How to Build a Routine

Getting Your Routine Together

Having a routine is essential for stand-up comedians. Yeah, it definitely helps to be a comedy natural who can make your buddies and girlfriend bust a gut laughing after you've got a beer or ten running in your bloodstream and doing all sorts of things to your brain cells, but being naturally funny is only the first part of becoming a good comedian. Getting a routine ready is a necessity if you're planning to take your show out of the bar room and onto the stage.

Okay, you may be wondering why you need to build a routine. Adlibbing wisecracks is all well and good, and you can probably slam most people down in a “dissing” match when the urge to trash talk hits you. Yeah, these definitely help on stage, but trust me, there's nothing worse than being on the stage and suddenly having one of those rare but annoying attacks of "dummyfication", where your neurons suddenly go on strike and leave you with an IQ that's roughly on par with a flea's toenails. Then you're left there on stage looking like a slack jawed “doofus,” with your eyes bugging out and your wit suddenly as sharp as a spoon - a wooden one.

Your routine pretty much shakes hands with your wits; the routine allows you to send your brain into autopilot, firing off jokes without straining your brain. You can save the spontaneous cracks for those times when members of your audience decide to get overly interactive, and start to trash talk you. Then you can feel free to return fire and let the rest of the audience have a laugh at the poor sod's expense.

Okay, that said and done, here's the first thing you need to know when you're making a comedy routine. Have a stage personality, but make sure it meshes with your real life personality. There are different types of humor, ranging from subtle jokes to sharp barbs and witticisms, to self-deprecating humor, to parodies of famous people. These are just a few examples.

Ask yourself what type of wisecracks you toss off best; make sure that you go with the ones that make people laugh, NOT the ones that leave them trying to decide whether they'll laugh or beat you senseless with a nearby stool. Save those kinds of wisecracks for on-the-fly shots at the audience once you've got them warmed up.

Keeping your routine in line with your personality puts as little pressure on you as possible, allowing the flow of your jokes to come naturally. Trying to adapt a style of humor that's different from your personality can come out sounding like it is forced. This is definitely NOT a good thing.

Start with writing a 5-minute routine designed for your buddies. Since they know you best, they'll actually be both easier on you AND harsher than a real life audience. They will be easier in the sense that, because they're your buddies, their personalities mesh with yours and they probably already find you funny to begin with. Harsher also because they're your buddies, and will probably take every opportunity to smack your butt down while you're performing for them.

Having a routine made for your friends is also a good thing because your buddies will probably be there at the bar for your first performance. Most likely, they'll be leading the audience in laughing, but will also likewise be tossing their own share of barbs at you - at which point they can be the first victims of your anti-trash talker material.

Once you got a 5-minute routine down, practice in front of a mirror. Make sure that whatever stage personality you're conveying, your body language and facial expressions match. These little things count for a lot when carrying an act. Be animated. Expressiveness, even in as simple an act as tossing a silly grin or waggling your eyebrows, can make the difference between sending a room into gales of laughter or getting showered by tomatoes. Canned tomatoes, unopened.

You should also practice pitching your voice to match the jokes of your routine. Occasional lapses into using a monotone voice can actually add an edge to certain jokes, however, doing it all the time is a sure fire formula for flat lining your audience. Modulate your tone keep it hopping all over the place. Speak in a bouncy, lively fashion and adjust your tone for special situations in your routine like doing a parody of someone.

Okay, now that you've got these tips down, get to writing your routine! And be sure to warn your girlfriend and buddies that you'll be using them as test-bunnies (I think guinea pigs and lab rats are too darn small to properly experiment on) for your first routine.

Should You Have a Stage Name?

Is Your Real Name Funny Enough?

Getting a stage name is a choice most people in the entertainment industry have to think about. As we all know, a stage name is a name an actor, musician, artist, or comedian gets and uses on stage for his or her performances. There are many different reasons why people get stage names, and some of them are even serious, like the people whose parents had a little too much hash back in the 70's when they were trying to come up with original-sounding names for their kids.

Still, in the comedy industry, having an amusing and unusual name is actually an advantage.

Some of the more serious reasons for taking a stage name include having the same or a similar sounding name to a famous personality. There's nothing worse than trying to get bookings for your comedy act when your name sounds like that of a famous star, for example. Yeah, I guess it WOULD generate a bit of extra publicity, but is it actually worth the extra aggravation when the crowd that turns out for your performance comes to your show expecting a different kind of "performance?" No way!

