Stand-Up Comedy: A 4-Step Guide To Writing and Performing Original Comedy R Outines!

Creative Writing 4 Kids & Teens
Stand-Up Comedy
A 4-Step Guide to Writing and Performing Original Comedy R outines!
By Walt Frasier
©2020 All rights reserved!

Dedication
This book is for all my students.
You make me laugh; you keep me young at heart!

Acknowledgements
To all my colleagues, thank you for teaching me, inspiring me, every time you take stage, and quite a few
times off stage.
Thank you to Al Martin. You gave me a shot early on that allowed me to grow as a performer, producer
and teacher. Read his book, I DID IT ON A DARE, available on Amazon. Great book about a club owner's
journey as a comic and producer. Al has done more for more comics looking for a shot than anyone else
out there in the past 30 years.
Thank you to my wife. You pushed me into comedy and producing. I would still be a pauper, doing non-
union theater tours and summer stock for less than minimum wage.
Thank you to my parents. You more than a few times helped me continue pursuing my dreams.
Thank you to all my students' parents. Your support over the years is humbling. And now, some of you
practically have a private boosters club, watching out for each other’s kids. Amazing!
Finally, thank you to all the teachers. Many of whom hired me, or Improv 4 Kids, to teach and inspire
your kids with laughter.
To all, stay safe. Remember my #1 rule: HAVE FUN! See you at the club soon!
Table of Contents
Dedication ..................................................................................................................................................... 2
Acknowledgements....................................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 6
Laughter IS the Best Medicine! ................................................................................................................. 6
PREPARING for COMEDY: Stage Time .......................................................................................................... 9
TAKE A CLASS ............................................................................................................................................ 9
START A CLUB (At School) ......................................................................................................................... 9
OPEN MICS .............................................................................................................................................. 10
BRINGER SHOWS..................................................................................................................................... 10
BARKER SHOWS ...................................................................................................................................... 10
GUEST SPOTS .......................................................................................................................................... 10
PAID SPOTS ............................................................................................................................................. 11
PRODUCE A SHOW .................................................................................................................................. 11
TRADING SPOTS ...................................................................................................................................... 11
PRODUCING TEAMS ................................................................................................................................ 12
ZOOM ...................................................................................................................................................... 12
RETURN ON INVESTMENT....................................................................................................................... 12
PREPARING for COMEDY: Observe Your World ......................................................................................... 14
Open your eyes. Engage. Live. ................................................................................................................ 14
Journal Your World ................................................................................................................................. 15
HOMEWORK for LIFE............................................................................................................................... 16
PREPARING for COMEDY: Stage 101 .......................................................................................................... 17
LISTEN ..................................................................................................................................................... 17
FOCUS ..................................................................................................................................................... 17
SMILE....................................................................................................................................................... 18
FACE THE AUDIENCE ............................................................................................................................... 18
PROJECT .................................................................................................................................................. 18
HOMEWORK for LIFE............................................................................................................................... 19
COMEDY WRITING STEP ONE: Brainstorming Ideas .................................................................................. 20
PREPARE TO PERFORM ........................................................................................................................... 20
GET ON STAGE ........................................................................................................................................ 21
ANALYZE YOUR WORK ............................................................................................................................ 22
COMEDY WRITING STEP TWO: Brainstorming Details ............................................................................... 24
THE WHO............................................................................................................................................. 24
THE WHERE ......................................................................................................................................... 25
THE WHAT ........................................................................................................................................... 26
THE FIVE SENSES ................................................................................................................................. 26
GET ON STAGE ........................................................................................................................................ 26
COMEDY WRITING STEP THREE: Outline Your Work ................................................................................. 28
SAMPLE OUTLINE ................................................................................................................................ 29
MAGIC THREE ...................................................................................................................................... 29
SUPPORT YOUR ARGUMENT ............................................................................................................... 30
COMBINE STORIES .............................................................................................................................. 30
GET ON STAGE ........................................................................................................................................ 32
COMEDY WRITING STEP FOUR: Find the Funny ......................................................................................... 34
ECONOMY or WORDS AKA LESS is MORE ........................................................................................... 34
SHOW, DON’T TELL ............................................................................................................................. 35
SIDE COMMENTS ................................................................................................................................ 36
CHANGING HISTORY ........................................................................................................................... 36
Introduction
While this book can be used as a step by step beginner’s guide to starting a career in comedy, I hope far
more will learn to enjoy create laughs.
Studying stand-up comedy should be in every school in the world. There is no better way to find your
individual voice. There is no more enjoyable way to learn creative writing and public speaking skills.
In my Times Square, New York City school for comedy, I combine stand-up and improv comedy. In
addition to working with hundreds of kids and teens every year, I present team building workshops for
major corporate clients.
Perhaps the most valuable takeaways from comedy classes are building self-confidence and sharing
much needed laughter.
“According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two
is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average
person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.” -
Jerry Seinfeld
Whenever I get a call for a corporate workshop, one of the first questions I get is, “Will this embarrass
anyone?”
Stage Fright is a specific, and very common, type of fearing the unknown. One of my missions in life is to
teach people to overcome fear. After ten years of teaching comedy this is the number one benefit.
Teaching traditional public speaking to kids that fear public speaking is hitting your head against the
wall. Making it fun, suddenly removes a little fear. Students take more chances.
I have seen incredibly shy, often terrified students, break out of their shells after minutes in a comedy
class. We create a fun space to play, free of judgment. We remove ego and insecurity from the equation.
Laughter IS the Best Medicine!
Everyone has heard this phrase used literally and sarcastically over the years. New studies say it might
be true.
Before 2008 we were performing in schools and corporate events non–stop. The only requirement was
providing a fun show appropriate to the setting – G-rated for schools; non-offensive to corporate
parties.
After 2008, when the stock market crashed, every penny had to be justified. We learned to promote our
shows and workshops with more educational value in mind.
Skip ahead to 2015, when Google releases the findings of its Project Aristotle, a four year study into
team success. The result of thousands of interviews with team leaders within Google and every other
industry (Arts, Sports, Business etc.) lead to one answer.
This changed our focus 100%. It also lead to discovering studies into the effect and benefits of laughter.
The following is from the Mayo Clinic
A good sense of humor can't cure all ailments, but data is mounting about the positive things laughter
can do.
Short-term benefits
 Stimulate many organs. Laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart,
lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain.
 Activate and relieve your stress response. A rollicking laugh fires up and then cools down your
stress response, and it can increase and then decrease your heart rate and blood pressure. The
result? A good, relaxed feeling.
 Soothe tension. Laughter can also stimulate circulation and aid muscle relaxation, both of which
can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress.
Long-term effects
 Improve your immune system. Negative thoughts manifest into chemical reactions that can
affect your body by bringing more stress into your system and decreasing your immunity. By
contrast, positive thoughts can actually release neuropeptides that help fight stress and
potentially more-serious illnesses.
 Relieve pain. Laughter may ease pain by causing the body to produce its own natural painkillers.
 Increase personal satisfaction. Laughter can also make it easier to cope with difficult situations.
It also helps you connect with other people.
 Improve your mood. Many people experience depression, sometimes due to chronic illnesses.
Laughter can help lessen your depression and anxiety and may make you feel happier.
(April 05, 2019 https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress-

