A Message From the Author

 
Starting from middle school, I won many humorous and dramatic
acting competitions across the country and became nationally ranked as a
top performer. In my twenties, I moved to Seattle to work for a large
technology company but I didn’t want to give up my passion for performing
on stage. I continued perfecting my craft by taking comedy courses,
privately coaching a few students, and performing at local comedy clubs
across town. Many times after shows, my audience would ask me for advice
and tips! This inspired me to condense what I’ve discovered throughout my
comedic experiences and share it with anyone who could benefit from more
humor in their lives. I hope this book helps you become a funnier and better
person!
 
 

“I’ve never gotten laid because of the way I look.

I’m the guy that women see and they go… “eh?”
And I’m like, I know, but let me just talk to you for a minute.”
 
- Louis CK, Comedian

What You Will Discover

 
Introduction
Can I Really Become A Stand-Up Comedian?
Day One: Learn the Ropes
Tell a story well, or don’t tell one at all
Be sincere, and you’ll be funny
The worse your life is, the more likeable you are
There’s nothing to be afraid of
Watch professional comedians
What kind of comedian are you?
Day Two: Develop Material
Brain dump
Sounding off
Revisit, pick, and choose
Getting dirty
Day Three: Make It Funny
Dry testing
Crafting comedy
Set order
Day Four: Practice, Practice, Practice
Memorization
Look for open mic and amateur comedy nights
Practice, practice, practice. Then practice some more.
Day Five: Stage Presence
Learn from the amateurs - Watch live comedy
Going on stage
Day Six: Refine, Practice, and Repeat
Cut or tweak jokes

3
 Fillers
Audience participation
Identify callbacks
Try not to use notes
Day Seven: Showtime
Forget the hecklers, but don’t ignore them
Work the audience
Work with other comedians
Have fun out there!
The Afterglow: What’s Next?
Thank You.
Appendix

4
 Introduction
 
Congratulations! You’ve decided to take the plunge and venture into
the exciting world of stand-up comedy. You will soon join a long-standing
history and tradition of people getting on stage to talk about their mundane
lives and somehow attracting an audience to watch them do it.
Stand-up comedy is a unique form of comedic act in that a lot of the
topics of discussion are everyday things that everyday folks can relate to.
Gone are the old days of “street jokes” that feature a preacher, barber, and
accountant walking into a bar. Instead, stand-up comedians jump on stage to
vent about their sexual frustrations, family matters, and money woes. In a
nutshell, stand-up comedians are just specialized introspective psychiatrists.
Behind the lights, laughter, and glamour, stand-up comedians are
really pretty average people with an acute ability to analyze, dissect, and
point out the eccentricities of the world. This book was written with the
most average, run-of-the-mill person in mind, since we firmly believe that
the road to stand-up comedic success can be taken by anyone.
Get ready to open up your mind and revisit the skeletons in your
closet. Creating and learning stand-up comedy is a rigorous exercise of self-
exploration. With this book, we hope to awaken the comedy beast that lurks
within you, and let you start seeing the world in a whole new light.
 

5
 Can I Really Become A Stand-Up
Comedian?
 
Yes, you can!
The funny thing about stand-up comedy is that it’s easier than it
appears. Anyone that watches, enjoys, or appreciates any form of comedy -
be it stand-up, improv, theater, movies, or literature - has the most important
ingredient to becoming a stand-up comedian: a sense of humor. Really, if
you’ve ever told a joke or just laughed at one, you can do it.
You don’t need to be the funny guy or gal that’s always cracking
jokes amongst friends or co-workers. You just need to be able to appreciate
good humor, and to understand how to embrace and enjoy laughter. Doesn’t
sound too hard, does it? It sure isn’t.
As a matter of fact, the graduates of this crash course to becoming a
stand-up comedian have come from all walks of life. They include:
High school students
Real-estate agents
Computer programmers
Teachers
Aerospace engineers
Bank tellers
Stay at home parents
Unemployed folks
Managers
Nerds
Jocks
Pirates
We’ve seen many graduates of the program undergo some amazing
transformations. It doesn’t matter if you’re scared of public speaking, have
a monotone voice, or talk with an accent. In fact, the more defining
characteristics you have, the greater your comedic potential.

6
 Like any skill you develop, there is a framework for comedy. Once
you understand the fundamentals, you'll be able to turn everyday coffee
conversations into entertaining humorur stories. For example, the Laugh
Curve illustrates the amount of laugher you'll get as you tell the different
phases of the joke.

If you want to be funny, understand the frameworks of how and why

comedy works.
Comedy is all about being a unique person, and stand-up comedy is
all about taking your personal nuances, flaws, fears, hopes, dreams,
aspirations, annoyances, pet-peeves, and sharing it with the audience. Once
you’ve made it through this program and have your first performance under
your belt, you may find the whole experience to be somewhat of an
emotional catharsis. We’re pretty sure you’ll have fun doing it as well.

7
 Day One: Learn the Ropes
 
To most people, stand-up comedy is a mysterious art form. For many
comedians, it takes years to hone and perfect stand-up material. However,
the fundamentals of stand-up comedy are just as accessible to you as they
are to the professionals. At its core, stand-up is all about you, the comedian,
and no one knows you better than yourself!
To begin, let’s discuss some of the most common mistakes people
make when trying to perform stand-up comedy (or even just trying to be
funny), and some of the secrets to success.

