"I'm a comedian, so I don't laugh easily"

Cafe Society
1

As some of you know, I do stand-up comedy here and there in Toronto. I’ve found that it’s really hard to get fellow actors and comedians out to see my gigs, though I sort of understand this as we get loads of notices daily to go see various shows from our peers.

The one thing that continually boggles my mind, however, is that when I’m in a room where the audience is comprised mainly of comedians, there’s virtually no laughter, regardless of how funny the comedian onstage is.

I’ve asked my fellow comedians about this phenomenon, and often I’ll get the response, “Well, I’m a comedian, so I don’t laugh easily”, or “Well, I do comedy, so it takes more to get me to laugh.” This is different, of course, from those people who naturally do not laugh often; I’m talking about comedians who say that they do not laugh often because they are comedians.

I suppose this works with a weird, skewed kind of logic, in that I suppose if you’ve seen more comedy, and written more comedy, you might be more likely to dissect it, or think “I’ve heard something like that before”.

However, a part of me just thinks this response is snotty. I’m a comedian, and I find I laugh very easily, mainly because I love comedy. I love performing it, I love watching it, and I delight in everything about it. Sure, I’ve seen all kinds of comedy. Sure, I’ve heard every joke at least twice. Sure, I heard so-and-so do a similar joke way better. But if it’s funny, I’ll still laugh.

Furthermore, comedy is very much about support. It’s obviously fed by the laughter and enthusiasm of the audience. Laughter also breeds laughter; if you hear someone else laugh at a joke, you’re more likely to laugh, which is why you’re more likely to enjoy a comedy show in a large audience than in a very small one. Hence, when I go out to a comedy show, I’m more likely to laugh aloud at things as I consciously know that this supports the enjoyment of the show, both for the comedian onstage and for myself and the rest of the audience.

Overall, I suppose I’m wondering if anyone else finds this excuse given by unsmiling comedians as lame as I do. Granted, comedy, particularly in Canada, is a very competitive thing (there are thousands of comics and no jobs) but you’d think we’d at least support each other with laughter.

Anyone else find this odd?

2

I think this phenomenon is the idea behind the movie The Aristocrats. It was a joke that was never told to the audience, just between other comics. The idea that the joke got so vulgar and shocking because it takes more than usual to make another comedian laugh.

3

You’re a comedian? I thought you said you were a Canadian.

Yeah, I know I’m going to hell. :smiley:

4

Simple competitiveness and jealousy.

5

I did stand-up comedy for a while, and I laugh pretty easily. Hell, we’d sit around after a gig and crack each other up all the time. We’d all be gasping for breath.

I think there’s a bit in all that Carlyjay. I’m imagining Emo Philips, Carrot Top and Gallager sitting around having a dour depressing conversation…

6

I’m not a comedian, but I have a theory. Isn’t surprise an important part of what makes a joke funny and triggers laughter? Maybe some comedians have heard and written so many jokes that it is unusual for one to surprise them anymore.

7

Comedy is not funny when over analyzed. Just trying to figure out what makes a joke funny kills it. Comedians would be critical and analytic.

8

I worked for a while with a former stand up comedian who I guess had something of a national reputation. We went to a comedy club together and while I enjoyed the show I didn’t laugh much. He said after the show that my reaction was similar to that of a lot of comics, that they tend to study other comics’ performances and thus don’t laugh.

9

I can kind of see it. After all, it’s usually unfunny when a comic laughs at his or her own jokes onstage, so isn’t there a bit of self-conditioning to keep a straight face? Basically, it’s like doing a routine to a room full of people who are at least subconsciously trying not to laugh, and are probably good at it.

10

As an actor, don’t you break down techniques when you see a person in the movies or onstage doing “actor stuff”?

As a guitarist, I pick apart things your average listener can’t hear.

I think it is just the nature of the beast - when you can see the mighty Oz behind the curtain working the gears, the stuff happening in front of the curtain is often less awesome…

11

My guess would be that as comedians maybe they’re early to see the punchline coming, or it’s just good old fashioned jealousy.

12

I suspect you are not, or were not, a comedian. :slight_smile:

I was, never hit the big time but I paid the rent with it awhile. What happened to me was as the joke is being told, I was automatically trying to analyze where it was going. If I guessed right, then there’s no surprise, and with no surprise there’s no laugh.

On the other hand, if I thought a comedien was good, sometimes I’d be the only guy roaring with laughter.

13

I think the lack of surprise is important.

Drew Carey used to just die with laughter all the time hosting Whose Line – which, since it was improv, was all about surprise.

14

I suspect you are not, or were not, a comedian. :slight_smile:

I was, never hit the big time but I paid the rent with it awhile. What happened to me was as the joke is being told, I was automatically trying to analyze where it was going. If I guessed right, then there’s no surprise, and with no surprise there’s no laugh.

On the other hand, if I thought a comedien was good, sometimes I’d be the only guy roaring with laughter.

15

Hmmm, double post, what a surprise.

Carlyjay, please tell me you weren’t working this weekend in Toronto. I was in town Thursday-Sunday on business and I would have loved to see you perform.

16

It’s possible, in fact, extremely likely that there are one batch of comedians who love to laugh and roar with laughter at any gig and another batch of comedians who analyze the jokes and the delivery and think rather than react during a set. That doesn’t make either group better than the other; it’s just a recognition that people are not all alike.

Sitting around backstage cracking one another up is a different matter entirely. Most large groups are like that, comedians or not.

If you haven’t already, I recommend you read Bill Maher’s almost unknown novel, True Story, about a thinly disguised group of the comedians he started working with in New York. Needless to say I agree with Library Journal’s rave on that Amazon page, not Publisher’s Weekly pan. Anyway, Maher does a good job of analyzing the different types of personalities that get into comedy. It’s surprisingly dry wit rather than a yuck riot.

And as for Drew Carey’s cracking up… Maybe he was being honest or maybe he was playing a part on television. When people laugh on television they are usually doing for the camera, not for themselves. The guy from the original British series seldom even laughed and never cracked up at all that I remember.

17

A similar phenomenon can be found among magicians. Many I know watch each others’ performances, but they don’t really get that sense of amazement, since they already know how most tricks and illusions are done.

18

I’m not even a comedian but the one time I went to stand-up I could tell where the jokes were going nearly all the time. (And the one joke I did laugh at in four whole sets, where the comedian plays a high chord on a guitar and sings a falsetto and then says “that’s every Pink Floyd song,” people were looking back at me sing I’m the big Pink Floyd fan and wondering why I wasn’t laughing louder.)

I hesitate to think how boring it would have been if I hadn’t been drinking.

19

I write humour in my spare time. And I laugh often. But stand-up, I find, is rarely funny. I’m not sure why. It probably has something to do with it being too mainstream.

20

I’m buying this book. This comment sold it for me:
“Bill Maher actually manages to think that the world is a bit worse than it actually is – and I didn’t know that was possible.”