Then there are those guys whose names are pronounced like the sound made by a cat getting its tail mangled in the dryer. Yes, people might get a laugh out of your name, but will that really contribute to the rest of your act? You can't just go introducing yourself every 60 seconds to keep the audience laughing. And keep in mind that comedians get part of their publicity by word of mouth. Word of mouth becomes very difficult when the people who found you funny have to make 10 attempts to get your name right when they're telling their friends to see your show.

Another reason for getting a stage name is if, by a cruel twist of fate, your parents had a sense of humor even more warped than yours. If that's the case, they might have decided to give you a name that sounds like an obscenity. If this is the case, it's a fifty-fifty if you want to take a stage name or not, depending on whether your humor runs to the weird. Just keep in mind that you'll have a hard time getting bookings for gigs at places that run to "clean" humor if the owners think your real name is a stage name that you took on to advertise off-color humor.

Then there are the guys whose parents chose dorky names. Getting a stage name is a prerequisite for you if you feel you fall into this category. Heck, getting a legal name change sounds like an option to me, depending on how dweeby your parent's name of choice.

In any case, if you do decide to get a stage name, make sure that it's one that not only appeals to you, but that it's one that is catchy, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember. You want your stage name to be something that people can recall at the drop of a hat, and will be able to tell others about without having to wrack their brains. This kicks up the odds that people will remember you. Of course, this won't help your career at all if your act sucks anyway, in which case you can at least move to another city and assume your real name again when you get laughed out of town for bombing.

On the opposite note of bombing, if we assume that your act is a success, getting a stage name also helps not just in the recognition game. Because your name will sound "cool" (it better be, you're the one who picked it this time, not your folks, bubba!) it's actually legal to have your stage name changed into your real legal name. You can now have the name you've always wanted! Unless of course your own warped sense of humor made you pick a stage name that's dweeby, obscene, or unpronounceable, in which case your application for an official name change may be rejected outright or will, at the very least, be delayed for several decades by people debating on whether something like Iamthepurplepeopleeater is a valid and legal name for another human being.

Performing With an Open Mike

Outmotormouthing The Competition: Open Mike Comedy Performances

One of the best risks to take in trying to get your break in the comedy industry is to go to open mike performances. These are free events, and different rules will usually apply depending on the place where the open mike performance is being held.

First off, just what is an open mike performance? And if your reply is that it's the opposite of a closed mike performance, you just earned yourself a swift kick in the butt. Seriously, it's an event held in a club or hosted by a comedy group that allows aspiring comedians (and bored people in the audience) the opportunity to go on stage and perform stand up comedy for a set period of time, usually lasting 5 to 15 minutes.

Some open mike events are very informal, and these are the ones you'll want to go to first if you're not confident yet or inexperienced at stand up comedy. The more informal events are held at comedy clubs where, on those nights, anyone from the audience can just jump up on stage and start jamming. What is the advantage to this? You can bomb, and nobody will really care much - though your confidence will definitely take a massive hit if you do. Unless you bomb worse than your grandmother after prunes, in which case the audience may decide to shower you with (hopefully non physical) abuse.

On the other hand, informal open mike comedy at clubs means you don't have to arrange anything like you would with a formal gig, and gives you plenty of practice with a non-demanding crowd that (hopefully) won't be throwing cutlery at you. You can refine your technique in this fashion, and improve over time as you lose your stage shyness and become comfortable performing in front of a crowd. Just pray that on the nights you do this, you don't get a crowd with the attitude of a school of hungry piranhas.

The disadvantage to open mike comedy at clubs is that the odds of getting noticed are moderately slim. It makes good practice, but rarely will you expect to run into agents and talent scouts who can help you break into the big time at these places. Yes, we've all heard the stories of people discovered by talent scouts while performing at a club. But those are few and far in between, and we have to assume that any talent agents going to the clubs you'll be performing at will be busier getting a date than actually listening to you.

More formal open mike comedy events take the form of a contest of sorts. Some people actually enter these events for kicks. However if you're seriously considering a career in the comedy industry, don't enter these contests unless you're confident onstage. These events are usually hosted by one organization or another, and the audience WILL include invited talent scouts and managers who will be there in a working capacity, looking for raw meat - oops, I mean fresh talent - to bring into their coteries. You definitely want to make a good impression at these events.