relief/art-20044456)
Additional studies show that laughter in the classroom increases test scores. If you are a teacher, I
recommend learning to use comedy in your presentations.
Our experience is simple. Students having more fun show up to learn, including in our after school
programming and residencies.
Principals tell me my students average higher attendance rates in general. They will show up, sit through
math and history, knowing that the fun times are coming soon.
In my public programs at the Broadway Comedy Club, Times Square, NYC, I have had students come
back every week for years. Most of my teen students started when they were as young as seven. Many
of students are getting national recognition, winning awards and getting industry attention.
I could not be more proud. Creating professional comedians was never my goal. Next thing you know
Kenan Thompson named my twelve year old student, “Funniest Kid in America”. I was in tears watching
all my students that day at Caroline’s on Broadway.
PREPARING for COMEDY:
Stage Time
Every step of my 4-Step comedy writing process involves three elements. Writing is only a fraction of the
comedy routine creating process.
1. Prepare to perform
2. Get on stage
3. Analyze the work
Getting stage time is so important to your process, I am starting here. Getting stage time can sound
intimidating but it is not. Getting paid for your stage time is another story, but simply finding a place to
place and develop your material and performing skills is easy.
All you need is a place to stand and an audience to bounce off ideas. You don’t even need a microphone,
although working with one is good in the early process. Microphone technique is not rocket science but
inexperienced comics often … well more on that later.
Here are a number of ways to get and/or create stage time for yourself. Don’t put this off. Have an
outlet for your comedy even before you start writing.
TAKE A CLASS
Whether through a school like mine, or at your school, a class is the perfect place to workshop your
stories and jokes. The good thing about a class is you will have feedback on your work. The downside of
a class is there is a fee involved. Most professional comics you know never took a class. The comedy club
was their college. But for those looking for fun and self-enrichment, this is a great way to avoid a lot of
politics at a club.
START A CLUB (At School)
If there is no comedy class at your school, maybe start a club. Take advantage of the resources at your
fingertips. Once out of school, nothing is free. Until you are 18, taxes (or private school tuition) lets you
do a lot for nothing, or a little, out of pocket. If there is not enough interest in comedy, team up with
singers, actors, magicians and musicians. Together you can have a performing arts club presenting
weekly Open Mics in a science lab or music room.
OPEN MICS
“Open Mic” a general term for any showcase where most of the audience will be other performers
waiting their turn or nice enough to hang out to give back as the audience for you. The pop up in
comedy clubs during off hours, coffee shops, other bars, rehearsal studios and even libraries. All you
need is a room. Most cities have free Open Mics. Many will require you to pay a small fee. Some make
you buy a drink. These days, many Open Mics fill up with online sign-ups. If you just show up you may be
out of luck. Judd Apatow, in his Masterclass, describes going to Open Mics outside the city for better
time slots. He also got to advance at the club faster, getting jobs as an EmCee (MC, host of a show).
Open Mics are one of the easiest ways to get stage time. The down side is they can be rough. The other
comics are there to work. They are focused on their material. Getting a laugh at a “Mic” is awesome.
That’s a keeper.
BRINGER SHOWS
Simply, these are shows where everyone in the crowd was dragged there to see their friends and family
perform – kind of like theater performances at school. A step up from open mics, the audience is there
to laugh. Comics call this a “real” audience. The one downside, they can be too nice. They may laugh
because they love you, and give you an inflated sense of the work.
BARKER SHOWS
These are basically bringer shows, but instead of bring your own family and friends, you drag strangers
of the streets. Thankfully these days, this can often be done through social media. Traditionally, you
stand on a corner, hand out flyers, and beg… I mean convince folks how amazing the show will be.
(DO ME A FAVOR, DON’T SAY AMY SCHUMER WILL BE THERE. OR WHOEVER IS THE TOP COMIC AT THE TIME. THE CLUB WILL
NOT APPRECIATE DEALING WITH THE OUTRAGED GUEST, ESPECIALLY IF THEY HAVE TO BUY TWO DRINKS AND PAY A COVER.)
GUEST SPOTS
Once you have been around for a bit, you might get booked on a professional show. You are not getting
paid yet, but you get 5-7 minutes to show what you can do. You may have had to bring a couple friends
or bark for the time, but in general you are working with comics that have appeared on TV, or at least
work the clubs and college circuit. This is a major step toward making it as a comic.
PAID SPOTS
If you nail a few guest spots, you might “Get Passed” at the club. Now you are probably asked to MC or
do a 15-minute set. The money is not huge at the beginning, but many comics will perform two to four
shows a night, maybe more. In New York City there are hundreds of comedy rooms. The professionals
will do a set at one, then jump on the subway, or get in a cab (or more likely call Uber these days) and
head across, down or up town. Then of course there are private gigs for corporate events, colleges and
touring shows (filled with “road dogs”). Keep working hard you then can get time on TV, or even get a
special on Comedy Central, HBO, Netflix or other network. Ok, I am getting a head of myself. This is a
conversation for a later date.
PRODUCE A SHOW
Want to get more stage time, create it. Go to every comedy club and as for a sixty to ninety minute slot
on an off hour. If they do not give you a shot, go to a bar, coffee shop, theater or rehearsal studio. I
recommend restaurants, bars and coffee shops the most because you can get the space for free.
You can produce your own Open Mic, Bringer Show, Barker Show or even a Headliner Showcase. Start
small and learn. Just like performing, you will make mistakes and it is better to do it in a way that does
not leave you cashless.
Here is the secret about live entertainment production. You are becoming a real estate agent. If you are
producing in a space with 20 seats, you are renting those 20 seats. You will sublet those seats to 20
individuals (this is why I like producing private events. Renting all 20 to one client saves a lot of time.)
There are two ways to rent that space. One is paying upfront, renting the room outright. Two, the guests
will pay the rent for you by buying food and/or drinks. The latter reduces your overhead and upfront
costs. It also reduces the amount you can make at the door if you sell out. Deal with that amazing
problem when it surfaces.
Many will elect to simply rent a studio. It’s not that expensive. There are also many small theaters for
decent rates. You can get a 50-seat theater in New York City on off hours for about $100.
I always use clubs. My success as a producer (5000 public shows since 2002) is keeping my overhead
low. Reduce the risk and it’s all reward.
TRADING SPOTS
Once you are a producer, you have to book some comics. Many of those comics will also be producers. A
great way to get time for free (no cash, no barking, no bringing friends) is trading spots. You give Barbara
10 minutes on your show Tuesday at 6. Barbara has you do 10 minutes on her show Sunday at 3. You
can fill up your week this way, getting all the time you need to develop yourself as comic, which is the
ultimate goal.
PRODUCING TEAMS
Once you make a few friends in the comedy world, you can collaborate. Many of the comics you know
form shows like Last Comic Standing, work this way. They will get a spot. Together they will build an
audience of friends and family. They will attract additional advance sale from strangers via social media
and barking on the corner for last minute seat fillers. You take turns running the door, seating, MCing
the show and performing. You share in the profits and the losses.
ZOOM
At the time I am writing this book I am 100% online. My monthly rent on space is $20/month. I am
hosting shows and classes 24/7. I let my students have times to hangout after class time.
There are many platform that are completely free to use. Even ZOOM is free to limited time frames.
Google Hangouts, Teams, Facebooks Messenger and many, many more I have yet to experience.
While thousands complain about not having a stage to work, I see the beauty in ROI.
RETURN ON INVESTMENT
At this stage I don’t want you to worry about the business side of things. I want you to focus on the fun
100%. However here is the number of one thing most artists ignore.
ROI is the result of all the money made minus all the money you spent. In retail, you rent a space, you
purchase/create products then you sell them at a rate that generates profit. Your ROI is easily calculated
into $$$.
In 2008 I realized I was only making $5 an hour doing nonunion theater and on screen work. To reach
this number I added all the time auditioning, all the time on set or at rehearsal, all the time travelling.
I had done one SAG commercial and made nearly $10,000 for half a day on set. I was picked up by a car
at 5am. I was home by 2pm. Never mind the AMAZING craft services (food for artists and crew) – it was
like top notch room service at the best hotels.
Since that time I estimate I made an average of $200/hour. Union jobs call less folks into audition. You
are usually there for about 5-20 minutes waiting. Often I show up early and out before my scheduled
time. Non-union gigs might make you wait for hours. Union jobs also pay royalties. I collect small checks
every month form shows I did years ago. Every time my episode of Blue Bloods plays on network TV
those checks are decent. I did one episode of Letterman, with Paris Hilton, that played often in Europe. I
would get these 35-cent checks. Not a lot but over time….
Nothing wrong with non-union work. We all have to do it. It gives us stage time and on camera
experience.
Some go SAG or AEA too soon. They take a job that gives them their union card(s), they pay the huge
initiation fees, but they are not truly ready to compete at that level.
Meanwhile I knew “actors” that were really waiters, spending a small fortune on headshots ($500-1000,
I average $100-150. Now, my wife is decent with a camera and editing software). They were doing
mostly unpaid showcase work, or maybe getting a small stipend (Thank you cash), spending hours
auditioning for unpaid rehearsals.
The real point, why pay when you can get it for free. Hustle. You will appreciate it more. You can live for
a lot less, which allows you to spend more time developing our talents, instead of feeding strangers at a
diner. Then as you grow – in talent and financially, reinvest.
Learn how to use social media and other marketing techniques. Find out where the free Open Mics are.
Live in the smallest, cheapest apartment you can find where you feel safe. Take subways, not cabs and
ubers – or better walk a mile for free and save $50-100/ month on a gym membership.
In 2015 I bought a house because I did all these things in 2002.
Last point, ROI is not always measured in dollars. Experience has value. Education.
Before choosing a college, consider, “Does paying $10K more a year for School A translate to better pay
and experience later in life?”
Before dropping $1000 on headshots, consider, “For the jobs I am apply, will these make a difference
when I can take a selfie with my phone?”
SCAM ALERT Never pay upfront for any casting director or agent, unless it is a networking class/event.
No real talent agent or casting agents asks for money upfront. Young artists and their parents get
scammed every day by fake “Modeling Agencies”. There is an entire industry supporting themselves by
your hopes and dreams, without delivering anything to their marks… I mean clients.
Observe Your World
Comedians, akin to reporters, provide commentary on life - what we see, what we observe. While
reporters report what they see and do, artists interpret the world.
So the first step is to observe your world. You need to open your eyes. You need to experience life. I
have heard a few great routines about sitting on the couch playing video games, but many more were
boring.
Open your eyes. Engage. Live.
Interact with friends and family. Travel. Start a hobby. Play sports. Play chess. Read books. Watch the
news.
If you pay attention, you are surrounded by stories every day - some funny, some dramatic, some
mundane, some exciting.
Painters will spend hours staring at a leaf to discover the subtle colors, shades of greens, reds, yellows,
browns and more as the light hits it from different angles. They see patterns and lines.
A comic needs to study people, places and things the same way. Be curious. Ask questions.
 WHO?
 WHERE?
 WHY?
 WHAT?
 HOW?
Think of the five senses.
 What do you see?

