Have you ever done stand-up?

Cafe Society
21

I did go to the open mic night at the club I mentioned (Governor’s) last night, so I thought I’d answer these questions from experience this time. :stuck_out_tongue:

I spent about a week or a week and a half mulling over the topic I’d chosen, mostly just in my head. Even when I acted, I never rehearsed out loud, it made me too self-conscious. I did use a few bits on friends to test them out. I typed out my routine on Tuesday afternoon, when I had about 24 hours 'til showtime. From there, I spent a lot of time going over it from memory, making sure it flowed, came in under my time limit (seven minutes), and trying to punch it up, since I felt I had a coherent topic but wasn’t sure I had enough good jokes. I didn’t get to review it very much yesterday because of work, but I made my final changes while driving around about two hours before I went on.

Yeah, I was really nervous. Coming up with the stuff wasn’t hard, but facing the reality of performing and not being sure if it was funny was nerve-wracking. My nerves went away when we got to the club, and only returned as I was going onstage. Very convenient. So I stammered a little and my transitions weren’t always smooth, but it went really well. One of the old pros was convinced I’d been doing standup for a while. What did I think about while doing it? In order, it went something like “WOW, these lights are bright!” “That one guy isn’t laughing.” “That guy’s digging it.” “Shit, what was I going to say next?” [I felt two or three times like I’d forgotten the whole thing.] After I got two or three jokes in, I wasn’t worried about being funny anymore, I just hoped it would keep moving.

So I’m definitely going to do this on a monthly basis, and maybe I’ll get myself into their comedy class. It’s supposed to be a good one.

As far as telling people… if it was up to me, I wouldn’t have told anyone until after I’d done it. If I’d gotten a good response, I’d have invited friends the next time. But Governor’s requires you to bring six paying customers if you want to perform, so I couldn’t do that. My friends were very kind, so I told them to come anytime I do this. I told my family what I’d done when I got home that night, and I told my co-workers this afternoon. (Forcing myself into a command office performance.) It actually went better onstage last night, but they laughed pretty hard and I told them they’re welcome to come any time. Most of them would walk on hot coals for booze anyway, so I figured I could count on them.

22

Let me pass along a few “comedy truths,” told to me by the stage manager of the local comedy club, who’s worked in the business for over 20 years:

  1. Don’t be afraid to wait for a laugh. And it WILL arrive, even if it takes longer than you think.

  2. Things are always funnier in threes. I’ve heard it called, “set-up, set-up, punchline.” Two isn’t funny, and four is too much. For some reason, three is the optimum number to use. Maybe a GQ thread would explain why, as no one I’ve ever asked can tell me.

  3. The more they drink, they funnier you are.

23

That’s a good point, Superdude, thanks. I’m not quite so new at comedy that I don’t know about threes - I’m just new at standup - but as far as item #3 goes… well, the place has a two-drink minimum. I feel pretty good about that. :wink:

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Oh, and by the way, Marley, welcome to the inner circle. As I said before, I’ve been doing it off-and-on for the last…11, 12 years.

25

HAH!
(hijack: what was it on? Details, man, details!)

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  1. Always leave them laughing. End the set on a high note, rather than try to extend it for that extra laugh.

  2. Don’t try for how long you are up there. Try for quality. 3 -7 minutes of good material is way better than some rambling newbie who goes on and on for 45 minutes.

  3. make fun of yourself.

I do stand up (actually sitdown) at home parties, critically ill people, teachers, kids, and funerals. Ok, it’s my real life just being a smart ass, but it all superb training for the day I actually get the balls to go on stage.

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It’s amazing how perception is. 3 - 7 minutes on stage can feel like 45 minutes. Especially if you’re new to it.

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I think I did a decent job of ending on a high note. As far as time goes, I’m lucky: the seven minutes I mentioned is the limit at open mic nights, period, end of story, and I knew about that well ahead of time and prepared with that in mind. I don’t think I went over six minutes.
As far as making fun of myself - had NO problem with that. Before I said anything, I improvised a little “he’s short” sight gag at my expense by lowering the mic stand three or four times, and my routine started “So I know you’d never believe this from looking at me, but I was kind of a geek in high school.” When they laughed at that, I figured I was alright.

And thanks for the welcome, Superdude. The acceptance I got in the green room was almost as cool as getting the laughs onstage. This was something I’d wanted to do for years, so I enjoyed the reminder that I’d actually done it successfully.

29

Hey, a thread I can factually answer!

Started out in 1985 at the open mike nights in San Diego. There was a Comedy Store and an Improv so the bunch of us would do one club on one night, then the other club’s another night.

Doing this every week without fail I got good enough to have about 5-10 mintues of good material and had no more butterflies even if I bombed. With practice and a good crowd I was starting to get work around town. Had a week or 2 on the road now and then, mostly emcee/opening act stuff. Paid the rent with my earnings once or twice. I tried out alot of different material and just had a great time, felt really creative. Made some friends of my fellow comedians, some of whom have gone on to successful showbiz carreers. One posed in Playboy!

Decided in 1987 it would be a good idea to move to Los Angeles and make a serious go of it, I had been working in the office of the Comedy Store so for awhile I was actually working both the L.A. and the San Diego Comedy Stores doing accounting chores, selling tickets on a slow night and just hanging around. It was all good fun. Even was on a late-night Showtime stand-up thing once.

However, I got tired of the slimy showbiz people, not everybody but I seemed to see more of them than the nice guys. It was easy to be popular in San Diego nightclubs but the big pond/little fish thing of L.A. is a whole lot different. I also realized that I was only so good, so I quit.

Lots of fun stories, met some interesting people and I highly reccomend it if you’re willing to take the pain and humiliation. The laughs are worth it.

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Tell you what…next time I’m in NYC, I’ll buy you a celebratory beer.