Thank you for the advice, Michele. I really appreciate this. I'll be 21 in a few months and I'll finally be able to do open mic in my city bar. I'm really excited for it. I've learned a lot. Thank you.
Thank you for posting this! My biggest fear is bombing a gig and being awkwardly booed through silence off stage. I have researched a lot of comics to see how they intro, deliver, and punch but never how to truly grip the audience’s attention by understanding the audience’s needs. Thank you!!!
I think it's simple, really. They want to be entertained. As to whether you should try stand-up or not, it's ultimately your choice. Here is what i think is the best 'measuring' stick - do others tell you are you funny?
Thanks for the post. How do you keep track of all the jokes on bits of paper, yellow pad, and notebooks? Do you have an organizing technique for all of your jokes?
Hey Thomas great question, I have a lot of comedy notebooks that I use to write down my ideas of jokes and also to write down the wording of the joke when I'm trying to figure it out and when I've finally perfected the wording. I've got about three or four notebooks from the last few years, occasionally I'll go through them and try different ideas that I'd written down previously which didn't work at the time but now I can reform into a better joke =)
Hello Michelle, sounds like some good points. I recently went to an open mic night with some friends, and many of the comics were making many of these same mistakes. I felt bad for them, and was trying to give them courtesy laughs, but it was hard... their were a lot of crickets chirping. One thing I noticed is people referring to their notes, and saying "let's see here... no... not that one".... I wanted to yell... "NO... Turn that page back, I want to know what you think is not good enough for my ears!" The other thing was, comics telling a joke that got no laughs and they would address it... "Wow.... I guess that joke sucked" or somehow degrading themselves. All that being said, your first point was definitely a good one.. "Come out of the gate fast and funny"... So many people wasted time saying "Hi, how are you doing... My name is John Doe, and this is my (1st.. second..) time on stage" Basically, wasting their five minutes telling me their name when they were just introduced by the MC. BTW.. I am not a comedian, but I have said things to my wife and circle of friends that they have found funny, and they all say "DUDE!! You should do stand up comedy"... And I always have the same response... "Ehhh.. No... YOU guys think I am funny, and I am funny in this moment, but in front of 20 to 30 strangers... that is a different dynamic entirely. At any rate,,, I am thinking of trying it.. .I am still scared as hell.. even though I am used to being on stage for plays and music,.. but I am not the guy with a mic in front of my face the whole time.... ON that note, since I have been searching, on how to do stand-up... I can't deny that my inner voice is telling me to give it a shot. So... I am still working up the courage.
sorry for the late reply! i didn't see this comment waiting to be approved. You should definitely give it a go, you'll only find out once you've tried and it seems like you have a lot of support around you so why not make a night of it and invite some friends along? Worst case scenario at least you've tried and you've made your friends laugh with (or at) you =P good luck!
We had 7 comics and A Special group comedy bit that consisted of about 6 ppl to do a skit. WE HAD ZERO REAL patrons. And 2 late sign up guys. Of course I was first. I was prepared to not get any laughs, But I HAD NO IDEA that it would be and commonly is NO real audience members. This is common place apparently. Most ot the other comics just read stuff off of their phones. WOW, It was horrendous, but, I will do it again soon....COMICS are not right!
Hi Michele, All good advice. Really good video. A week ago, I did an impromptu stand-up (without any forewarning or prepping) at a storytelling event, and it turned into 12 minutes of funny stories. The audience laughed all the way through and loved it. I'm booked to do my first gig at a proper comedy open mic. I was wondering whether to just with what I used before, or mix it up, using a combination of gags/one-liners and maybe one/two of the stories. What do you think? Is it best to stick with stories or one-liners? Will I just confuse the audience if I use one-liners that aren't necessarily auto-biographical/true, with stories that are true and personal? Any thoughts on that would be helpful.
Congrats on your first stand up gig! I think you can use what you did before but keep in mind your time limit and also (not to be discouraging) but sometimes things work better for storytelling than stand up comedy shows because the audience is not expecting EVERYTHING to be funny in stories and they can still be entertaining but not funny. Often, in comedy shows the audience has shorter attention span and want you to get to the punchline more quickly so think about how you can edit your stories to fit this format if needed. I don't think you will confuse the audience if you do one liners just make sure they are relatable!
Thanks Michele! Great advice, I've created a series of one liners, mixed in with some short stories, and got some call back gags going. I've decided to go for the shortest of the stories which have plenty of slapstick comedy good for act outs. I've clarified a unifying theme so that it all pulls together better. Still a work in progress, luckily my next gig is Nov 20th so lots of time - maybe too much time? - to perfect it.