8
Tell a story well, or don’t tell one at all
Humans love telling stories. The earliest forms of history and
knowledge were passed down through the generations by the means of
stories. Tribes and villages gathered around by campfires as the wise elders
told and retold the ancient stories. To this day, people still love telling
stories, especially about themselves. Funny anecdotes are a staple of social
gatherings, where everyone tries to one-up each other with stories of
adventure, gusto, grandeur, and humor.
Within the context of comedy, however, simple stories don’t quite
cut it. More often than not, the storytellers tell the story the way it
happened. There’s no structure or context added to the story to give it a
humorous spin, or an unexpected twist. Thus, stories often fall flat when
told in front of an audience and end in an anti-climatic fashion. “I guess you
had to be there” just doesn’t cut it.
However, stories can be molded and massaged into comedic form.
For example, an amusing story such as
“I once got really drunk at a bar and got kicked out by the
bouncer. I stumbled to my car and ended up sleeping in it,
then I woke up and found out that I got a parking ticket!”
can actually be made much funnier. Instead of treating it as a narrative,
bring the story alive by telling it in the present tense.
“I hate getting really drunk at bars. You always end up
getting unexpected expenses. Like waking up in your car
and finding a parking ticket on the windshield.”
As you can see, a story can be effective when told in a form
more conducive to laughter - with an element of surprise. Since stand-
up comedy is all about being personal, you’re sure to think of stories
of your past that are chock-full of stand-up potential as you
brainstorm for joke material. How you retell the story, however, will
dictate whether or not it flies or flops on stage.
 

9
Be sincere, and you’ll be funny
You don’t need to be a genius with words or well-versed in knock-
knock jokes in order to be funny. Modern stand-up comedy is all about
being personable. You want to exude a quality that lets your audience relate
to you, and the best way to do that is to be human. The more flaws you
have, the greater your comedic potential. You just have to be willing to
share your flaws.
Next time you’re in a social circle, try it for yourself. Look up some
bar jokes about nuns in an airplane or the difference between a lawyer and a
tomato, and try telling them to your friends or co-workers. You’ll probably
get a couple chuckles and snickers, but not much more. That’s because the
old style of jokes is too rigid and explicit. That is, your audience knows
exactly what’s coming, and they expect it - and that actually decreases the
humor in the joke.
Instead, think of something you’ve recently become passionate
about. It could be something you really love, vehemently hate, or
somewhere in between. Any person, place, or thing that you can attach an
emotion to will work. Talk vividly and rant or rave about the subject, but
throw in some unexpected emotions. By attaching an unexpected emotion
to the topic, you can actually create a much more effective level of humor:
“I enjoy explosive diarrhea. I think it’s kind of fun. I like to
hold it and wait until the very last second possible. It’s like
playing a game of chicken against myself.”
Don’t worry, we’ll spend much more time figuring out just how to
turn your everyday musings or mundane interests into funny jokes. The
important thing to keep in mind is that you don’t need to think of crazy off
the wall ideas to generate joke material. Just stick with what you know best
- yourself.

10
The worse your life is, the more likeable you
are
One of the interesting dynamics of stand-up comedy is how the
audience perceives the performer, and how that translates to the performer’s
likability. When it comes to stand-up comedy, audiences tend to like
comedians that exhibit and talk about their personal flaws. For example, an
audience will tend to like a comedian that talks about how bad he is with
women much more than a comedian that talks about how many times he got
laid last week.
By exhibiting flaws, the comedian lets the audience establish a sense
of superiority, and thus, empathy. The more you talk about how your life
sucks, the more likable you become. This is why it’s important to be
sincere. Don’t be afraid to talk personal flaws and the mistakes you’ve
made. Nobody is perfect. The fact that you’re courageous enough to go on
stage and admit to these flaws - all the while poking fun at them - will help
you garner the love and attention of the audience and have them rolling in
laughter.

11
There’s nothing to be afraid of
There’s really nothing to be scared about when it comes to stand-up
comedy. Most of the things you talk about will be about you, and as long as
you’re sincere and candid, it’ll be hard not to be funny. To a certain degree,
everyone has a fear of public speaking. No one is immune to worrying
about the scrutiny of the audience. However, stand-up comedy is a different
beast in that no matter what, it’ll always be about what you want to say.
The key to dealing with the fear is to silent your inner critic, and not
worry about what others think. Ultimately, you’re doing the audience a
favor by sharing your deepest secrets, fears, hopes, and dreams on stage;
and they’re the ones paying to have you talk about yourself. Just think of it
as way to make money while talking to your shrink.

12
Watch professional comedians
There are three main ways to learn stand-up comedy:
1. Watch, listen to and observe other stand-up comedians
2. Reading books and taking classes/workshops
3. Doing it
We believe that doing all three will help provide the foundation you
need in order to actually start performing stand-up comedy effectively
yourself.
The fact that you’re actually going through this crash course in
stand-up comedy means that you must have had some initial interest in
comedy. Think about the stand-up comedians that you’ve watched and
enjoyed in the past. Go to your local video store, sign up for Netflix, or go
on YouTube and look up their performances. Watch the videos intently and
observe the ways your favorite comedians perform. In particular, look for:
The emotions they show and talk about in their jokes:
Joy
Trust
Fear
Surprise
Sadness
Disgust
Anger
Anticipation
Their comedic style
Observational - musings about everyday things
Topical - current events
Gimmick - a certain shtick
Impressionists - emulating the familiar
Improv - (seemingly) off the top of their heads
Their delivery and stage presence
Physicality, movement, pacing, handling of the
microphone
Voice, delivery, audience interaction

13
 Facial expressions, eye-contact
The idea is to get a feel for stand-up comedy, and what works for the
professional comics. Be familiar with what’s effective and what’s not, and
notice the way the audience responds to the things the comedians do and the
way they respond to the audience.
Be careful not to emulate your favorite comedian, however. Re-
using other comedians’ jokes is a big no-no in the business. Instead, be
inspired by your favorite comedian, and think about how you can
incorporate his or her delivery or comedic style into your own unique act.