 ...Hear?
 ...Smell?
 ...Taste?
 ...Feel?
Think of the things around you as stories.
 WHO are the characters?

 WHERE does the story take place?
 WHAT is the action?
Use your five senses to observe and then....
Journal Your World
Once you start to notice things JOURNAL your world. Record what you do and witness.
You don’t have to use your comedy journal like you might in a normal school setting. It’s ok to not write
in/on the lines. Write in circles. Write in code. Draw pictures. Use shorthand. Have fun. If you are not
having fun you will not follow through. If you are not having fun in Comedy, you are doing something
wrong.
This journal will become your comedy textbook. Ten years from now, when you are writing your first sit-
com, trying to develop new stories, you will have a volume of ideas stored at your fingertips from ten
years of ideas, successes and mistakes.
Please, also journal your progress. Empty your minds of stressful thought. If you have stage fright, write
about it. If you have resentments, write about. If you have social anxieties, quire about it.
Getting all these things out of your head, clears your mind to work. In college, when I learned to journal
for acting class, I was taught to write down homework form other classes when I got to acting. Write
down the call I had to make. Get those thing out of the head you need to remember to do. They will
mess you up when trying to be creative. After class, go back and read to list of to dos for the rest of the
day/week.
At each of the following steps you will do three things.
Prepare yourself. Journal your plan for success for the coming time on stage.
Get on Stage. HAVE FUN and JUST TALK. Execute the plan the best you can. (Record the set)
Tear your work apart. NEVER tear yourself apart. Go back to the journal. Record what worked. What
bombed? How did you feel? How did the audience react?
HOMEWORK for LIFE
 Observe your world.

 Record it in your journal.
Stage 101
Before we dive into comedy, let us start with a review of what we should always do on stage.
LISTEN
Listening is the number of skill in all the arts. Whether acting, singing, dancing or performing comedy,
listening to your surroundings becomes most important to the overall performance. An artist is hyper
aware of fellow artists on stage and the audience. The best performances of any kind have the artist
listening and responding in real time, whether scripted or improvised.
In stand-up comedy this takes on a whole new meaning. Every crowd is different. They will laugh at
different times, responding to different jokes. It is hard to not get any laughs. As much as I teach to
leave ego and insecurity at the door, we are all human. Sometimes the laugh is jarring. (You thought
THAT was funny? OK…). I have seen young comics totally thrown by the very thing we are hoping to get
lots. They were so focused on the words they wrote they were in connected to the audience. Wait until
the first time you have to deal with hecklers.
Most importantly we need to listen to our world. Listen with your eyes, AKA Empathy. Dig deep for
understanding. Don’t listen for a moment to interrupt, but truly ingest what someone is saying. Listen to
your teachers when they introduce a new subject and minimize your study time later. Learn it the first
time around. Here’s a trick. When in a lecture, or just in a conversation, repeat the words in your mind.
Let your inner monologue be YES AND…. Ignore that voice that says “THIS is boring” or “THIS is a waste
of my time”. That is your insecurity screaming through. It will mess you up. It will rob you of knowledge.
I don’t use a lot of the advanced math I learned in school through AP Calculus. However, I can discuss it
and understand it enough to improvise on stage about numbers and logic with a crowd of
mathematicians, actuaries or computer programmers.
FOCUS
From the time you arrive at the theater for performance/ rehearsal/ class focus on the task at hand is
extremely important. Take a moment of quiet time to sort out your own life. Prepare yourself to
discover and rediscover your character (s) and material. Relax your breath. Stretch out your body. Do a
few tongue twisters. Warm up your voice. Journal your thoughts. Be ready to rock!!!
SMILE
You will play a range of emotions as an actor and comic. But when in doubt share your biggest grin.
People smile when you smile. Laugh when you laugh. Make smiling your resting point.
I give all my students homework. Start every day with a smile.
 When you smile, most people smile back at you. The one in the corner that judges you,
grumbling, “Why are they smiling?” They will judge you no matter what you do or how you feel,
because they are miserable. So ignore them. Never let another put you in a box. If you are them,
STOP JUDGING and JOIN THE PARTY!!!! Want folks to smile at you? Then LEAD BY EXAMPLE.
 When you are happy because someone else made you laugh, you smile. It works both ways. You
can make yourself feel great simply by stretching the face into a smile. It squeezes out all the
happy juices. Never wait for the world to make you happy. You are now taking my comedy class,
or at least using my book to learn comedy. It is now your job to go forth and create smiles and
laughter in others. LEAD BY EXAMPLE
 Stretching your face helps you speak better. Smile with ridiculous stretching ear to ear, up
behind your eyes. Alternate that with what I call, “KISSING THE UGLY DONKEY.” Pierce your lips
hard, way in front of your teeth. Go back and forth. Add in a few hums. I do this EVERY morning.
It wakes me up better than coffee. It helps drain all the gunk settle in my sinuses. Anyone else
have allergies out there? Warning, it gets gross for two minutes as that gunk leaves the body.
You might scare the pets, and a few loved ones. Bu the rest of your day will be awesome!
FACE THE AUDIENCE
When in doubt, making eye contact and playing to the audience is the plan. Play center and downstage
(towards audience) center. Never stay upstage too long; don’t hug the wall. Never leave stage / staging
area. Never face away from audience.
PROJECT
When you are new to live performance, chances are what you think is normal will not be heard in the
first row. You may feel like you are screaming. Send your voice and physical presence to the back of the
theater. An acting teacher once told me, “Imagine you are 20 feet tall.” Imagine you are making eye
contact and speaking intimately to someone in the back row. I like to imagine a balcony even in small
theaters. UP AND OUT!!!
In stand-up comedy we usually have a microphone, so we do not have to project like a Shakespeare
actor from one hundred years ago. However you do want to energize your voice. You will learn over
time how to use a microphone properly and to best emphasize your work and style as a comic.
HOMEWORK for LIFE
 Start every day with a smile!

 Lead by example!
COMEDY WRITING STEP ONE:
Brainstorming Ideas
Ok, let’s start creating some comedy. Relax, this will be easy for all. A comic should never say,
 “I have nothing prepared”

 “I have nothing to say”
 “I have not had time…”
From here on out we are going to teach you a simple method to always be prepared.
Remember our formula for each step of your progression:
1. Prepare to perform
2. Get on stage
3. Analyze the work
PREPARE TO PERFORM
Preparing to perform during step one is called “Brainstorming Ideas”. What is brainstorming?
A group problem-solving technique that involves the spontaneous contribution of

ideas from all members of the group. – Merriam-Webster
I am redefining it for the sake of comedy as vomiting ideas onto the page. (Gross. I know.)
The important things to do, or not do, in this exercise include:
 Don’t edit!
 Don’t judge!
 Just write any idea that pops in the mind!
In other words there are no wrong answers. Open up and jot down a word or two for anything that
comes to mind with the following prompts.
Below is an expanded version of the one page worksheet I use in all my comedy classes. Simply fill it out.
Or if you are hearing the audio book, listen to my voice and journal your answers.
For all the following prompts consider anything you did, experienced or witnessed. Journal anything you
find annoying, frustrating, maddening, embarrassing, joyous etc. For now, just jot down a couple words
to remind you of the thing in your mind. Remember everything is good enough. There is no wrong. Don’t
fell limited either by the list below. These are just prompt to get you thinking of potential ideas.
 People / Things at home

Siblings, Parents, Guests, Friends, Neighbors, Family, Pets or even the home itself (appliances
falling apart, repairs, plumbing/ roof leaking etc)
 People / Things at School

Teachers, Administrators, Friends, Bullies, Classes, Places in the building, Field Trips, Assemblies,
After School programs
 People / Things at the Mall/Store

Sales People, Cashiers, Customer Service, Other shoppers, someone dragging you to go
shopping against your will, the parking lot
 People / Things on Transportation

Subway, Bus, Plane, Train, Driving in your car, Traffic
 People / Things on Vacation

Airport or Train Station delays, bad Hotel / Motel Rooms, Rain at the Beach, Fighting with family,
lost baggage
 People / Things in the News