These contests will usually have dozens of comedians all out there to win recognition, and if you want to get into the industry fast, this is where you pull out all the stops and use your best material. Depending on your personal attitude, you can either go into this for the sheer fun of the experience, or think of it as a war against the other comedians, with witticism as your weapon. Doing well at these events, whether you win or not, may earn you the attention of a talent scout and get you the break you've been looking for. Unless the managers and agents in the crowd brought along their dates from the clubs where you performed open mike before, in which case they'll STILL be trying to get a date.

Finding an open mike event is easy enough. Surf the net, and check your local papers for news announcement of open mike comedy events. If you've also got a bar which you frequent you can even talk to the owners and get them into the scheme, having them host an open mike contest where you can strut your stuff.

Hiring A Comedian Manager

The Guys Behind the Stage: Comedian Agents and Managers

If you're serious about taking your career as a comedian to a higher, more professional level, you should really look into getting a manager or talent agent. No one runs alone, and no matter how talented you are in the biz, you can only rise so far on raw ability. The old axiom of "It's not what you know, it's who you know" is especially relevant in the entertainment industry.

So first things first: You're probably asking yourself why you need to bother getting an agent, when we've all heard horror stories about actors, musicians, and yes, comedians, who got their careers messed up by a sloppy agent. Well, there are several answers to this question, and I'll go through them one by one.

First off, without an agent or manager handling your career, you're pretty much stuck to relying on your own personal contact pool when it comes to finding a gig. While this may be enough if you know a lot of club owners in your area, in the long run it won't be sufficient for your needs if you plan on taking your show to other cities.

Booking for gigs at places and finding work for you to do is what agents and managers do for a living. They rely on their own pool of contacts, which, by the very nature of their work, tends to be more extensive than the average person's. They contract jobs not only in your area, but also in other venues outside your normal operating zone.

Furthermore, once you've established a good rapport with your agent or manager, they will have a much greater idea of your personal capabilities, meaning they will be able to find gigs for you in places where they know the audience will cater to someone with your sense of humor.

Admittedly, different people tend to find different things funny. Some groups appreciate dry humor, others slapstick comedy, and still others prefer parodies and cynical barbs. Your manager will have a good idea what type of approach you take, and find you audiences receptive to it, guaranteeing you won't be a flop.

Also, when it comes to booking abroad or in another town, it's your agent's job to arrange all your travel, food, and lodging arrangements. Imagine having to do this yourself. It seems easy enough to do. Heck, we plan for these things all the time when we're going on vacation. But it's much more convenient to leave the job to an agent who knows the turf you're going to better than you do. Besides, once your schedule becomes busy enough, this service is a godsend.

Imagine having a gig in your town, then having a gig the next day in a neighboring town. Can you handle a full night's stand up comedy on stage and still have enough moxie left to arrange everything for the next day's run? Most people who insist on managing themselves get worn out this way.

Okay, now that you know the reasons why you need a manager or an agent to handle this kind of stuff for you, what now? Well first off you need to find a good, reliable one. Don't immediately accept any offers from talent scouts if one on a gig approaches you. Scout out your potential offers, and also check comedian forums for the names of reliable agents and management companies that know what they're doing. The wrong sort of agent will screw you over for a percentage, and news like this travels fast in the industry.

Find someone who knows that the success of their careers are inextricably bound up with the success of yours. Then contact all the potential good ones you find, and meet them in person. The questions you need to ask include trying to find out how they manage the careers of other comedians aside from yourself, how extensive their contact pool is when it comes to potential places for booking you for a gig, what their percentage is from every performance you make, and how often they will be finding gigs for you to do.

Once you meet them in person, before giving a yes or no, do your research on them. Ask around with people you trust if they've done any jobs with these agents. Once you find someone who you feel will be a good agent for your career, then it's just a matter of trying out working with them and going from there.

Building Your Promo File

How to Build a Convincing Promo File

Comedy is an ever-expanding and evolving entertainment sector. There are thousands of comedians that are already dominating scenes and starting to make their own mark in performance venues.

That is why competition among comedians starts to get more intense. With the increasing volume of comedians, the market is becoming more selective, and the number of venues shrink, giving way to only a few outstanding comedians.

So where do other comedians go? Nowhere. They quit the business, get other careers, or wait indefinitely until new opportunities arise.

For beginners, it would be a tough challenge to establish a niche and identity in the current comedy scene. The challenge to break through is always an obstacle that is succeeded by a limited number of performers.

For experts, the challenge would be how to tap that staying power to guaranty his job despite the entry of new, fresh and more talented comedians.

The promo file

Comedians, just like other talents, should always keep and update their own promo files. The promo file is a portfolio containing the necessary items that would serve as references about the comedian.