14
What kind of comedian are you?
Once you’ve watched the pros go at it, think about the type of
comedian you want to be. The easiest way is to associate with an emotion
you exhibit most frequently. Are you a happy-go-lucky person that loves
life and thinks everyday is a gift? Are you an angry, cynical person that
hates the world and thinks everyone is out to get you? Are you a boring,
lifeless soul that toils through life, merely doing the motions just to get by?
You can take the attitude you most closely associate with and use it
as the foundation to build an overall theme for your stand-up comedy act or
style. However, just because you are an angry or happy person doesn’t
mean you have to necessarily portray that on stage. It’s just the easiest way
to be sincere, and to generate comedic material that fits you. Simply keep it
as a thought in the back of your mind.
Whenever you feel like the jokes you’re developing or performing
are all over the place, try to relate it to the emotion or attitude you most
closely identify with. It’ll help mold your material and style around your
real personality, instead of the other way around.

15
 Day Two: Develop Material
 
If you were interested in stand-up comedy and thought about
becoming one yourself, chances are you’ve had a list of jokes and ideas
lying around somewhere way before you started reading this guide. If you
don’t, fear not, today we’ll walk you through developing stand-up comedy
material using nothing but a pencil, a piece of paper, and your brain. For
those of you that have a list of ideas from before, set them aside for now;
we’ll walk through some exercises that will poke and prod at your inner self
and squeeze out every last bit of comedic material.
Once we create a large corpus of material to work with, we’ll bust
out the stand-up comedy scalpel and knife and shape your raw brain dump
and ideas into top-notch jokes. Let’s get started!
 

16
Brain dump
The best way to develop stand-up comedy material is to write things
down. Write, write write. Writing is one of the most primitive cognitive
activities that human beings engage in, and it writing ideas down helps with
memory and insight. The more you write down, the more material you can
reference and mold. It also helps you feel accomplished and productive, and
prevents moments of fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
The easiest way to get started is to start compiling lists. The idea is
to compile a list of things you like, love, hate, upset you, have no control
over, or have any remote emotional connection to. To help you get started,
let’s walk through some exercises and show you some example lists. As you
follow along, get out a pen and paper and create lists of your own in the
same fashion.

Your bad qualities

It’s time to be truthful with yourself. Let your inner critic speak
loudly. What are some intangible characteristics and qualities that you or
others may not like about you? Remember, even if you think it’s a good
quality to have, others may not think so. Be honest and let it all out.
For example, some common traits may be:
Shy, introverted, low-talker
Procrastinator
Anti-social
Attention deficit, easily distracted
Perverted
Cheap, too frugal, money pincher
Intimacy issues, unwillingness to share
Immature, obnoxious, annoying
Hopeless romantic, eternal optimist
Insecure, self-conscious
 

17
Your unique qualities
Rewind the mental video tape of your life and think about
everything you’ve gone through. What are some unique qualities that you
have that very few other people have? It can be something you’ve done,
something you’ve accomplished, some place you’ve been, something you
are, something you have or don’t have. Imagine yourself stopping a stranger
in the street and telling him or her about your unique quality, ability, trait, or
characteristic. If the stranger will find it funny, awesome, weird, strange, or
quirky, then it’s probably a worthy unique quality to write down. For
example, some unique qualities people may have are:
Immigrant, born in another country, English as second language
Unique condition - birthmark, deaf in one ear, lactose intolerant
Unique job - forest ranger, zookeeper
 

Your physical qualities

Okay, everyone can see exactly who you are and what you look like,
so just fess up. Plainly list your physical characteristics. As a heads up, the
more unique you are in your outward appearance, the more comedic
potential. If you are a minority, are overweight or anorexic, have no hair or
are really hairy, then you’re on the path to stardom. The best part is, you
didn’t even do anything yet! Some physical qualities may include:
Nationality/race
Facial features - furry eyebrows, big nose/lips/ears, dimples
Body structure - really short or tall, skinny or fat, muscular,
hunchback or bad posture
 

Let’s get emotional

It’s time to get in touch with your emotions. Remember how we
talked about how your emotions and attitude are the best tools for
generating stand-up comedy material? Well, we’re going to put them to
work here. Feel free to go grab more paper, because these lists are probably

18
going to be quite long. Remember to be honest and write what you really
feel, because that’s the best way to develop material that fits your
personality and style.