Politics, Sports, Celebrities
Take a few minutes or more working with the prompts above. This is not just for beginning comics.
Every time you want to work on new material comics go back to these basic prompts.
Professional comics sit down every week at the diner, or in the back of the club, and jot down five to ten
things they may want to work on that week. They get on stage, at an open mic or other showcase and
tryout the new ideas. Even headliners bring their journals or scribbles on cocktail napkins up on stage.
They might open and close with a sure thing, but the rest of the time is working on new material for
their next TV set, special or touring show where they make the big money.
Take the list above pull out your favorite five to ten ideas. Now you are ready to get on stage.
GET ON STAGE
You will want to record the work every time you get on stage. This is not for public consumption, but
100% for your own progress.
Take your list. Get on stage, or in front of the class, and just talk.
Trust me now when Is say, don’t try to be funny and don’t try to be clever.
Simply read the list. Or, if you get inspired, share some stories from the list. Just talk.
Here is a little secret and my rule #1: HAVE FUN!!!!!
Let go of trying to get a laugh. Let go of caring what others think. Let go of caring what you think about
the material.
Just share until you run out of time. The MC or teacher will give you the light. This is the international
term for “It’s time to get off stage!”
At a comedy club, there is actually a red light in the back they can flash. At an open mic or smaller
venue, the MC or producer might just flash their cell phone. The teacher might just wave.
Whatever the signal, don’t rush, don’t panic, finish the story you are telling in under a minute, say,
“That’s my time,” and leave stage.
ANALYZE YOUR WORK
The second you get off stage is perhaps the most critical stage of your development. Immediately
journal your experience.
 Tear the work apart

 NEVER tear yourself apart
The go to reaction for beginning comics is to beat yourself up inside. Remember, telling a bad joke does
not make you a bad person. It does not make you a bad comic.
Great comics tell bad jokes all the time. Bad comics sneak a genius moment in from time to time. The
best comics know how to tell a bad joke and still get laughs, or at least loving groans.
Consider the answers to these questions?
 Was there any reaction from the crowd? Again, we are not worried about this in terms of ego.
We are just determining the future course of the material.
 Does the material connect with you?
 Which material works?
 Which seems to fall flat?
 How did you feel about the performance overall?
 Were you nervous?
 Were you over confident?
 Did you get any laughs?
Later, when you get a chance (or immediately if you have head phones), listen and watch the recording
to further dissect the work.
A fun technique many comics employ at this point is to transcribe the set word for word into your
journal. It may take a few stops and starts depending how fast you write.
Now play the work again. Every time you hear a laugh, underline that section in the transcription.
Now you have some decisions to make. Do this now, while the experience is fresh. Don’t wait till right
before the next time on stage.
What parts of the set do you wish to hold on to and pursue further?
COMEDY WRITING STEP TWO:
Brainstorming Details
Pick one of the topics from above topics to develop further. You can repeat this step for every topic you
want to develop, but let’s take one at a time.
PREPARE TO PERFORM
Continue in this stage to avoid worrying about being funny or clever. In our work immediately after
leaving stage the last session, we sifted through the “maybes” and made some choices about our next
direction.
Now we want to flush out some more ideas about the stories we are telling.
THE WHO
Start by identifying the characters
 Main Characters
 Secondary Characters
 Extras
There is a good chance you are the main character. Main characters usually boil down to 2-3 people. The
Protagonist (The Hero) and the Antagonist (The Villain). Secondary characters have a role to play but
they are not the main focus. Anyone that influences the action. Go into some details for all the main and
secondary characters.
 How do they relate to each other?

 How do they relate to the story?
 How old are they?
 Describe their physical appearance?
 Describe their personality, manner, state of being?
 Describe their clothing, props (things they carry)?
Extras are the people in the story that don’t seem to play any important role but they are there. Extras
are those “actors” in a movie or TV show that cross back and forth to make a story feel more real. For
the purposes of storytelling, they are almost moving set pieces and props, but they are important to
setting the tone.
 How many people are in the area?

 Are you surrounded by a crowd, a few folks walking by, or no witnesses to the story beyond the
primary subjects?
 How do these extras react to the story? Do they ignore what is happening? Are they oblivious?
 Do they stop and stare with judgment?
 Do they laugh, scream in terror or otherwise interact on any level?
THE WHERE
Setting plays a major factor on the story. Describing the setting helps paint the picture for the audience.
Seeing it while telling the story heightens your connection to the story, helping you stay focused,
actually reliving the moment.
Where does the story take place? Describe it in detail.
 How sparse or crowded is it?

 Inside or Outside?
 How light/dark is it?
 How hot/cold is it?
 How wet/dry is it?
Think back to the WHO, the characters. Also consider how different you are depending on your setting.
We become different animals depending on the people and places we react. We change when inside or
outside. We change depending on the size of a room. We change based on our emotional connection to
the space.
Consider how you feel, inside, when in your own bedroom, kitchen, living room, bathroom, school, mall,
at a park, on the beach, at the police station, etc.
 How spacious or cluttered is the space?

 Do you have room to move or are you tripping over things and people?
 If the space is small, do you feel snug and safe or are you claustrophobic?
 If the space is wide open, do you feel free to run wild, or is is eerie without
We change based on the weather. How do you feel on a perfect sunny day? How about rain? Even more
specific, I feel differently based on the kind of rain. A light mist makes me feel icky. A warm enough
downpour can be cleansing. But a massive windy thunderstorm is both amazing and scary at the same
time. How do you feel about humidity? Think about how you move when it is hot and sticky. A dry day
feels better until you get very thirsty. Horrible for the speaking voice.
We change based on time of day. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Consider who you feel at
pre-dawn, mid-morning, afternoon, evening, twilight, or 2am.
Setting is all of these factors.
THE WHAT
What happened? What was the plot of this story?
 How did the story start?

 What circumstances lead to a thing happening?
 Why did these things happen?
 What was the biggest moment?
 How did it end?
THE FIVE SENSES

Consider all five senses as you rethink all of the questions above.
 What did you see?

 What did you hear?
 What did you smell?
 What did you taste?
 What did you feel? (Physically and emotionally)
GET ON STAGE
Did you hit record?
Once again, get on stage, and just talk. Re-share the stories, now armed with a vast brainstorm of ideas.
Still refrains from trying to be funny or clever.
Focus on having fun.
Focus on the story. In real time, see it. Hear it. Smell it. Taste it. Feel it. Lose yourself, reliving the
moment as you retell the story.
ANALYZE YOUR WORK
Once again, journal that experience. How did it go? How did it feel? What Worked? What did not work?
Once again, listen and watch the video. Transcribe the text of your set. Underline the funny. Circle the
parts that connect.
COMEDY WRITING STEP THREE:
Outline Your Work
So far we have not bothered with structure. Too many start with trying to be structured, fearing they
might sound unintelligent or flaky. Let go of that. Worrying about structure too soon kills the create
vibes.
PREPARE TO PERFORM
Now I want you to look for some stricture. From now on, every time you get on stage, you need to
outline your plan. Jot down a list of topics every time. I am still not all that concerned with you being
funny.
Here’s a little secret. I trust that you will be funny and clever, naturally. You probably got some laughs
without trying.
The problem is, when you “try” to be funny, you can be jerky. When you “try” to be clever, you can be
disconnected. Both can lead to writers block. On stage this is dreadfully bad, right.
Wrong. It happens to the best of us. It feels terrible in the moment but we survive.
“Trying” to be funny and clever is a derivative of ego and insecurity. In fact, ego is just
over compensation for insecurity. Ego maniacs are the most scared people we know.
They are so scared of sowing us their insecurity, they hide with false confidence. True
confidence is calm and collected. Never let these narcissists intimidate you. Don’t let
your ego hold you back from true success.
Start to develop your opening line. How are you going to start your routine? How are you going to grab
our attention? Why should we wait till after your set to use the bathroom? (Not kidding).
The opening of any routine is the second most important part. Think about your favorite TV show, movie
or play/musical. How did they get your attention?
Consider your closing line. How are you going to leave stage? “That’s my line” is always a safe go ton but
not original. Leave us wanting more. What was the point of your routine? What is the big punch line?
Put some thought into this.
Now consider the body of your routine. What order do you want to present your stories and ideas?
Sometimes this is determined by the timeline of a single story. We can often change that time line for
comic effect. We can start in the middle – AKA In Medias Res. Grab our attention with something
exciting, then go back. You can avoid boring us to tears with context this way.
SAMPLE OUTLINE
I. Beginning – opening line
II. Middle
a. Story one
i. Part one
ii. Part two
iii. Part three
b. Story two
c. Story three
III. Closing Statement
Not all routines will fit neatly into the above model. That’s Ok. It’s just a guide.
The bigger point, an outline allows you to tell you story fresh every time. A fully written script leads to
worries about memorizing or reading. It takes you out of the moment. It removes you from connecting
with the audience.
With your work analyzing the routines after your stage time you start to develop specific lines that are
funny.
The other point to this step is we are starting to make conscious choices about the shape of our
routines, without locking ourselves in to a single place. Your routines will change every time you get on
stage. You will constantly find ways to make them better, make them funnier (that’s coming in the next
step.)
MAGIC THREE
One of the best ways to start to beef up and organize your routines takes a cue from Shakespeare and
even Greek Tragedies.
Humans love to see things in patterns. Look for patterns in our stories. Three is the smallest number
that makes a series.
 Three points makes a plane (sorry to include some math, let a one geometry, sorry, not sorry).
 Three citations support a claim.
 Three sets up a particular rhythm we recognize.
 Breaking the rule of three is also wonderfully jarring to an audience, once you set up the
rhythm.
My comedy troupe’s favorite game is called Switch. Others may have learned this as the “NO” game or
“Change Option”. Whatever the call word, when the MC yells, “Switch!” the previous player changes
something about the last word or phrase. By regularly calling switch twice, you set up a perfect MAGIC
THREE rhythm. Also the player can fall into a fun pattern of normal, different, bizarre.
After a number of SWITCH moments, try calling “SWITCH” just once. Both the performer and the
audience will nearly fall off the cliff. There is a knee jerk reaction, expecting that third call. You get
laughs simply from the rhythm shift.
Then try calling SWITCH ten times. It gets ridiculous. The choices by the player alone may not be funny,
but watching them have to come up with yet another choice becomes hilarious.
This is similar to slap stick comedy, or any kind of surprise comedy. Words are only one way to get a
laugh. Later I will talk more about rhythm specifically, but anytime you say or do something unexpected,
you usually get a laugh.
So back to using MAGIC THREE in your comedy routines. Look for patterns. Look for lists. Look for ways
of presenting things in threes.
SUPPORT YOUR ARGUMENT