I've done stand-up one time and freaking loved it! The thing is I'm slow to the punchline. The first 2 minutes of my 5 minute set were jokes I wrote that I thought were funny I heard a pin drop and was the longest 2 minutes of my life, and the last 3 minutes I just told stories from when I drove Uber.
that's great that you loved it, keep going! Yes it's hard at open mics to do long stories, especially if you're not well known. I personally have more luck doing shorter jokes if I have a short time limit so I can fit more in but some people have luck doing long jokes, keep experimenting and let me know how you go!
these were helpful, thanks. I was also wondering, generally speaking, are clubs usually welcoming to open mic ers or do you find a lot of hardened audiences? thanks in advance.
David Kim hey David not sure where you're based but in Sydney there are usually themed open Mic nights that have free comedy so the audience know what to expect (also half the room are comedians so they are pretty supportive). The MC might say something like "these guys are starting out so if you want to heckle someone, heckle me" or it might be a regular night so people will know what to expect. If it's presented as open mic the audience should be pretty relaxed. It would be very rare the audience wasn't told it was open Mic!
Hey Michele. Thanks for uploading this. I haven't done my first open mic yet, and I stumbled across this while looking for stand up do's and don'ts. Thankfully, I hadn't planned on doing anything you talked about, so I think I'm gravy. ;) Cheers!
1. Make them laugh fast. 2. Make stories with punch lines. 3. Don't tell the audience you're not funny. 4. Write jokes if you keep can't tell them correctly, work on your material. 5. Be likeable. 6. Be engaged. 7. Don't do relationship material. (Too common)
B_JAMAR86 thank you! It's really up to you, I'd recommend going along to some open mic nights or pro nights to see what people are doing (make notes of what works and why) and some open mic nights might have a workshop bit before/after where the comics swap ideas etc. If you do go to a class, check out the teachers beforehand to make sure they're funny! good luck!
Hello. Love your video. I have a really important question. I'm an aspiring comedian from Bedfordshire, UK. I tend to tell very dark and near the knuckle jokes. About taboo topics. Would this be good for an open mic night? Examples of my jokes include Princess Diana , Abortion , Child abuse , ilness etc. Thank you for reading
Hi! Thanks for subscribing to my channel =) I remember hearing a really good joke about Princess Diana once and wasn't very nice but a good joke! Firstly I think you'll need to get used to saying your material at Open mic nights regardless as it's hard to get stage time as a beginner so be prepared for open mics! Secondly I think it depends on how you approach the subject, are you saying something insightful or are you just trying to use the shock factor? If it's the latter, people might be put off. But I know that the sign of a great comedian is someone who can balance on the line and handle delicate subjects in a funny manner. Try your material out on some friends first and get their feedback and remember you need to win the audience over before you start. Good luck!
Hi Michelle. I haven't tried stand-up yet (even with 700 or so individual skits) but I like when you say that even though some stories are funny to your friends because they know your personality, etc. etc., they might not be funny to a general audience because they can't picture it. I have a boatload of little anecdotes from my life and by adding other people to the mix might just confuse them. The last part about being a kinda sucky comedian one night but the crowd thinking you're a "nice guy" is interesting too. I would never assume, but if I ever did a video like this I would likely enjoy some 420 before my Rule #5. :) :) :)
Actually I just looked and it's 941. Not like full on skits though. Just, well, you know, individual thoughts and some would obviously mix in with others. As a word processor I know how to set up referenced table of contents and I have my categories arranged where I put the stuff in based on the category (Or "Miscellaneous" if they don't fit ANYTHING.). It's all numbered too, which is why I have that exact number. I can't even COUNT to 941, let alone take the time to do it. Damn. I wound WAY too organized to actually do stand up! LOL! And 420 makes you very friendly to the guy behind the counter selling you pancakes & donuts & pizza & Doritos ... all at the same time. I did enjoy your video and will hopefully check back. Good luck! :)
I like comedy and have written a Joke Picture book with graphics and punchlines per page for each joke. Up to 100 pages so far. Thinking could also be basis for stand up routine. Took Comedy Improv classes. Usually make people laugh out loud even strangers on first meeting. ;-)
Philip Tonee that sounds great! you could even use them in different countries since there's no language barrier. Will have to keep an eye out for them!
bodyanti heya there's a Facebook group you can join called Open Mic Sydney it's got most of the venues listed there and they'll put up sign up sheets each week online so you don't have to physically line up on the night (tehcnology these days!) my favourites are Tudor comedy, Comedy on the edge, Cactus Juice, Molotov comedy. They're all pretty centrally located, on various weeknights and both comics and crowd are really nice. You'll start to recognize the same comics around a lot if you go. I'm doing Tudor in a few weeks, maybe I'll see you there!
