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.

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.

What Comedy style Is Best For You?

How to Decide What Comedy Style is Best for You

With the increasing volume of problems and economic crunches bearing impact on a greater number of people worldwide, it is no wonder why there are more comedians rising up these days than there are dramatic actors and other kinds of entertainers.

People are recognizing the importance of having a good laugh amid the problems that hound them every day. Thus, there are more and more entertainers who aim to get the attention of the entertainment market by becoming comedians.

Getting involved in comedy productions is really a tough task, especially nowadays when the audience is getting sick of the usual antics and slapstick comedy.

It is imperative for a comedian to have the genuine talent of cracking humor and of mastering comic timing in the execution of jokes and other comedy acts to be able to tickle the senses of audience.

When watching comedians at play on stage, in movies or in television, you might have the impression that becoming a comedian is relatively a lucrative form of earning, as it is very easy. Indeed, it is lucrative, but the assertion that it is easy is very much debatable.

Entertainment experts always emphasize that it is much easier to make audiences cry than to make them have a really good laugh. Take note that comedians take more time in preparations compared to singers and dramatic actors.

Beginners

If you are aspiring to take an entertainment career by becoming a comedian, you should know that you have to first set goals and know about the business you are about to penetrate.

There is nothing better than being equipped and knowing the industry know-how before you aim to get into comedy. Remember, there are thousands of comedians who attempt to set careers in different comedy platforms, but only a few really make it big.

It isn't enough that you are confident with the knack and interest in becoming a laugh catalyst. It would certainly help if you decide early what style of comedy you would employ and focus on.

As we discussed in the previous chapter there are six different types of comedy. Now we will address:

How to decide which style is best for you

You should focus on one style of comedy, or integrate two or more, or all, when you prepare your script or antics for a comedy act. To be effective, take note of the demographics and general characteristics of your audience.

Be sure not to be offensive to some audiences. You could do so by avoiding sexist and anti-religion and cultural jokes. Have knowledge about the six comedy styles you could employ.

To use black comedy, you should have the guts to devise jokes involving tragedies and serious situations like war, sickness, plague, murder, suicides and others. There are several people, and some of them may unfortunately be among your audience, who find such antics distasteful and offensive.

Several comedians are making fun of President Bush, Bin Laden and other political figures. If you want to come up with similar antics, then you are getting into another style of comedy known as satire. Usually, satires not just ridicule political figures. They also invoke a political statement, usually disagreement with a political concept.

When the audiences are too technical, like engineers, doctors and scientists, you should pull out jokes that involve jargons and technical terms involved in their professions. This style of comedy is referred to as adage. Because such comedy is not for general consumption, cracking them to a generalized audience would not be wise.

Parody is that popular comedy style when you want to make a spoof of a popular work of another artist. For example, the movie "Scary Movie" is a parody into several other Hollywood movies. This style of comedy is sure to make people laugh, but be sure the audience is familiar with the work you are making a spoof at, or they won't appreciate your jokes.

Irony is one comedy style that needs an intensive script that should be religiously followed. In this style, the audience will laugh at a situation where the comedian plots an activity or end result but ends up having unplanned situations. TV Sitcoms are full of ironies.

If all else fails, your last resort would be alternative comedy. Alternative comedy relies on antics, slapsticks and many other physical and verbal tricks to tickle the audience.

Now that you know the basics, decide. Which style is best for you?

Knowing the Six Styles of Comedy

Before getting into the business, it is imperative that an aspiring comedian knows the basics about the kind of task he will undergo. Comedy is the business of making people laugh, but it sure is a very serious one.

Comedians come and go. That is why if you aim to be a good one, and last in the industry, you should be able to hone your skills more and invest in knowledge about the basic styles of comedy.

To start with, there are six basic styles of comedy. By knowing each one of them, you will find that those styles have been born out of the early forms of comedy, from past decades, even centuries.

Take note that the original form of comedy branched out from the theaters in early Greece. Those forms of comedy are far different and profound than the form popular in the contemporary modern times. But, they would still be of great help.

Which style is for you?

Black comedy is a style when comedians make fun of serious situations like sickness, terror, rape, war, death and the like. In the early form of theaters, such a style was greatly appreciated by audiences. Nowadays, some people find it distasteful.

Satire is a style of comedy that is somehow profound and is hitting a serious statement beyond the hilarious antics and dialogues. Political satires are common forms of this style. People love to laugh about the funny mannerisms and features of a political personality they love to hate.

Sarcasm is one element always present in this comedy style. Spoofs of personalities also fall under the category satire. When a comedy act is executed to ridicule another work, a novel, movie or television show, the style ceases to be satire but is termed parody.

An adage is a style of comedy that is hard to pull off. Usually, adages contain jargons and are aimed to make fun of ethical guidelines, principles, folk wisdom, proverbs and culture.

The fifth style would be irony. Usually, irony is depicted when a character intends one result and then ends up doing something else. For example, the story of Romeo and Juliet, can be spoofed and made hilarious, but the irony there is evident.

Lastly, you should know about alternative comedy, which is undoubtedly the most popular style of comedy. It is this style of comedy that defines the modern comedy antics popularized by sitcoms and movies.

Alternative comedy makes use of comic situations and languages to be able to tickle the audience's senses. Slapsticks also branched out from this style of comedy.

To be able to put up a good comedy performance, you could make use of one style or mix and match them so you could offer a wider array of comedic antics to your audience.

Remember, to be a good comedian, you should love laughter, but you shouldn't make the situation light because comedy is, indeed, a serious business.

The Six Styles of Comedy

Entertaining people is a very serious task. That is the reason why entertainers are highly regarded by the public. It isn't easy to engage people to stick to an act and pay attention to what an entertainer does for them.

People say it is harder to make an audience laugh than to make them cry. Experts and professional entertainers would readily support this assertion.

Perhaps one of the main reasons why it is harder to pull out a good comedy act is the diverse taste and preference of people. There are a number of factors that attribute to that diversity when it comes to appreciating comedy acts.

Culture and personal beliefs are among those reasons. The task of comedians is made even more complicated when their acts are to be watched by people who belong to different cultures and religious beliefs.

For example, there are comedy acts that depict the religious practices in a light and humorous manner. This kind of comedy act may be fun and hilarious to some people, but many audiences may react negatively.

Aspiring comedians find relief that to be a good comedian, one doesn't need to be gorgeous nor voluptuous, not unlike if one aims to be a dramatic actress or a singer. In comedy, it is ironic that the audience tends to appreciate less beautiful performers.


It isn't that often comedians are also as attractive as their counterparts in other forms of entertainment. However, with the seemingly evolving entertainment scene, audiences' preferences are becoming less and less predictable.

Whatever it takes, a good talent and natural humor are the key passports to becoming a really effective comedian.