Think about that first book report you ever had to do, where you actually had to present your ideas of
the book, your claims about the theme, the characters and/or the plot.
Early on they teach a five paragraph format. Paragraph one introduces the argument. You present three
ideas to support your claim. Paragraphs two, three and four, one for each of your three ideas, present
citations from the book to support your claims - things the author wrote, things the character said and
did, motivations etc. Paragraph five is the conclusion.
I teach to line up comedy stories the same way. If you refer back to my outline in previous pages, it
follows this thinking.
Let’s say you make a claim about your least favorite teacher. You say he/she acted a certain way. Prove
it. Give us three things they said or did to prove your point.
COMBINE STORIES
A great way to set up a MAGIC THREE is to combine stories. Tell us about three teachers. For each
teacher, give us three things they said or did. Share three stories about riding the subway in New York.
Share multiple stories from childhood vacations at the beach. Share three work stories. Usually share
the funniest, worst, or most dramatic story last.
Combining three stories sets up a pattern. Your opening and closing moments give a shape. Your
routines also have depth, and length. Suddenly you have a 3-5 minute bit on your hands.
I have a routine about subways.
“I have a love-hate relationship with subways. They allow me to go anywhere in this

city, but in order to avoid total breakdown I like to play some games. Like… What’s
that smell? Dead rat, homeless, or just the AC is broken in august during evening rush
hour and everyone’s deodorant is running out? Or another classic… What’s that
black fluid on the seat? Coffee? Spilt coke? Nope, just piss from the guy that was
sleeping there, his jeans were so dirty it settled in black. Kind of thick. But don’t
worry, we have in-flight entertainment. Mariachi? Hip Hop Dancers? Nope, just the
crackhead born-again wannabe preacher telling me I am not Christian because I am
Catholic”
Three aspects of riding the subway. A MAGIC THREE set up for each bullet point. All based on true
stories from 20+ years riding the subway. The last part is half on me for engaging. I considered it comedy
research. I did not have to embellish a thing, except maybe my anxiety in the performance. More on
that later.
Now go one step farther. Try combining stories into one mega crazy story.
Consider the movie, “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.” Steve Carell’s family
all suffer from some major setbacks in their personal and professional life. As I teach in my classes, I
imagine the writer, Rob Lieber, had stacks of journals from his childhood and adulthood. He combines
every bad thing that ever happened to him, or his family, into one “Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very
Bad Day.”
Let’s think of teachers again. Consider taking our three stories about three different teachers and
somehow forcing them into one WORST TEACHER OF ALL TIME monster character.
Mr. Roberts, changing the names for the sake of the “innocently” had an affair with another teacher,
stole money from the chocolate candy fundraiser and had liquor in his coffee thermos.
I know of three different teachers in my life that had one of those issues. Alone, they are just so-so
subjects for comedy. Combined into one, and you have something.
I could combine my subway routine into one hellish ride.
How about the vacation from hell? No moment in time is perfect. Many moments by themselves are
boring. But combine every little detail into one trip…
How was my trip to Puerto Rico? Let me tell you about my week off from work. We
arrived late to the airport because my lovely amazing spouse had to have that outfit
that was still drying and my kids were fighting and the car would not start. We
missed our plane and had to spend the night in the airport. Of course a hurricane
came through so all flights were delayed till after noon. We finally got to the island
and they lost our luggage. Somehow we made it to the airport in time for our bags to
get on the plane the night before. They can’t sit us together. I let my wife take the
seat in first class while I babysit our kids. These monsters are climbing around the
plane like it’s a jungle gym. Everyone gives me dirty looks because my kids behave
like subway rats. Worse looks when I try to discipline them. We get to the hotel 36
hours after leaving our house with no clean clothes? I go to buy some bathing suits in
the lobby store so we can at least take a dip in the pool. GREAT I forgot to tell the
banks we are travelling out of the country, is Puerto Rico a different country? I spend
hours trying to get them on the phone to sort this out. The only food to eat is the crap
in the mini bar. THANKS for protecting my security and making me pay $10 for a bag
of nuts I used to get free on the plane. We finally got our bags the second night. Ok,
let’s hit the beach. Hurricane Floyd beat us to it. We spent three days in paradise
watching TV and playing video games on our devices. HOW WAS MY TRIP TO PUERTO
RICO!?!?!?!
I just wrote the above for the sake of this book without edit. I think I have to work on that as my next
routine.
While the above story is a complete fabrication, as is, some version of everything above happened to me
or my family growing up or friends of mine. I combined stories from Australia, Europe, Canada, Mexico,
Ocean City, Maryland and even one from before I could remember, when my family tried camping in the
Outer Banks and the tent collapsed. I was alone in Italy at the age of 25 without my luggage. I can
remember being in the airport trying to figure out their pay phones and how to get to my pensione.
How did we survive before google and smartphones? Of course getting stuck for 10 hours in the Berlin
Airport because half of their staff was on vacation just happened last year. You would think showing up
two hours early for a short hop to Amsterdam was enough. It was chaos at 5am. It was worse at 7am
when I could not board, watching the doors to bus (they have a bus to the plane) close in front of me,
then sit there for ten more minutes with the gait attendant telling me I’m too late. For the record I LOVE
Puerto Rico. Shot an episode of Royal Pains there because in 2014 it was way too cold to make the
Hamptons in March look like the Hamptons in July.
So look for patterns in your stories. Look for similarities in your stories. Look for ways to draw through
lines form one to the other. When you start to open your eyes, and your minds, you start to see patterns
in places most ignore. This is the gift of a true artist that all can learn as you develop your creative mind.
I went on a few tangents above. When I do, don’t judge. Instead open up and see where you creative
mind takes you hearing my rants. Continue to develop your material until you get on stage.
GET ON STAGE
Did you hit record?
Now I want you to attack your routine a bit more than before. Until now. KI was looking for fluff. Now I
want to see a turn to purpose.
Armed with your outline, your thoughts should be a bit more organized. Less repetition, unless on
purpose. Less babbling. The outline gives us an ABC approach with a clear cut beginning, middle and
end.
Feel free to go off outline. Follow your thoughts. Follow the audience reactions. Improvise based on the
moment.
You can trust you will get back on track, thanks to your outline.
Always bring your notes on stage at the beginning. Don’t bring a script. No one wants you to read from a
book. But a simple outline one the stool, or even in your hands, works.
ANALYZE YOUR WORK
Here we go again. Except now we have a better tool moving forward. Grab your outline. Use that in the
breakdown of your work.
This time you had a game plan. Did you execute it as hoped? Did it go better than expected? Worse?
Of all the new choices you made, which are keepers. Which are history? Which need some retooling?
Maybe next time we will re-arrange the order of stories or details presented.
From now on, every time you get on stage, create an outline.
From now on, every time you get on stage add something new.
From now on, when you transcribe our routines form the video/audio recording, start to hone in on the
funny - the laughs.
 What new improvised line got their attention?