Thanks for the tips! As someone who is looking into potential times for future open mic nights, I'm really more curious over the likes of hecklers in open mic nights/headlining comedy shows. Do you have any recommendations for hecklers-like to go with the flow or use their logic against them (but with laughter.) Again, thank you for your tips!
Hey Adam great question! I think the number one thing to remember with hecklers is you need to have the audience on your side before you try and deal with them. If the audience isn't on your side (eg. if you're bombing) and you try and make fun of someone it probably won't go down well! I don't pay too much attention to hecklers as usually they're not trying to be malicious and if you start talking to them one on one it excludes everyone else in the room who are paying to see you do your thing! So I would recommend you go with the flow and don't involve them too much. If you do want to try something you could say something like "Oh I'm sorry I didn't realise this was your show, do you want to take the stage?" with a smile - depends on what they are heckling with! Hope this helps!
It does! As Johnny Carson once said, "If people like you, then you have won 80% of the battle." Your advice reminded me of that statement and while I'm still trying to write some material, all I can say is that with everything happening to me these past couple of years, I know I can get a chuckle or two from the audience-boy oh boy was 2014 to now off the chain for me! Forgive me for being redundant Michele but thank you SO MUCH for the advice and making this informative video!
Hi Michelle. Shout out to my Manly Sea Eagles in Australia. Quick question: I’ve been writing some stuff down that I want to try onstage. It’s very dirty. Is that an issue?
haha fun fact I met the Eagle's captain once but I just thought he was a fan wearing a jersey lol. They used to get their "lucky meal" every week at this restaurant I worked at during the lead up to the grand final in 2008! I've always maintained clean comedy is much better than smutty comedy, not least because you're not limited to playing certain rooms due to "censorship". The important thing if you want to use dirty material is think, are you relying on the crudeness for laughs? If so, I think people will tire of it easily. However if you're making a great observation but using crude language to illustrate than it might be OK. I love Chris Rock's bit on men vs women. That set is definitely not meant for children but I think he's making a really good observation and he's not relying on the shock of crude language for laughs. Hope that helps! I have a video on swearing which explores this as well, feel free to check it out!
Michele Lim That’s awesome Michele. As you can tell by my name I’m a huge rugby league fan. I stayed in Oz for a few months. 9/11 happened while I was in Manly. That’s my birthday. Yet t happened on the 12th. My stuff is not about being vulgar the least. I actually sent a buddy some stuff I wrote tonight for the first time. He said it was funny. He does it too. I could totally suck on stage. That actually makes me laugh very very hard. Just going up and bombing it is hilarious. I’m married with 2 kids. Some of my stuff is very dirty. I live in LA and wrote some stuff about porn.
Hi Michele. I'm planning to do my first stand up this year and am now trying to write stuff and watching tip videos for beginners just like yours. I keep hearing that you need to get the audience to laugh quick and use a really good joke as a start. Now I made up that line which I thought would be funny, but then you said to be carefull with awkward humor. Could you give me some tips? : The opening line would be something like : | So, the last time I was doing stand up here it went great.... mostly because I wasn't here. " (ofc, having the announcer mention and stress that it's my first time before I go on stage) You also said to watch out for relationship bits, but how about a story where I was in a club and made out with a girl, who after about a minute found out she was a ladyboy. The people I've told that story so far find it funny, but i've only told it those 2 times.
Vililol hey! great questions. When I talk about awkward humour I'm talking about people who really drag out silences until they're uncomfortable before moving on to the punchline. Your opening line isn't awkward per se, you will probably get a small chuckle with that, two things though: as I mentioned don't doubt yourself! If you start with that line, you're already highlighting the fact you're new. You want people to think oh they were good, AND they were new too! Not, oh they were ok for a new comic. Secondly, if you are using that line be careful with the wording because if you say last time I performed it went great mostly because I wasn't there, it doesn't make sense. You'll have to say last time I was at a comedy club, the crowd went wild! I mean, I wasn't performing or anything... something like that. Re: relationships, I think that's fine. I was more talking about the classic "so, I just broke up with my bf/gf" lines but there's plenty of interesting relationship material out there! With your story build it up and don't make it too obvious what the big reveal is until the time. Good luck!! Let me know if you have any other questions!
You had me going there for a moment at 1.50 "trust me I've had bad sex as well"? I replayed it, this time with the text on, and we're all sorted. On a serious note, well not too serious, I really appreciate your advice. Mind you I'm not planning on stand-up comedy or anything remotely like that, but I think even a joke within mates is well worth polishing, and you are allowing that. Many thanks.