As for the employment lingo, the promo file is the equivalent of a resume, a document that outlines the job applicant's competence, experiences and relevant knowledge.

The promo file should contain demo tapes, which serve as a sample of outputs, materials or experience, press kits, or press-release statements for promotion, and of course the bio or biographic details.

The promo file is a comedian's passport to securing regular and even contractual performance gigs. Thus, it should be regularly and appropriately updated. Make your promo file as presentable as possible to make sure those people and prospective employers who get ahold of it would create a good impression of you.

Preparing the promo file

The life of a comedian isn't easy, contrary to what people may perceive. That is because to be able to become really effective, the comedian needs to invest in time and preparation.

Before putting a foray into the entertainment scene for comedy, the aspiring comedian should make sure he has an accessible and presentable promo file.

The promo file should speak on behalf of the comedian and should be persuasive enough to convince a prospective boss to employ the comedian.

To prepare the promo file, there are a few simple guidelines that you should follow. Here are they:

Make the resume or biographical information as comprehensive as possible. Take particular emphasis on experiences, education and of course, references.

Unlike common notions, the biographical information should be written in a way that it is serious enough to be taken seriously by the prospective employer. Others employ funny gimmicks to present their biography. Don't fall into that trap. There will be enough uses for your creative juices in other equally significant portions of the promo file.

The demo tape should be handy and should use quality tapes, so the screen quality of the video, if it’s a video, should be superb.

Make sure to put up your funniest comic antics on the demo tape. That way, you can demonstrate your effectiveness in making people laugh or back your claim that you are a good comedian.

Make the demo tape entertaining enough, but make it last only a few minutes, unless an employer requires a longer duration. That way, you would be able to keep your mystery and be able to create an impression that you still have more in store.

The press kit should be written particularly for dissemination. Make a press release of yourself. This is the part where your most creative and hilarious ideas should show off. The press kit is a run down statement about how you would handle the situation when you are asked to advertise yourself.

Applying for a comedy performance gig or job will also entail luck on the part of the comedian. Be aware that sheer talent and natural humor is necessary, but they're not enough.

Determination will be a driving force. Combine them all, and you'll have luck to be able to land that comedy job or gig you need to get for you to have a proper venue for showcasing your talent.

Good luck!

Working the Audience

Simple Tips for New Comedians: How to Work the Audience

Comedy is tough. The world of comedy doesn't start and end with the audience laughing. The craft of making people laugh is constantly evolving and should regularly be honed so the comedian will develop a staying power.

Performing on stage is truly tiring and pressuring. Even seasoned comedians sometimes find several types of audiences hard to please. When performing, comedians should always be ready for the possibilities that may arise.

No one can please everyone; comedians know that a joke or antic that has made some people laugh might not even make other people smile. That is a hard reality about comedy. No material is good for all.

There are many forms of entertainment and media platforms that become potent and effective venues for comedy acts. For example, some comedians are effective in acting out their antics through television sitcoms.

There are people who are into mimes, while others act funnily on stage. One form of comedy that is rapidly gaining popularity nowadays is what the entertainment industry calls stand up or open-mike comedy.

The performance and the audience

Stand up or open mike comedy acts are currently the most popular form of comedy acts because it is interactive. The audience feels that every joke or act performed by stand up comedians is always fresh. Indeed, they are true.

The freshness of every open mike act comes with the motivation the comedian readily gets from the audience. Of course, good and receptive audience will always motivate a performer to do better and have more energy.

Fresh ideas will also come out of the comedian's mind during open mike sessions. That is because interaction with the audience almost creates that uncanny energy for the comedian to put up a spontaneous and natural act.

Stand up comedians also invoke laughter by ridiculing or making fun of the audience, a formula which some people find offensive, but is almost always hilarious.

Feedback from the audience is very important and inspiring. Thus, open-mike comedians are always recharged upon hearing comments from the audience.

Do’s and don’ts - a simple checklist

There are practical should-do and should-not-do pointers that help every comedian, especially the beginners, to overcome any obstacle while performing, and generally pull out a good and outstanding comedy act.