 What new side comment kept the laugh going?
 What is dead space and needs to go?
 How can we make this routine even funnier?
COMEDY WRITING STEP FOUR:
Find the Funny
If you opened this book and skipped to this chapter, PLEASE go back to step one.
Skipping steps will deliver mediocre results. You will get away with being pretty
funny, but you won’t learn to discover you best material hidden inside you, developed
working with audiences. The journey for you is as much fun (if not more) as the final
result. And your final result will be far better for the process. There are no short cuts
in comedy.
So far I have wanted you to let go of trying to be funny. I wanted to free you from ego and insecurity and
discover the funny in your everyday lives. Otherwise you would push for mediocre and miss out on the
true comedy of life.
Now that all changes. You now have the bones of a routines. It’s good enough for a class showcase. Now
let’s make it great.
PREPARE TO PERFORM
Before you get onstage again, outline your routine fresh. This time adding the funny. Let’s review a
number of ways to make your routine funnier. Pick at least one of the following technique to add to
your outline every time you get on stage.
ECONOMY or WORDS AKA LESS is MORE

The beginning we worry about filling five minutes. Now we worry about filing five minutes of unfunny
babble.
More and more our goal is to get laughs beat after beat. Remove the lines of context that are there for
us but don’t really connect or get laughs.
Many things important to us are not important in our comedy routines. Yank out all the garbage time
filling bore.
If your punch lines fall flat because of lack of context, put a little back in, very sparingly.
Jazz musicians say “Less is more!” Young musicians like to play a lot of notes, trying to impress.
Seasoned players like to spontaneously create melody. They can play those scales and arpeggios just as
fast, if not faster. A true artist shapes the music. Amateurs often just vomit notes.
Another analogy comes from the Opera world. The world’s most heard opera of all time is Puccini’s La
Boheme. La Boheme is a very important work in the bridge between classical music and modern musical
theater. You may know the Broadway show, Rent, the Musical. Same story. In fact many of Puccini’s
music is hidden in the Rent score. It used to be #2 behind Aida. With Carmen as #3 they were the ABCs
of Opera.
La Boheme is based on a five-act French play. Puccini’s librettist wrote a five act opera. The fifth act
deals with the Rodolfo’s jealousy and clingy relationship with Mimi. Puccini said no to this waste of time.
Instead he writes a single moment. At the beginning of a scene in Act II, Mimi is flirting with some guys.
Rodolfo enters, singing, “Chi Guardi” (Who was that?). In about ten seconds, thanks to the acting of the
performers, and the musical lines compose, Puccini saves us twenty minutes of dragging sub plots. We
still get why Mimi leaves Rodolfo, only to come back sick before dying. “MIMI!!!!!”
I go back to this story all the time in my classes. I am a serial babbler, myself. I ask my students to time
me when I go on tangents in class. “Cut me off in 90 seconds!”
SHOW, DON’T TELL
This is a major rule in all the arts. In theater rehearsals and classes, a director or teacher might stop a
young artist form describing what they are trying to do. “Show, Don’t Tell!”
JUST DO!
We can eliminate hours of boring contextual words by showing us.
If you are doing a routine about teachers. Become that teacher on stage. Do a voice. Change your
posture. Move like them. Show us how insanely ridiculous, strict or crazy these characters are.
Instead of telling us how you felt, feel it.
I talk about driving 36 hours from Madrid to Lake Geneva, following David Duchovny and his band
around Europe in an RV. The next morning, I sat lake side at our camp ground on the north shore. There
was a giant swan, there was fog, and there were the Alps across the lake, with Mont Blanc barely visible
in the clouds.
The most powerful part of the story is reliving the exhaustion. I pantomime sipping my cappuccino while
staring in awe at the beauty of the sight. In my story, it is a calm-before-the-storm moment, which is
interrupted by shrilling voices, “The showers are cold.” “The dryers are not working! Our clothes are still
wet”
The words are funny. Doing the voices and becoming these people, who I love in most moments, ruining
the moment.
When I tell my story about sinking a kayak. I lean back to demonstrate how I had to lay down to paddle.
When I sit up my feet dragged in the water and served as brakes. Later I re-enact getting terrible Charlie
horses in both legs as I tried to lift the boat out of the water to drain of the water in side. Then me
paddling with intense fear as I swim in the warm, murky, grassy river of Florida. Anticipating alligator
attack any moment.
Again the words alone are compelling, but seeing my body cringe in fear, mocking the breast stroke,
spitting out the grasses… the audience is there with me in the swamp.
SIDE COMMENTS
If you have some details that lack humor but they absolutely need to be there for comic effect, you need
to beef them up with some laughs. No reason to wait for the punch line.
 Make an analogy. Comparing unlikely subjects always gets a laugh

 Make a pun. Careful, a few are cute, but too many bad puns will get you booed off stage
 Tangents. Go off topic into a mini story that is funny in a quick moment. Don’t babble. Bring the
funny.
 Pass judgment on yourself. “I’m such an idiot”
 Engage the audience. “This guy knows what I mean”
Find ways to add the funny in every beat.
CHANGE HISTORY
So far we have focused on what really happened. This is important at the beginning so our stories have
grounding in reality. But we can go more and more to the world of fiction.
One way to create some great punch lines is to change the outcome. Consider your story. Consider what
you said and did.
 What do you wish you would have said?

 What do you wish you would have done?
 How could you have solved the problem?
Answer those questions with some bizarre options.
CHANGE THE SETTING
What if you took a story and just changed the setting?
There was a mom trying to feed a baby on the subway. Spilling a little. The baby starts to cry. The big
baby bag over her shoulder bumping the next lady. The mom keeps apologizing to the others for
disturbing them.
Let’s put that mom at a bank trying. Sitting at the desk with an old boy’s network bank manager (sexist,
pompous). Here is the mom just trying to save her family from defaulting on a loan.
TV/FILM/THEATER writers do this all the time.
Maybe you are trying to make this the craziest bank trip story ever. You are not only going to combine
bank stories into one, you are going to bring in that mom and other character interactions from other
settings.
Maybe the skater dude from the Starbucks is now in front of you while waiting to make a deposit.
Instead of messing up his coffee order, he is arguing with the teller about his low balance, delaying you
getting to work. Normally you would have used the ATM or phone but rent is late so you need to get
cash to clear NOW. A blind person’s guide dog is nibbling on your bag. This happened at the park a week
before. The Security Guard is falling asleep. This actually happened at Macy’s two years earlier.
We take the exact same actions and script but change the context. This raises the stakes at an otherwise
mundane morning.
THE Nth DEGREE: Sorry, not sorry for more math. HAHA
Embellish. Exaggerate. What’s the worst that could happen?
Let’s say you were biking along the river and you wiped out. It was raining that morning. You land in a
playground, almost breaking your arm.
Change the story. You did break your arm. In fact it was nearly amputated as you flew into an old rusty
child’s merry go round. They won’t let the kids play on it but they leave the death trap there. I hate city
hall. The emergency room took hours reattaching the nerves. It still bothers me six years later.
Take the story as far as you can go. What is the absolute worst that could happen?
We do this every day. Every fish tip ends with the one that got away. “It was THIS big.” THIS gets bigger
every time the story is told.
This process is trial and error. Take it to the Nth degree. You might take it too far. That’s OK, pull it back
a bit the next time.
YOU WENT TOO FAR? Everyone has a line.
When performing for kids and families, that line is a certain set of topics not to be discussed, certain
words not to be used to maintain a G-rating.
I produce a show called Improv 4 Kids (Also Improv 4 Teens). The show hosts families and student
groups at our club in Times Square for birthday parties and field trips. We also tour K12 schools, camps,
community centers and private events. That line changes based on the audience. There are certain
topics we can discuss with high school kids that we could not discuss with five year olds.
Even adult audiences have lines. In recent years, even comedy at colleges and corporate events needs to
have a PG13 like rating. Comedians are constantly complaining about the PC police, sure, but the current
climate is all about not offending someone in the crowd. If you want to get paid, doing that sort to work,
you learn to work in that somewhat confined space of material and language. We have to work a little
harder but it can be done.
But that is not the line I am talking about. I am not talking about working CLEAN for the sake of a client. I
am talking about what is true to you.
My comedy personality, on and off stage, is a bit of an edgy energy, but not edgy material, not by the
blues of club standards. I am over the top and explosive at times with energy. But when I go too
raunchy, it feels forced. Over the years I realized that there are places I just cannot go. I’ve tried to go
bluer. It just did not land for me.
Every comic has to find their line. Then flirt at that edge your entire career.
Wherever that line is, if you shy away from it you will be boring. If you cross it too much you will alienate
your audience. Not because you went too blue for them, but because you went too blue for you.
The comedy open mic world is filled with comics trying to out-raunch each other. It can be funny in rare
moments, but most of the time you just sit there and cringe (not in a good/funny way).
We all use shock to grab your attention. But, shock humor for the sake of shock is boring after a bit.
I personally push the limits of grossness, in relation to my line. The black pee on the subway never goes
well when folks are eating.
But talking about babies in the holocaust? Please, NO! I have heard three hilarious jokes in 20 years
about that horrific time in history. Meanwhile 100s of beyond bad attempts at humor on the subject.
Certain topics will ALWAYS get the TOO SOON call. 9/11 is another. Just stay away from those as new
comics.
As you develop your style and your comic persona you will start to find that line. Never stop pushing the
boundaries but have the wisdom to know you are beating your head against a brick wall.
Sometimes TOO FAR is just about losing the belief factor in your exaggeration.
To demonstrate this I told my class or preteens that I was working out too hard, giving myself whiplash.
Then I changed the story saying my head popped off, it took the emergency room hours to reattach the
nerves.
The demonstration failed because they thought it was hysterical. Apparently, pre-teen boys love
carnage.
Push the limits. If in a school, be aware of words you cannot say without getting detention.
When you cross that line, pull back 10%. You will find the sweet spot.
WORKING CLEAN
A quick word about the subject. There is an on-going debate about working clean.
Many comedians refuse to work clean. Many comedians only work clean.
After a certain age, it all depends on you.
As outlined in previous pages, working clean is a must performing for kids and in many adult crowds too.
Working clean can also get you booed off the stage at some clubs.
I teach to write clean for one reason. You can always add certain words. You can always exaggerate
farther. But learning to work clean is a challenge. Performing for kids forces my creative skills to go on
over load to match their imaginations.
If you are talking this class at a certain age, I promise you will have plenty of years ahead of you to
experiment with topics not suitable for the current situation. Be patient and learn the techniques.
SHAPE YOUR PERFORMANCE