You're welcome. I've actually watch a few of your videos now, and soon enough I'll have no excuse for not being funny. Oh no. On the accent thing, and maybe you've heard this before. This is a true story - A new arrival to Australia was asked by an Aussie did you come to Australia today? The trouble was to his ear it sounded like he was hearing 'did you come here to die'? To which he responded 'no I came here to live'. Possibly an oldie but I hadn't heard it before. And coming out of the mouth of this Iranian lad, it sounded quite funny. Anyway if it's yours free of charge. Do with it what you will. All the best.
rob knoop hey Rob! awkward humour is where the audience is supposed to laugh at the awkwardness of the delivery and atmosphere the comic creates rather than the actual content. Think Napoleon Dynamite, The Office or the loner guy from The Hangover, while some audiences enjoy that humour it's not really my cup of tea because I feel the comedian is not really saying anything memorable. Hope that helps!
hey michele......,,,,,,,, i think i need a conversation wid u......about comedy.... .. & i m a beginer.......so that......i realy need to talk wid u , obviously for ur advise
Hey Michelle, my life is really boring and I've been trying to come up with material specific to that. I've been having a hard time doing that...should I resort to my Arsenal of stupid humor? For example talk about fruit on stage or misdirect the audience on punchlines that type of thing.
Hey Dylan thanks for checking out my vids! I think it's fine to be a bit silly/ stupid on stage. People like to relive their youth and have a laugh about things. Just make sure the observations you raise are clever and not too obvious. Try them on your friends and get some feedback before hitting the stage! Everyone loves a good fruit joke, it's refreshing to hear subjects apart from the normal breakup/ gf/ bf dating stuff
Dangerfield good question. I know a very funny comic who talks about his childhood and is able to bring light to some pretty dark topics. In that sense no topic is off limits. But I would definitely not be flippant in talking about any sort of abuse, hopefully the audience would not stand for that! Also, open mic is different to a whole comedy show. In open mic you usually only get a few minutes, it might not be long enough to establish the credibility you need to be able to joke about some of these hairy issues. Hope that helps!
That makes sense. I once went to Thailand and was thinking of doing a show about Sex Tourism, I've got some cracking stories. I bought a Glock 9mm, lost some methamphetamine in my bum and fired a few rounds off in a brothel. I think it would make a good hour show.
So, if I come on stage and say this, "okay I need you guys to help me out real quick, and you gotta be loud with this, I am going to say Dick and you say cookies" "Dick....cookies, Dick.....cookies, Cookies....????" I know there will be confusion as to the different order...so I say "Oh, you guys are afraid to yell Dick really loud aren't you" Unless there was an actual person who yells it loud, then I will have them stand and the audience give them a round of applause. Then I go into my set about how my chocolate chips cookies turns men gay, example my first husband who turned out to be gay. Thoughts?
Hey Shasta I like the audience interaction! I think you'll need them to speed it up so there's confusion between the order so eventually it sounds like cookies are coming first then you can lead into your set. Good luck, keen to hear how it goes!
Hey Daniel thanks for stopping by and good question! Some comedians like to string the audience along so they anticipate a punch line but it never lands, building a sense of anticipation and laughter while they wait. Napoleon Dynamite, Borat, to an extent Anchorman are examples of this style. Search anti stand up comedy in RU-vid they have some examples! Some people like it but it's not my cup of tea!
Michele Lim great thanks for the reply! I do like that style in films whilst in standup it is a bit hit and miss. I feel like I am awkward in style too but using my monotonous tone and deadpan delivery, with structured jokes though. Thanks for the tips, appreciate the video!
No worries Daniel. Yes some of the greats are one liner/ dead pan guys - I think structure is the key! I'm planning to make more videos soon so check back in a few weeks and happy writing!
Sadly most open mic performers do not even tell jokes. They just spew some bad self righteous political garbage. Come to think of it, that is all late night comedy is as well!
Joseph Taggart a man having to go on RU-vid to specifically call out gender and hate on a video other people have found useful is not much better! HG Wells called, he wants his time machine back :)
I prefer to say a man going onto a public platform commenting on a video; not immune to criticism, and the facts of such. I would refer you to Christopher Hitchens' videos on why women aren't funny. Also the H. G. Wells joke? I don't get it. Try something more widely known like Dr Who. * second facepalm *
Lol well I wasn't trying to be funny but thanks? Or is that sarcasm? I don't know since you're a comedian 😂 Also I know who H G Wells is, but just because I haven't read his works that's your material for now two of your barbed jokes aimed in my direction? Anyway thanks for your attention. I won't keep you from your fans. Share a little love with them 🙄