Uncertainty and doubt

Dig deep and start compiling a list of things that worry you, make
you feel anxious, or have doubt about. These emotions are a treasure trove
for fantastic comedy material, so be thorough and jot it all down. The more
weird or unique your issue is, the funnier it can become. You may also feel
emotionally relieved to finally write about some of your worries. Examples
include:
Being alone on a Friday or Saturday night
Uncertain career goal
Kitchen sink full of dirty dishes
Slowing metabolism and gaining weight
Gray hair, getting old, saggy or wrinkly skin
Squeaking car brakes
Getting pooped on by birds
Global warming
 

Fear
Now, think of the things that truly scare you. Things, persons, or
places that frighten you to no end, and make you want to curl up in the fetal
position and hide under the bed. Dig up the old fears from your childhood
and embrace them. For example:
UFOs, Martians, aliens
Kitchen sink trash compactor
18-wheeler trucks
School bullies
Driving up hill
Expired milk
Cockroaches

19
 

Anger, hate, and disgust

This should be the easiest exercise of them all. Treat your pencil and
paper as a sounding board and get it all off your chest. Start ranting about
anything and everything you think is wrong with the world, and just make
sure to write it all down. From the mundane to the extreme, the intangible
to the tangible, the more passionate your hate for the subject, the better.
At the end of this exercise, you may feel a certain weight lifted off
your shoulders. Feel free to put the pencil down, go outside, and skip
around for a bit. When you’ve gotten it all out of your system, come back
and we’ll start making all of this raw material stage-ready. Some things that
people may be angry about include:
Grapefruit
Public restrooms
People that talk loudly on cellphones
Being broke
Doing the dishes
Bad breath from a dog
Nose hair
Stereotypes
Waiting for the bus
Flossing
Rich people
Explosive diarrhea
 

20
Sounding off
Now that you have lists of things you have an emotional connection
to, it’s time to work on identifying those emotions and adding some
attitude. At this point, most if not all of the things you’ve written down are
things you can relate to yourself. Chances are, other people can relate to it
as well. The key is that you want to formulate and present this material in a
manner that facilitates this connection between you and your audience.

Pick and choose

The best way to do this is to sit down and actually start rambling
about every topic you have. Before you start, go through the lists of your
qualities and emotions, and highlight the ones that you feel are most special
and have potential. A usual rule of thumb is that the more unique or strange
the topic, the better. This will help narrow down the things you need to
ramble about.
If you’re willing, you can also rate each topic by giving it a number
from one to ten, or a rating out of five stars, or whatever works for you.
Then, you can work your way down your lists by selecting the higher rated
topics first. This will help you prioritize and identify material more
effectively.

Get emotionally attached

We’ve talked a lot about emotions. Here’s where they come into
play. Before you start vocalizing your raw material, you need to give each
topic a piece of your mind. Many of the topics on your list already have
emotions attached, so that’s a start. If you’re scared of Chihuauas, you can
rant about how scary they are.
For an even more dramatic effect, switch up the emotions and try
out opposite or unexpected emotions for each topic. Comedy is all about
hitting the audience with the unexpected - think of it as a metaphorical pie.
If you hate being broke, most people will probably relate to you, but the
comedic potential is limited. However, if you talk about how much you

21
actually love being broke, a whole new world opens up. For example, to
revisit our earlier examples with emotions already attached, you can try
rambling about how you:
Enjoy being alone and dateless on a Friday night since you save
money by not having to invest in unnecessary sets of silverware
Are excited about global warming since your heater just broke
Think cockroaches are cute and would make good pets since they
never seem to die
Look forward to having explosive diarrhea because it’s an excuse
not to have to call your mother
For some of the topics that don’t have emotions attached, try
thinking of how that topic makes you feel. For the qualities you listed, you
can talk about how you are proud of, or love, or hate, or scared of whatever
quality it is. Swap emotions in and out for various topics, and try them on
for size. Experiment with opposite and unexpected emotions, and see what
kind of effect they have. For example:
I enjoy being lactose intolerant. When I watch TV, the milk
advertisements just fast forward themselves.
I love being a short person. I get to eat at the buffets for half off
at the kids price.
 

Ramble and record

When you’re ready, get a tape recorder and record yourself while
rambling about each topic. An even better option is to record yourself on
the computer, and save each recording as a file and label it with the emotion
and topic. This way, you have an archive of the raw material you’ve
dumped out of your brain, and can revisit them at anytime.
As you record, talk as freely and openly as you can, and let your
mind wander. If you get stuck, just stick to talking about the topic and
emotion of choice, and how those things make you feel. The idea is to
unleash your brain and see what kind of rants and raves pop out of your
mouth as you ramble on about each topic. There’s no need to ramble for a
long time about each topic; a minute or two should suffice. Once you feel

22
you’ve exhausted the things you have to say about the topic, stop.

23
Revisit, pick, and choose
After you’ve recorded yourself talking through each topic, you can
go back and listen to yourself. Take note of the passion you exhibit for each
topic and the strength of each emotion. If you hear anything funny or
ridiculous, make a note of it. If it’s possible, it’s highly recommended that
you take time to listen through each recording and write down everything
you’ve said. Using a computer and typing it all out may be easier.
Once you get your recordings on paper, read through them and
underline the funny material. If you’d let yourself drift enough during the
recording exercise, you should find plenty of funny, interesting, and
ridiculous things that came out of your mouth. For example, a ramble about
having a thing for women with mustaches might look like:
“I have a thing for women with mustaches. It’s sexy. I don’t
mean women with full-grown beards. Just gentle peach
fuzzed lips. It’s soft like baby’s hair. I’d like to just kind of
stroke it. Most women these days just shave it, but I prefer
the au naturel look.”
Additionally, label each topic with a word or short phrase, such as
“global warming” or “parking tickets.” After you’ve underlined all the
funny material and labeled the topics, you can do a further examination and
circle the ones topics you think have the most potential.
Congratulations, you now have a collection of comedic material!
The next step is to figure out which jokes work and which don’t, and craft
them into stand-up comedy bits.