Earlier we discussed some basics of performance – smile, focus, listen, project, and face the audience.
If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
We have all heard this philosophical line. Let me update it for the sake of comedy.
If a comic cannot be heard or understood, the joke is not funny!
So get the basics out of the way. When it is time to speak, use your words. Hit your consonants. Take a
big breath before speaking so every word is heard.
Beyond basic public speaking skills, how you present your words may be more important than the words
themselves.
In marketing and advertising, depending on who you talk to and the medium, the words make up about
7-30% of what makes a successful campaign. The font, the colors, the layout and, for audio/video, the
performance is the most dynamic determination on the consumer.
I know a lot of great comedy writers that just are terrible on stage. They write for Saturday Night Live,
Jimmy Kimmel or Jimmy Fallon. They get laughs on stage but their credits get more attention that their
on stage work delivery.
ATTITUDE
Comedy is all about the attitude. I tell my students, everything your parents and teachers hate works
great on stage - sass, sarcasm, ‘tude, etc
Go back to the brainstorming details section. Go back to that question, “How do you feel?”
Great storytellers live in the moment of the story.
If sharing a fictional story, we take on the emotion of the moment. We breathe in the sadness, anger or
joy of a moment to bring our audience to that same place.
As a comic, feel the emotions of the stories you experience.
What are you trying to say? How do you feel?
The most common comedy emotion is annoyance. We might say, “You know what I hate….” but it is
more annoying than hate in most cases.
Anger itself is usually not a great choice. Be more specific. If it is extreme hate, ok. It’s more likely more
subtle, like frustration, annoying, put-off, etc
Whatever the emotion or attitude, breathe it in and exaggerate. If you were telling this story to friends,
how over the top would you be.
SUBTEXT and INNER MONOLOGUE
In acting, INNER MONOLOGUE is what you are thinking when listening. SUBTEXT is your thoughts while
talking. When playing a character, whether on stage or on screen, the actor focuses in the moment by
adopting the thoughts of the character.
I like to use the first person voice in my thoughts. “Me, myself and I” are now the thoughts of my
character.
Sometimes we use something called substitution. In order to cry on cue, we might imagine personal loss
of a loved one.
Try breathing in the emotion and intent of the coming line before speaking it. Visualize the story. Feel
the emotions for real.
At first this will seem clunky. You might sound awkward as well. As you master the technique you will
smooth out the performance in a much deeper place than before.
Next time you come off stage, consider, what was my inner monologue? Was it focused on the material
or carrying on about not being funny? Were you hearing that voice that says we are not good enough?
Was it full of ego, say this audience is not good enough for us? When our personal inner monologue is
allowed to thrive, it distracts us. It derails us.
Try changing your personal inner monologue in life to a more positive place. Instead of seeing the worst
in everything, look for the silver lining. Force a smile until it feels real. Tell yourself you LOVE school and
it actually could come true, or at least be more tolerable.
Change your story. Change your life. Start with your inner monologue.
RHYTHM
Comedy is all about timing. Quite often rhythm alone can make boring words funny.
Rhythm is created by pace, tempo and pause.
Consider your favorite rap artist. Rap is all about the rhythm of words. The rhythm is more important
than the rhyme. Even the fastest delivery of a rap verse is packed with pauses.
Jazz musicians say the most important note is the rest, the time between notes.
Most young comics totally ignore rhythm. They are more driven by nerves and never breathe.
Here are a couple tricks to try

 Make a decision to change the pace of your delivery at three points in your story. Speed up or
slow down.
 Make a conscious choice to BREATHE at every period. With that breath, feel the emotion or
intent of the following passage. LIFT out of lines into break points. Let the audience catch up
after a high energy section.
 Make at least one dramatic pause. Completely stop speech for 3-5 seconds. Fill that time with
intense purpose. Heighten your emotion, judgment, intent.
VOLUME, TIMBRE AND PITCH
I personally fall asleep when sound is the same for too long. I can sleep to heavy metal.
By changing the volume of your speech you hold our attention, including the use of silence. Try getting
louder. Try getting softer.
At the same time change the timbre (pronounced tamber) or quality of your voice. If portraying an
annoying character, get more nasal sounding. If trying to be calm, whisper.
Pitch is the note you are speaking. It may be hard to detect by non musicians but you actually speak on a
certain note. Many of you speak on the wrong note, which causes vocal distress.
Many speak in low gruff voices, trying to be tough, or they just smoke too much. This is terrible for the
instrument. There are very few true basses and altos. Most of us are tenors and sopranos. But society
often teaches us to sound “tough”.
I was taught years ago to sing your comfortably lowest note, then speak a fourth higher. In other words,
if you can sing down to a C, you should be speaking on an F.
OK way too much technical information for the purpose for this book. The thing you need to learn is to
use pitch, like volume and timber, to affect your speech. Your voice can be used to control an audience.
Low pitch, soft voices calm people. High pitch, nasal sounds get under their skin.
More importantly, varying your vocal quality keeps the audience on the edge of their seat. Stay in the
same tone for too long and you will lose them. Even if always shouting, they will lose interest.
 Change volume in at least three moments in your story.

 Change pitch in at least three moments in your story.
 Change timbre in at least three moments in your story.
HINT: They could be the same three moments.
PANTOMIME / MOVEMENT
This is a subject not all comics will agree with me. Purists might say a true comics can just sit there and
be funny. Sure. In many clubs that’s all you can do - same for podcasts and radio.
But even if subtle, movement is a major part of any performing, including on the radio.
Years ago, I briefly took a telemarketing job. Hated it but I had a broken leg and was unable to carry a
tray of drinks for a few months. I also had that job, September, 2001. I quit by the end of the month. I
was done with jobs that don’t make me happy. (Another story, another time). The one thing I learned
there stays with me today when I have to talk to clients, colleagues or industry on the phone.
SMILE on the phone.
They can hear you. They can hear your personality on the radio. I have a very animated personality. I
move my hands. I have an expressive face. So even on the phone, radio or a podcast, we can hear your
movement in your voice.
During a live performance, movement is key. Even a choice to not move is a movement choice.
Consider a deadpan genius like Steven Wright. Most deadpan comics are really just lazy. But Steven
makes an art of minimalism.
Out of control movement is as bad as no movement. One, you can get hurt. Sometimes violently. I was
doing a show with a guy who thought he was the next Chris Farley. At a college gig he did a faceplant
into the stage, cracking a rib. Not only did he not go down with any sort of technique, he failed to check
that below the thin carpet was pure concrete.
I recommend a class in stage combat, clowning, and even dance. For now, I want you to simply
experiment with levels. Beyond what we discussed during “SHOW DON’T TELL” section above:
 Mix up sitting, standing, bending over, kneeling and even laying down on stage.
 Experiment with moving closer (downstage) and farther (upstage) from the front row of the
audience.
 Move stage left to right. Pace with purpose, pausing for effect.
Use your whole body to communicate!
GET ON STAGE
 Outline your routine.

 Record your set.
 Have fun and deliver your newest game plan.
 Knock ‘em dead. (I hate break a leg as much as Good Luck)
ANALYZE YOUR WORK
As before do the work while the experience was fresh.

SHOWTIME
In many ways every time on stage above was a show. But if this was a class, or a section in a school class,
you will at some point have a final show.
The secret to success in all the arts?
 Treat every rehearsal and class like a show.