The should do list:

• Prepare and master your material.
• Know the audience, the demographics, the culture, races and religion. Avoid cracking jokes and antics that could seem offensive to some of them.
• Prepare necessary props and costumes. Such items will enhance the presentation and create a good impression that the comedian really took time to prepare for the act.
• Observe proper timing when throwing out punch lines or executing comic acts.
• Develop an effective and striking rapport with the audience. This connection could be the key to opening up the hearts of the audience and setting their moods open to your hilarious antics.
• Never run out of jokes. Do adlibs. Have spare jokes in case some of the items in your material don't work, or in case the audience screams for more.
• Now, after knowing some of the recommended should-do, take note of the following shouldn't do's:
• Recycle old materials or borrow from peers. Plagiarize or steel materials and ideas of fellow comedians.
• Disregard the demographics and basic personal information about the audience.
• Come as you are. No need for special props and materials. Just rely on the verbal approach.
• Crack jokes out of the moment.
• Perform as if you are doing a monologue or saying out loud memorized material.
• Stick to the tried and tested jokes. Don't attempt to inject spur of the moment jokes and adlibs because the audience may not appreciate them.
  

How to handle hecklers

Aside from performing and getting the attention of the audience, the comedian should also develop the skill to handle possible disruptions from hecklers.

Inevitably, there will always be disturbances and unscrupulous people who would test the talents of the comedian or just aim to sabotage the entire performance.

A good comedian should always be prepared for such people and instances. The simplest and most effective measure would be to go on and pay little attention to the disruption.

If the heckler keeps on and grabs the attention of the audience, the comedian could be spontaneous and make a funny conversation that would be seen as a natural flow of funny events.

Otherwise, the security guards would always be on the look out, in case the comedian could not handle the unruly hecklers anymore.

Where to Get Comedy Material ?

Writing Your Own Comedy Material and/or Hiring a Free Lancer

Putting on a comedy act is never an easy task. That is because making people laugh is a tedious and serious matter. A joke can invoke endless laughter for one person but not another.

That way, the greatest challenge a comedian must face is the challenge of making his jokes and antics click not just to a few of the audiences but basically to almost all of them.

You can never please everybody, and no matter how seasoned and experienced a comedian, there will still be flaws that would inevitably rise up from his performance.

The audience's preference is also ever changing. With the emergence of many other forms of media portals, a joke can be overexposed to a wider scope of audience. Thus, the audience tends to be weary and seeks out other, newer jokes.

Experts advise comedians and would-be-comedians to take ample preparation prior to the performance to make sure a comedy session would be a sure hit.

You would be amazed to know that even seasoned comedians prepare their own material. Material is somehow like a script that a comedian has to memorize for presentation.

The significant actions, props, sequences and special instructions are also indicated in the material. Thus, it becomes the standard and necessary guide that would help the comedian put on the act smoothly and effectively.

Writing the Material

It isn't easy to write comedy material. Comedians would certainly agree that performing is much easier compared to writing comedy material.

That is because writing material is a special and tedious task that requires the writer to focus, brainstorm, solicit ideas from others and think insanely of ways that would be funny to other people.

Here are some simple guidelines that would help you write your own comedy material.

Know your audience. This is the first and most basic requirement when you are writing comedy material. To know the audience, be prepared to know something about their demographics likes and dislikes, culture, their religion and basic information about them. By doing so, you will be able to write jokes or punch lines that would be appropriate and funny.

Know your ability and be familiar with your own performance technique. Of course, you shouldn't write material that you think you can't properly execute. Know your audience and know your capabilities. Be humble and honest and accept your limitations as a performer.

Brainstorm. Hold conversations with people. Observe the streets. Eavesdrop. Think of funny experiences. There are many venues and experiences where you could base the material you are writing about.

Avoid offensive jokes. Sexist, racist and anti-religion jokes are taboos when it comes to comedy performances.

Recycle old jokes by modifying them or putting on new twists, characters or venues. That way, though a joke would seem too cliché, the audience won't easily recognize them and would be trapped to laugh at the recycled joke, without their full awareness.

Hiring a Free Lancer

There are times when a comedian seems to have run out of ideas for his own material. That is normal. There also come times when the comedian has to pause and take a rest from writing his own performance material.

That is like a battery recharging, and should ensure the comedian won't run out of fresh ideas.

Collaboration with a good writer would also be an advantage because the comedian is exposed to different forms of concepts and ideas.

It would be healthy because the audience would find variation and diversity in the comedian's general performance.

To hire a free lancer, you should take recommendations from peers. Also make sure the freelance writer is experienced in doing such tasks.

If you are a comedian who is adept in maintaining and boosting his own image and track record, be careful about using untested materials from free lancers.

It goes without saying that whether you write your own material or hire a free-lancer to do so, you should practice your performance before you attempt to perform in front of an audience.