24
Getting dirty
Before we venture into the world of comedy craft, we should talk
about going the "blue route." Blue jokes are jokes that are considered off-
color humor - essentially anything that deals with nasty, controversial
subjects, involve a lot of curse words, etc. Generally, you don't want to
censor yourself. Feel free to be whoever you are. However, be aware that if
you go the blue route, you tend to limit yourself as a comedian. Blue
routines aren't necessarily appropriate for certain audiences or venues, so
you will have limited opportunities.

25
 Day Three: Make It Funny
 
Now that you have a long list of ramblings about random topics off
the top of your head, what should you do? As much as you’d like to hear it,
you’re not quite ready to go up on stage and start spewing out jokes. We’ll
need to learn the craft of shaping and molding your raw material into
comedic gold.

26
Dry testing
Before we begin, however, we’ll want to go through one more
process of refinement. Although you’ve sifted through your rocky material
and picked out the nuggets the most closely resemble gold, there’s no
guarantee that an audience will actually find it funny. Chances are, the
material you’ve produced will for the most part stand on its own, but we
want to be doubly sure and pick out the real winners.
Dry testing is a marketing concept that has been around for ages.
The idea is to test whether or not a product that is yet to be produced is
viable and will be profitable enough to pursue. To do this, a situation will be
created to test whether or not there’s actual consumer demand for the
product, and to measure the consumer response to the product. This can be
done, for example, by running an advertisement in the newspaper for the
product, and listing a phone number for interested parties to call. The
amount of phone calls will be indicative of consumer demand.
In a similar vein, we can use the dry testing approach for your raw
stand-up material. The best way to dry test any concept or idea is to hide the
fact that you’re actually testing it. Go through the list of topics that you’ve
narrowed down to, and pick a few to try on your friends, family, or co-
workers. Strangers work just as well, and in some cases, even better. Your
jokes could serve as good ice-breakers at parties or on dates. Just don’t let
them know that you have some jokes in mind and want to run it by them -
that won’t work. To sell effectively, don’t let them know you’re selling.
Instead, work the rant, rave, or whatever topic you have into the
conversation naturally, and gauge their reactions to it. If it gets a positive
reaction - i.e. laughter - make a note of it and bubble it up to the top of your
list. If the topic halts the conversation and causes tumbleweeds to blow by,
push the topic down on your list. Once you’ve tried the topics on your list,
you should have a good idea of what really works and what doesn’t.

27
Crafting comedy
At this point, we’ve gone through several stages of refinement. You
should have pretty good confidence that the set of topics you have do
possess great comedic potential. Now, let’s craft them into actual jokes.
You should think of your stand-up comedy act as a “State of the
You” address. That is, the audience gets to learn about your relationships,
job, family, whether you’re happy with where you are in life, etc. Keep in
mind that the jokes you craft should reveal more and more about yourself,
as the audience gets to learn about you on a personal level.

Joke structure
At a basic level, a joke consists of a setup and a punchline. The
setup provides the context for the joke, and paints the picture for the topic
that you’re talking about. The punchline is the funny word, phrase,
sentence, or sentences that will knock the joke out of the park. When
crafting your setups and punchlines, be aware of economy and brevity of
words. You should only say enough to let the audience understand the
punchline. Too many words, and it becomes a ramble, which is not what
you want to deliver on stage.
Remember, you don’t want to tell stories on stage. Thus, your setup
should be concise, to the point, and on topic. Stick to being informational,
contextual, and truthful. Once you’ve set the audience up with something
that’s run-of-the-mill, knock them out with something totally out of left
field.
If you remember one thing, remember this: keep the setup simple,
go crazy and hit hard with the punchline. One good way to ensure this is to
contrast the setup with the punchline. Comedy is all about the unexpected.
Try using contrasting emotions as discussed earlier, and exaggerate or
embellish the punchlines as needed.
Jokes may also contain additional, smaller punchlines that come
after the initial punchlines. These are called tags. The initial punchline
gives you the big, roaring laughter, and the subsequent punchlines help you

28
maintain the laughs for the current joke. However, depending on the joke
and the punchline, the tags may actually elicit more laughs and prove to be
more effective than the initial punchline.
Thus, the structure of a joke looks like this:
Setup
Punchline
Tag
Tag
... and more tags
 

Laugh Curve
It is also important to be aware of the laugh curve, or the amount of
laughter you get as you deliver the setup, punchlines, and tags of a joke.
With a standard setup/punchline joke, the laugh curve looks like this:

As you build up the setup to your joke, the laughs you get start to
rack up. The peak of the laugh curve is when you deliver your punchline.
As the laughter trails off, you can throw in additional tags to keep the
laughter rolling as the joke wraps up. That’s called rolling with the punches.

Stand-up comedy formulas

To formulate your material in the standard joke structure, we can
take advantage of some standard comedy formulas. Depending on the topic,
emotion, and what you want to convey about the topic, different formulas

29
may apply. Use these formulas as guides for shaping your raw material into
setup/punchline jokes, but don’t be worried if they don’t fit directly into the
mold.

 
Lucky number three
For some reason, listing things in sets of three is very funny. Watch
any professional stand-up comedy act and you’re sure to spot some jokes in
there with this structure. The key is to make sure that one of the things is
not like the other, and put that last. The opposite or unexpected nature of the
third thing in the list is what makes the joke funny, as that third thing acts as
the punchline.
For example, suppose your topic is about how you’re proud of being
a cheap guy. Your setup and punchline may be: “I like to take women on
dates to places that are...”
Special (normal)
Memorable (normal)
Affordable (zinger!)
 