 Treat every show like a rehearsal or class.
Too many young artists, and a few experienced one, change when they get on stage to do the show. All
of the ego and insecurity we have been trying to beat out of you, gently, creeps back in. Your challenge
is to continue to be focused on the work.
A great way to do this is to bring the energy and focus of a show to every rehearsal. Care about your
work at every level, even when the pressure is not on you.
Athletes train for the Olympics by bringing the full competitive force to the pool, track or mountainside
in their preparation. You can’t set world records if not trying to break them in practice.
I still hope you were not trying to be funny on day one or two. But I hope you got on stage with a
purpose. Don’t be lazy. Don’t be careless. Don’t be apathetic.
Make an effort. Even when you bomb a joke, the audience will love you for trying.
Keep having fun. Keep smiling. Keep laughing.
Treat an Open Mic like it’s your debut on TV. Treat that debut on TV like it’s an Open Mic.
Practice makes perfect.
In the arts we don’t call it practice. We call it rehearsal, because we want to rehear it fresh every time.
Even after the show I want you to do the work. This show is not the end. It may be the end of the
semester. It may be the last day of comedy camp week in Times Square.
COMEDY WRITING STEP FIVE:
To infinity….
 Wash.
 Rinse.
 Repeat.
Those are the words on a shampoo bottle. Thousands of jokes have been made about that. Did someone
for get to rinse and go to work with shampoo on their head?
 Outline your routine (Prepare to Perform)

 Get on stage
 Analyze your work
This is your pattern for future success. Even if this was the final showcase of your class, this is not the
end of the routine’s future. This is just the beginning.
You now have five minutes of material you can call upon at any time. Keep repeating STEP FOUR every
time. Always try to find a bigger laugh, or a deeper meaning.
You can now go back to step one and build a new routine.
Over time you build longer sets by combining your best routines. You will develop great segues, and
many terrible, navigating one story to the next.
Go find stage time at a club. Go produce your own show, even if just an Open Mic. Go network with
other comics. Watch every comedy special. Be inspired but don’t steal jokes. Learn from their mistakes
and successes.
BE A SPONGE
I will leave you with the 90-10 rule.
90% of all things you learning life are a waste of your time. (Keep reading or I will really be in trouble).
Trivia Night is filled with trivial knowledge.
About 10% of everything you learn, from book learning to street advice, is important to your future.
(KEEP READING!!!!)
The secret is, at this point in time, no matter how old or young you are, you have no clue which 10% will
save your life someday. As a comedian, every time you don’t pay attention in class, you are losing
potential material for the future. You limit your knowledge base.
Even if you think you have you life mapped out, how many adults do you know that are doing what they
planned?
When I was a kid, I was a great student. I played piano and trumpet, but I thought I was going to be a
doctor. Then I passed out at the doctor when he lanced a tiny infection on my finger. As I blacked out
form the sight of blood and puss, I could hear my mom, a registered nurse as well, tell the doctor, “I
guess he is not going to be a doctor.”
Still playing trumpet in the ninth grade, I was still thinking of making wise decisions. I am going to be a
scientist. I took honors Biology and Chemistry together as a sophomore. As a junior, I was in all honors
Physics, Pre-Calculus, History, and ELA. I did well but I was starting to burn out. Senioritis was sneaking
in early. As a senior I still signed up for PA Calculus, AP Computer Science and AP Physics, along with
Aggressive electives in Law and Economics. Somehow I was put in Theater, taught by my band teacher,
instead of AP Physics.
Longs story short I entered college as a trumpet player. Back in ninth grade I was wining award in Jazz
soloing. I had skills but I also peaked in the ninth grade. Trying to be a master of none, made me a jack of
all trades.
By my second semester I became a vocal major. I had not done a lot singing but fell in love with musical
theater after years of being in the pit. By my third year of college I was singing Opera.
I left college to study Opera in Italy and New York with the best teachers. I spent a fortune. In that time I
did some regional theater – mostly older musicals and operettas.
Next thing you know I was a full time waiter. I called my self an actor even two years after my last
audition or class. But now I was focused on paying rent in New York City.
Then, a couple planes flew into downtown and changed the world.
It took a few months but ever since the following spring everything I did was focused on becoming a full
time working artist.
Now 48 year old me is writing a book on stand-up comedy, teaching and performing 30 hours/week via
ZOOM. In t the middle of a pandemic, and thinking as I write, how did this happen.
At every strange turn, because I listened, and because I was a sponge in my youth, I am armed with a
wealth of knowledge that lets me adjust to every stumble and folk in the road.
I have known many comics, actors, singers, writers and directors rise up to great success. I have seen
many more give up, rarely because they lacked talent. They lacked focus. They lacked the ability to take
rejection. They lacked the ability to bounce back from those dips in the path.
I don’t recommend this business to anyone. There are far better ways to pay the rent. And I know
hundreds of old friends (And these days I do mean OLD) that still perform for fun in community theater,
or they drop by Open Mics between their day jobs. Some of them even get some work on TV before
returning to the office the next Monday morning.
Either way….
Keep having fun. Keep smiling. Keep delivering the laughs on and off stage. I cannot guarantee financial
success, but the ROI in life will be immense.
ADDENDUM for Teachers
I invite you to use this text with your students, to get them excited about creative writing in general. Use
this as a section in your ELA classes, as a language arts elective or as an after school club and
programming.
Please reach out any time you have questions. I would be happy to join you in the class room for a
master class or residency, or even just a Skype/Zoom drop in to say, “Hello,” and hear some students
share.
In my public classes in Times Square, and in schools throughout the area I use a variation of the program
outlined in this book with students as young as grade 3. While I have had some luck with younger
students, eight seems to be the magic time for most.
I also use this in my classes for adults of all ages, including groups form retirement homes. Senior
citizens have a lot to say. Get ready for a ride for a lifetime of stories.
This book will help develop
 Creative Writing
 Critical Thinking
 Public Speaking
 Self-Confidence
Put these skills together and you are created the leaders of tomorrow.
Create a comedy club at your school. Focus on performance time. Don’t get too bogged down in the
writing at first. Make it fun. Make it open to all. Make it a safe space to play.
PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY
I touched about this briefly way back in the introduction. Psychological Safety is the number of
determining factor in team success, according to a four year study by Google, Project Aristotle.
I expand that to be the number one factor in determining a student’s success.
Fear of the unknown holds us back, it leads to hate, ignorance and violence. Fear leads to both victim
and bully behavior. For years I have been using comedy to speak out against bullying, teaching self-
confidence and preaching my #1 rule:
Have Fun, but never at another’s expense!

Shortly after I discovered Project Aristotle, I was using it my corporate work, when I had a workshop
with high school sophomores. Nothing I did reached them. I could see the terror in their eyes. They
feared opening up. They feared judgment. They fear retribution in physical violence. On a whim, I
discussed Psychological Safety.
We determined they did not feel safe at school or at home or in their neighbor hoods. Gangs, abusive
family members and school bullies were all very real to them.
Before they left we saw a glimmer of hope. They all left trying something at least one and with smiles on
their faces. The teachers promised be a follow up on the conversation with guidance and administration.
We need laughter in our lives. We a space to feel safe.
A class like this can provide a glimmer of hope, and sometimes that is all a student needs to thrive in all
areas of life.
About the Author
While writing this book, Walt Frasier is sitting in his New Jersey house, teaching and performing on
ZOOM 30 hours/week, including public programming, corporate events and K12 educational outreach.
The rest of the time is spent writing, marketing or sitting in his adult sized baby pool in the backyard.
Before the quarantine, New York are based since 1997, Walt Frasier has appeared on TV (Billions, Blue
Bloods, Royal Pains, Friends of the People, Letterman, WE, NICK, MTV2) and seen internationally
performing comedy, live theater, and singing.
Before that Frasier grew up outside of Washington, DC, attending Gaithersburg High School (GO
TROJANS!), Montgomery College- Rockville and a brief stint at Catholic University School of Music.
HAVE FUN!
…but never at another’s expense…

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Creative Writing 4 Kids & Teens

©2020 All rights reserved!

This book is for all my students.

You make me laugh; you keep me young at heart!

Laughter IS the Best Medicine!

The following is from the Mayo Clinic

(April 05, 2019 https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress-

START A CLUB (At School)

In 2015 I bought a house because I did all these things in 2002.

Open your eyes. Engage. Live.

Think of the five senses.

 What do you see?

Think of the things around you as stories.

 WHO are the characters?

Use your five senses to observe and then....

Journal Your World

At each of the following steps you will do three things.

 Observe your world.

I give all my students homework. Start every day with a smile.

FACE THE AUDIENCE

 Start every day with a smile!

 “I have nothing prepared”

Remember our formula for each step of your progression:

A group problem-solving technique that involves the spontaneous contribution of

The important things to do, or not do, in this exercise include:

 People / Things at home

 People / Things at School

 People / Things at the Mall/Store

 People / Things on Transportation

 People / Things on Vacation

 People / Things in the News

Here is a little secret and my rule #1: HAVE FUN!!!!!

ANALYZE YOUR WORK

 Tear the work apart

Consider the answers to these questions?

 How do they relate to each other?

 How many people are in the area?

Where does the story take place? Describe it in detail.

 How sparse or crowded is it?

 How spacious or cluttered is the space?

Setting is all of these factors.

 How did the story start?

THE FIVE SENSES

 What did you see?

Did you hit record?

Still refrains from trying to be funny or clever.

Focus on having fun.

ANALYZE YOUR WORK

SUPPORT YOUR ARGUMENT

I have a routine about subways.

“I have a love-hate relationship with subways. They allow me to go anywhere in this

I could combine my subway routine into one hellish ride.

Did you hit record?

ANALYZE YOUR WORK

 What new improvised line got their attention?

ECONOMY or WORDS AKA LESS is MORE

SHOW, DON’T TELL

We can eliminate hours of boring contextual words by showing us.