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10 Rules of Stand Up Comedy - Part 2
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You want to be a stand up comedian. You
have seen others do it and you just think you could, but how do you start
writing your jokes? What is I that you can say and how do you start? This
second part of ten secrets of comedy will help you get to finally become a
comedian. So let’s continue.
6. Comedians do not write jokes; we write observations and ideas, opinions and arguments, but intelligently and sprinkle in some killer punchlines. If you know what annoys people you have the thing that will make them laugh the hardest. 7. Funny situations make people laugh. But they laugh the most if they can imagine the situation because they have been there or seen it themselves. They laugh the most if the situation is extremely embarrassing or extremely upsetting. Drinking situational jokes work with soldiers, politics works with activists and sex jokes work with everyone but devout Catholics. 8. A good joke can be like good magic or great scripts. It is often about misdirection. Lead your audience to think one direction. In the last second, the main punchline, turn the tables. Hit them with that twist at the end. 9. Even though the material is vital; more importantly a comedian must be honest to who they are and what they believe. If they do not believe the message in their material (and material with a message is better) then no one will take them seriously as a funny man. An audience can see a fake, faster on the comedy stage than on any other stage. You can be anything and anyone as a comedian but you cannot be stupid and you cannot be dishonest. This leads to the last secret. 10. The best comedians have the strongest opinions. If an audience knows nothing about the comedian’s personal views by the time they leave then nothing worth hearing was said and they will not remember that comedian. In comedy nothing is off limits because in life nothing is off limits. Not everyone will agree but those who do will be the most loyal fans, and those who disagree will probably still talk about it anyway. Comedy lives from our battle with our illogical politically incorrect selves. In addition to this, if a stand up comedian makes an audience forget their problems by making them laugh then they have done their job well. If a comedian makes the audience think about other people’s problems, after making them laugh, then he or she has not only done a great job but has also made a difference. I am a English artist of Jamaican decent: I have been an actor, model, singer and even dancer. Stand up comedy is, in my opinion, by far the most challenging, destroying; rewarding, damaging; exciting and scary profession I have done on stage and in front of a camera. I have been writing for myself and writing and coaching other comedians for many years. Being a clown is a great profession but it is different to being a stand up comedian. |