Personification and mimicry
A great way to inject humor into your material is to act it out. You
can make fun of someone by acting like him or her, but this isn’t necessarily
the same as doing impressions. You can even act out inanimate objects or
animals with personification which provides humor because it’s
unexpected. For example, comedian Chris Rock does a great job of
personification when making fun of the Janet Jackson wardrobe
malfunction incident at the Super Bowl. He pokes fun at the situation by
mimicking Janet Jackson’s breast and how scared it was when it was
exposed for the world to see.
Look back on your material and see which jokes would sound better
if the subjects were acted out or personified. The more ridiculous the
notion, the more effective. There’s no need to go out of your element and do
full on imitations of characters. Often times, simply taking on the persona
of any thing or object is sufficiently humorous. For example, to spice up a

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joke about office supplies, consider mimicking a stapler and complain about
how it feels to be pounded on dozens of times a day.

 
Compare and contrast
One great way to achieve the opposite/unexpected comedic effect is
to point out vast differences between two different things. This comedic
formula fits nicely within the standard setup and punchline joke structure;
the setup can describe something normal and expected, and the punchline
will compare and contrast it with something outrageous or unexpected. For
example, consider this comparison of the days before the Internet and the
digital age:
"The Internet has improved our lives a lot. Before the
Internet existed, if you were dateless on a Friday night,
you'd sit on the couch, eat ice cream, and watch
infomercials. These days, if you're dateless on a Friday
night, you can go online and blog about how you're sitting
on the couch, eating ice cream, and watching infomercials.
Life's so much better now."
 
Observe and comment
One of the best sources of good stand-up comedy material comes
from the observations of everyday things. Comedians like Jerry Seinfeld are
especially good at turning his observations of the mundane and ordinary
into comedic gold.
The key is to focus on an object, thing, action, or anything that
people encounter in their daily lives, and to point out just how absurd it is.
For example, an astute observer of the life of a 9-5 office worker may
recognize just how ridiculous some of the daily rituals are.
“Elevators have unspoken rules. I tried to mix things up and
stood facing the opposite direction of everybody else, but
then the elevator just stopped working.”
 

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Similes
You may remember from grade school that a simile is a figure of
speech comparing two unlike things. As a stand-up comedy formula, a
simile is pretty much the same concept; you just want to make sure the first
thing is ordinary and the second thing is extraordinary. Much like
comparison jokes, the setup and punchline contrast two subjects. However,
a simile is an explicit comparison in that it equates the two subjects, often in
an ridiculous manner.
Simile jokes are probably one of the easier comedic formulas to
adapt. Simply think of something you want to poke fun at, and try to relate
it to the most preposterous, unrelated thing possible. Keep in mind that the
relation you draw between the two subjects needs to be reasonable; making
a joke about two unrelated things and using a non-sensical comparison will
make the joke fall flat. Notice how the following joke incorporates the rule
of three along with a simile:
“Finding a good woman is like buying a new car. You want
one that’s curvy, affordable, and comes with an extended
warranty. In case the headlights fall off someday.”
 
Callback
The easiest, cheapest way to create a joke is to re-use a joke you
already used by referencing it later on in your act. That’s what a callback is.
A callback is a great comedic tool since it helps you establish a connection
with your audience - they feel more closely connected to your performance
when they recognize a joke that you’ve already shared with them. At the
same time, it makes the audience feel smart, because they get the reference.
It’s a win-win formula.
You can easily mix callbacks into your set if you have separate jokes
that touch on the same topic. Sometimes, even completely unrelated jokes
can serve as callbacks. Some skilled, daring comedians sometimes take it
up a notch and even callback to jokes told earlier by other comedians.
Let’s suppose that, earlier in your act, you did a joke about how
you’re looking forward to a zombie apocalypse because of the unrestricted

32
use of sawed-off shotguns. You can then easily call back to that joke if, for
example, you start doing jokes about how crappy your job is and how much
you hate your co-workers. See the connection?

Tips and tricks

By now, you should have converted your jokes into the standard
setup and punchline structure, and applied the comedic formulas to
maximize the humor and make them stand out. Here are some additional
tips and tricks you can use to round out the corners and really put some
polish on your material.

 
Hard consonants
It is generally well-known that hard consonant sounds are funnier
than regular consonant sounds when spoken. The harder the consonant
sound, the better. The punchier syllables help give an extra kick to the joke.
The strongest consonant sounds are “K,” “C,” and “Qu.” The “T,” “P,” “G,”
“D,” and “B” sounds are also considered hard, but slightly less effective.
To hear the difference, say the following pairs of words out loud and
think about which one is funnier: “sweetie” vs. “cupcake,” “Monday” vs.
“Tuesday,” and “beef” vs. “pork chop.” It often helps to put extra emphasis
on the hard consonant when you deliver your jokes. Remember, like all
good things in life, hard consonants are best enjoyed in moderation. Don’t
go changing up all your jokes and replacing all the words.

 
Specificity over generality
When given a choice, describing something in detail is usually
funnier. Earlier, we mentioned that you should utilize word economy when
crafting setup and punchlines. That rule still holds true, and should be
respected in most cases. However, you can consider adding some zest to
your setup and punchlines by being more specific. It is especially useful
when talking about visual things, since specificity helps paint a better
mental image for the audience, and a better mental image gets more laughs.

33
 For example, consider the following pairs of words and phrases that
are general and specific: “gun” vs. “sawed-off shotgun,” “steak” vs. “eight
pound filet mignon,” and “dog” vs. “an overweight pug.”

