can on Twitter 5) From listening to all of those podcasts, it seems like LA chewer comics should basically live at UCB, Largo, and maybe The Comedy Store, though the last sure gets demonized by Maron and others. 6) Just starting in LA contains many pitfalls, one of which is getting seen by the right people too early, before you’re ready. Try to stay under the radar for the first two years and develop your voice/act. This is nearly all stuff that I’ve heard comics say on podcasts. Take it as you will.
Already on all these aside from the 2nd and 5th one! 5th one because I ain’t ready for those yet.
Originally Posted by joeypantsView Post I’ve always wanted to try but a) my area is really not conducive to the art and b) the usual fear of bombing.
Where?
Quote:
Originally Posted by JakeView Post Writing and developing is pretty much taken from real-life stuff. I develop jokes by adding my own twist to it, but mostly I agree with my friend’s statement that “you don’t find the joke, the joke finds you”.
Seriously asking, how distant is the stuff you consider funny on paper to the one you really try later? I always wondered about that issue. I mean It’s impressive the style’ required to craft a good one.
Well, you just work on keeping it lean. It always starts off as a small bit that I flesh out in my head later - sometimes I write shit down right when it hits, sometimes I write down a tiny incident that I think would be funny and work it later. It’s not too incredibly distant so far, but that’s not to say that something needs to change. Jokes can almost always be fixed.
See: That is what I find interesting. You do the fleshing out in your head. I find that difficult, and oft-times I completely misread what I think will be funny in my head with what is actually going to be funny. So I tend to do the fleshing out through trial and error in front of an audience.
How do you develop sense to flesh it out in your head and then keep it fresh and have it work in front of your crowd?
I find any idea I have has to be fleshed out in my head as I roll it around. Luckily my job is a lot of mindless work, so I have a lot of time to do just that.
Observations I’ve made while at open mics: Don’t ever, ever, EVER open your set with “I don’t really think I’m funny, but…” because congratulations, now no one else thinks you are, either. I almost wanted to go and tell the guy it was OK for him to go sit down, because the crickets he was getting was defeaning. And awkward.
I’ve been seriously entertaining this for a good while now, and the only thing holding me back is any time I’m on stage in front of people, I almost always hiccup my way through the first minute before I get relaxed enough to find a rythem. And at a 5 minute open mic, 60 seconds lasts a lifetime. The only way around it is for me to rehearse extensively, and/or be slightly intoxicated. I’ve thought about taking some improv classes to shake out the cobwebs, though, so we’ll see.
Maybe this thread needs to be a support group to get people over their fear of taking that first step. It seems like just as every drawer in every office has half a manuscript for a novel waiting there, most people have a 3-5 minute routine stuck underneath a bit of fear.
Yeah. I have had only 2 family members who have ever seen me do stand-up. They came on a “special” night. We were doing a joint show with the local independent cinema who had just opened The Aristocrats. The film was proving to be immensely popular so we teamed up to do a show where the public could see the film and then come and hear local comedians perform their version of the joke. My family members thought this would be a good night to come see me. I hold the record for the evening: I walked 20 people. My family was . . . surprised.
So what I’m saying is, if my family hasn’t disowned me yet, I’m sure your ladyfriend won’t abandon you. At least immediately.
More about how much I hate her mother, and the idea of mother-in-law jokes in general. She knows I hate her mother, but the approach I came up with today might be a little too personal.
Originally Posted by Patrick RipollView Post More about how much I hate her mother, and the idea of mother-in-law jokes in general. She knows I hate her mother, but the approach I came up with today might be a little too personal. EDITED TO REMOVE INCRIMINATING EVIDENCE.
Ah, but if she does break up with you, you’re bound to get more material out of that, so you can’t lose.