Tag Archives: jim short

How to be a Really Funny Comedian, Part 7: Do Your Homework

How to be a Really Funny Comedian, Part 7: Do Your Homework

Steven-wright There are lots of ways to study comedy. How you do it is up to you, but that you do it shouldn't be a question. The most embarrasing thing you could do would be to plagarize a joke (or think you were the first to come up with it) at your first big club gig and as you walk off stage, have someone point out that your three minute dentist bit was already done by Bill Cosby 30 years ago. That's why you gotta study comedy.

Another important part of studying comedy is studying "voice." But what's that mean, right? 

Take Steven Wright's "voice." You might say, "Well, there's a guy who's kinda depressed, and his humor comes out of being sad." Another way to view his voice would involve examining the mechanism of humor that he's using. For example, Wright uses absurdity as his main mode of humor. He is one of the greatest joke writers of all time, and his humor was continually surprising and clever and genius. It's the kind of humor that inspired me to become a comedian. I once wrote a joke about freeze-dried water, and I was telling it to a fellow comedian who said, oh, like that Steven Wright joke about dehydrated water? Good thing I didn't tell it on stage! I like to think that when that happens, it means we're on the right track. And that perhaps I have some similarities with his sense of humor. When I was younger, I was more interested in absurd humor then I am today, but I still appreciate it deeply. 

ACTION: Go to your parents' house and dust off their record player and their old comedy albums. Make sure that you are aquainted with the old comedy as well as the new and that you really have an idea of who wrote what classic bits: Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy, etc. 

STAY TUNED: more tantalizing comedy secrets tomorrow! Also check out these series of How To's:

How to be a Comedian Parts OneTwoThreeFourFiveSix and Seven

So You Want to Write a One Person Show Parts OneTwoThreeFourFiveSix and Seven

 

How to be a Really Funny Comedian, Part 6: Culture Jamming

How to be a Really Funny Comedian, Part 6: Culture Jamming

First-date-comedy-club Continuing again from the last two posts on audience and culture, I have been discussing performing my show about traveling in India in other countries and for other audiences than my target demographic. Those who have not traveled, or who have no interest in spirituality/spiritual seeking find the shadow to be mildly amusing rather than laugh-out-loud-roll on the floor-hold-your-belly-because-your cheeks-are-hurting kind of funny. Women tend to enjoy it more than men. Older people sometimes more than younger ones. I also have performed the show in different countries. When I arrived to put it on in England, I realized there were a huge amount of references that I had no idea would be so so difficult to translate until I was on stage, telling the story. 

So not only are there differences in audiences' senses of humor with time, culture, and language, there are also differences in values and perspective. Audiences want to relate to the person on stage. And they want to be challenged at the same time. For example, people who go to see Dennis Miller are generally wanting to hear someone who is angry about things and politically conservative. People who watch Jon Stewart are generally wanting to hear the truth. Of course I'm not biased.

ACTION: Go out and do a set in a totally different venue with a totally different audience than you normally do. Figure out how to adjust your set for their sensibilities without compromising what you have to say.  Is it possible?

STAY TUNED: more tantalizing comedy secrets tomorrow! Also check out these series of How To's:

How to be a Comedian Parts OneTwoThreeFourFiveSix and Seven

So You Want to Write a One Person Show Parts OneTwoThreeFourFiveSix and Seven 

 

How to be a Really Funny Comedian, Part 4: Political Humor

How to be a Really Funny Comedian, Part 4: Political Humor

George_carlin Do a little archival comedy research. It's a very interesting historical enterprise. Not only can we observe the public sentiment of the political atmosphere at the time, but we can chuckle at the outdated jargon and references. One of my favorite examples is George Carlin. He started out totally apolitical and then got more and more political as time went on.

My favorite routine of his is the Stuff routine. Pure comedy genius. I believe this will totally stand the test of time simply because we all can still relate to this theme. Having too much stuff in America and feeling overwhelmed by our possessions is pretty darn pervasive. He didn't just jab at current events and politicians of the time, but made broad-reaching, deeply rooted cultural observations. I'm not a giant fan of his later, punny, political stuff, even though I mostly agree with what he had to say. How about you?

ACTION: Go to a cafe every day for a week and read the newspaper. Write for an hour on the headlines. Make associations, references, and observations. Don't even try to be funny–try to notice things and talk about how you feel abou them. And HAVE A POINT OF VIEW. Perhaps you were a stockbroker and now you're just broke. And that's your point of view on politics. I personally tend to be pretty apolitical in terms of talking about what's in the news and what I think about politics. But my comedy is personal, and as we learned from feminism in the 70's, personal is political. So regardless of whether you talk about Jimmy Carter–wait, what year is it?–make sure you talk about how you personally feel about what's happening in the world and not just what you think they think you think is funny.

STAY TUNED: more tantalizing comedy secrets tomorrow! Also check out these series of How To's:

How to be a Comedian Parts OneTwoThreeFourFiveSix and Seven

So You Want to Write a One Person Show Parts OneTwoThreeFourFiveSix and Seven

 

How to be a Really Funny Comedian, Part 1: Joke Inflation

How to be a Really Funny Comedian, Part 1: Joke Inflation

1124_jim_short In my last series, I talked about how to be a comedian.  So this is Level Two.  It's not just about taking the leap into comedianhood, but taking the leap into being a skilled jokeslinger (which is also the title of an album by Jim Short, who is a very talented comedian.)

The first step way to be a really funny comedian is to check out what other comedians are up to.  Having a really clearly defined awareness of what comedians are doing today and what they did in the past will help you learn how to write jokes–and what jokes have already been written–and who wrote them. People who were funny 20 years ago are less funny today. 

In the comedy world, we call it (ok, I call it): Joke Inflation.  Tomorrow, I'll explain Joke Inflation in depth.

ACTION: Find and watch three comics from the 1960's who are still hilarious today, and do the same for comics who are no longer funny.  Figure out why and why not.

STAY TUNED: more tantalizing comedy secrets tomorrow! Also check out these series of How To's

How to be a Comedian Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and Seven

So You Want to Write a One Person Show Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and Seven