 
Repetition
Often times, all it takes to get the audience to laugh is to repeat
something. If a phrase or line is particularly effective, repeating it may help.
It also helps to repeat certain elements of a setup when delivering the
punchline, as the repeated elements of the setup lines help pinpoint the
exact part of the punchline that the audience should pay attention to.
For example, consider the comparison joke from earlier about the
being dateless on a Friday night in the Internet age. Elements of the setup
were repeated to emphasize the minute, but funny differences between the
setup and the punchline. Think about how the joke would sound if the
repetition were removed. It's easy to see that the joke wouldn't be as
effective, since the repetitive portion is actually the meat of the punchline.

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Set order
All right, you now have a set of finely crafted, highly humorous
jokes. But don’t jump on stage just yet and start rattling them off. The order
in which you deliver your jokes is a very important factor in determining
the effectiveness of your material.
Since stand-up comedy is all about personal humor, you’re
essentially revealing intimate secrets about yourself on stage. Like any
interpersonal relationship, you want to reveal yourself in order of escalating
intimacy. That is, don’t come right out to the audience with details about
your personal life - they’ll be shocked and turned off. You want to make a
good first impression, warm them up, and slowly expose yourself one joke
at a time.
At this point, go through your jokes and give each one a rating from
one to ten. You can base your ratings on how effective you think they are,
go through them with a comedy buddy, or base them on the reactions you
got when you tried the jokes out. The ideal set order should then have the
following order of jokes:
High rating (best)
Low
Low
Low
...
High rating (second best)
You only get one chance to make a first impression, so you want to
step out with your best foot. Using your best joke first helps draw in the
audience - it lets them know that you’re actually a very funny guy or gal,
and they should pay attention to what you have to say. At the same time,
you want the performance to end on a high note, and make a lasting
impression on the audience. Using your second best joke last lets you exit
the stage while the audience is still rolling in laughter, and keeps them
wanting more.
How you want to order the rest of your set is pretty much up to you.
If you want your material to have a certain flow, you can tie certain jokes

35
together. If there’s a logical progression, you can go with that too. It’s all up
to you! Pick an order that fits your style and the way you want to engage
the audience.
One good way to open up your set is to pick a joke based on one of
your physical characteristics. Since the audience will see you before you
even open your mouth, you get the setup for free. Just make sure it's a very
identifiable, obvious trait, otherwise the joke will most likely fall flat.

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 Day Four: Practice, Practice,
Practice
 
You’re trying to do something pretty incredible. Go from an average
Joe or Jane to a bonafide stand-up comedian in seven days. That’s not a lot
of time. We’re half way through the program, and you have your first stand-
up comedy act fleshed out and crafted to perfection. Now it’s time to start
practicing delivering your jokes and getting your act imprinted into your
brain.

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Memorization
If you’ve done any kind of public speaking or given a speech or
presentation, then you know that memorizing your material is of utmost
important. Nothing says “amateur” more than a comedian going up on stage
with notes. Seven days might not seem like a long time to create, refine,
memorize, and perform stand-up comedy material, but it’s definitely
doable. Many of the graduates of this program have done just this, and have
seen tremendous success. Here are some tricks to memorizing your jokes.

Set list and bits

We’ve already been various terms of stand-up comedy terminology
throughout this guide, but we can go ahead and properly define them here.
As you’ve probably figured out by now, a set list is the list of the jokes for
your stand-up comedy act. Additionally, a bit is simply comedy parlance for
a joke. Comedians prefer to refer to their jokes as bits, since a bit doesn’t
necessarily fall into the traditional definition of a joke. Actually, a bit is
however you want to define it - it can be a single joke, or a collection of
jokes that are logically grouped together.
The first step to memorizing your stand-up comedy act is to gather
all of your bits and label each one. You can reuse the names and labels you
used for the raw material you came up with when developing your material
on day two; or, you can come up with new ones that more closely match the
essence of each bit after they’ve been refined. The key is to use something
that you can easily identify, as to make memorization easier. An example
set list may look like this:
Dogs
George Bush
Safeway
Crackers
 

Dry run

38
 Now that you have a set list with labels for each bit, you can simply
write the set list down on an index card or post-it and use it during practice.
First, read through your set a few times out loud, and get a feel for the flow.
Once you’ve gotten the gist of each bit, try doing dry runs in front of the
mirror with only the set list with labels. Don’t fret if you have to look down
and refer to the set list; just practice going through it and memorizing the
order.
Memorization is all about repetition, and one of the most effective
ways to do this repetition is to spread it out over time. Don’t try to cram
everything into a few hours and memorize it all at once. Instead, do a few
dry runs, then take a break and do something else. Give the material time to
settle and your brain time to absorb it. In the meantime, you can do other
things to start gearing up for your first performance.

39
Look for open mic and amateur comedy
nights
Now it’s time to get your first gig. Since you’ve only been a stand-
up comedian for four days, chances are you won’t be getting phone calls
inviting you to play at the Apollo. You need to get proactive and seek out
some venues so you can get your feet wet and start performing your act.
Hop online and do a search for “stand-up comedy in <your city>”,
or something to that effect. Most major cities and metropolitan areas have
several comedy clubs, and they should have shows throughout the year.
Contact the comedy clubs and see if they have amateur nights or open mics,
where amateur stand-up comedians can jump on stage and try out their
material.
You probably won’t be getting paid for these gigs, but they represent
great opportunities for your try your material and learn the ropes. If a club
has openings, set a date and time. Getting on stage is the most important
part of the process. Don’t think, just do it. If you’ve followed along with the
program so far and haven’t strayed yet, you’ll probably do just fine.

Invite family and friends

A good way to build your confidence for your first stand-up comedy
act is to invite as many family members and friends to your performance as
possible. Stand-up comedy is a two-way street - without the audience,
there’s no laughter. Amateur and open mic nights usually have sparse
audience participation, so it’s a great chance for you to pick who you want
to watch you.
Remember, you’re the one with the courage to go on stage, so
you’ve already proven yourself as a special person. Having your family and
friends there to support you in your first comedic endeavor should give you
the extra boost needed to really knock it out of the park.

 
Use the Internet, young grasshopper

40
 You might think we’re getting ahead of ourselves here, but it’s time
to start building your fan base. Once you’ve booked a time and place for
your first performance, use social media tools like Facebook and Twitter to
announce the event. If you’re feeling extra confident or extra vain, create a
Facebook fan page or a Twitter account for your stand-up comedian
persona; invite all your friends to become your fan or follower.
This is a great way to get the word out to everyone about your
performance, and help drive people to watch you and build a supportive
audience. Moreover, as you start doing more performances and getting
more exposure, comedy clubs can actually look you up and check out the
buzz you’ve been generating. That will give you extra credibility.

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Practice, practice, practice. Then practice
some more.
You can start practicing your stand-up routine well before you fully
memorize every bit. Once you’ve memorized the general flow and ordering,
start practicing in front of a mirror. Get used to not looking at your notes,
and focusing on your audience (or in this case, the mirror).
Try to recreate elements of a stage so that you can get used to it
during practice. For instance, you can hold a water bottle in your hand and
pretty that it’s a microphone. This will help you get used to having
something in your hand as you deliver your jokes.
A great way to improve while practicing is to record yourself. You
don’t need a high quality video camera; any standard point-and-shoot
digital camera these days will work. If you don’t have access to a video
camera, you can buy a cheap microphone and record yourself on the
computer.
Being able to watch or listen to yourself is of tremendous help, as it
lets you see and hear the things you do that you might not notice. Another
side benefit is that you can save these recordings as files, and send them to
friends. See what they think of your practice runs, and you can tweak your
set or delivery based on their reactions.
Another great way to get some actual practice doing stand-up
comedy in front of other people is to gather a bunch of comedian buddies
together. This works well since fellow comedians understand the trials and
tribulations of other comedians, and what they need to do to hone their
craft. You can use websites like Meetup to find local amateur comedian
groups, and plug into your local comedy community.

Use your friends as guinea pigs

Utilize the concept of dry testing that we used in day three to test the
effectiveness of your raw material. Since you now have fully crafted jokes,
the likelihood that your friends will react positively is much higher.

42
However, remember not to reveal your intention. People won’t bite if they
know they’re being sold to. Be surreptitious and casually sneak your jokes
into conversations.

Don’t perform, yet

At this stage, you should avoid any kind of “formal” performance
situation. That is, don’t try to set up an impromptu stand-up comedy act at a
party you’re attending by performing in front of all the party goers. This
approach can be ineffective, and possibly detrimental to your confidence,
for several reasons.
First, a stand-up comedy routine has a special social dynamic in that
the audience sits down with a certain level of expectation. They’ve come to
the comedy club because they want to laugh, so there’s an unspoken
understanding of their role as the audience. The “audience” at a random
house party did not attend the party to see your stand-up comedy act.
Also, an audience usually has a vested interest in seeing a good
stand-up comedy routine. They’ve usually invested - in the form of a cover
charge or drink minimum - some money to see the act. Thus, they want you
to do good and succeed. This dynamic and prerequisite doesn’t really exist
in other contexts.
Moreover, it’s actually easier to perform a stand-up comedy routine
in front of a large audience. This is because the laughter in an audience has
a feedback cycle - if one person starts laughing hysterically, other people
will be clued in and realize that they can and should laugh as well. At a
random party, chances are you’d be performing your act while standing in a
small circle of people. Doing your stand-up comedy act in this situation
won’t be very effective at all.
Additionally, being on an actual stage helps a lot. It contributes to
the separation of roles for the audience members and the performer, and lets
people know that you have the floor and you’re the one telling the jokes.
All of these dynamics are hard to recreate outside of a comedy club; thus,
performing in other situations is less than ideal.
There are plenty of ways to practice your material in a stealth
manner. Just think of yourself as an undercover stand-up comedy secret
agent. You want to test our your comedy arsenal secretly so the victims

43
won’t know what hit them. Save the actual performance for the stage.

44
 Day Five: Stage Presence
 

45
Learn from the amateurs - Watch live
comedy
Watching professional stand-up comedy acts is fun and enjoyable,
but can only do so much in terms of demonstrating what it takes to actually
do it yourself. If possible, you should definitely take some time out and
catch some live comedy acts. If you’ve already contacted local comedy
clubs and scheduled your performance, then you should definitely go check
out the events at the same club to get a feel for the venue.
Amateur comedy nights and open mics are great venues for stand-up
comedy education because you get to see others in your situation strut their
stuff on stage. After watching a few performances, you should start to pick
up on the nuances of actually performing a stand-up act, and what kind of
things work and don’t work. This is especially important if you’re
performing at that place for your first gig.
In particular, there are various aspects of being on stage that are will
take time to learn. As you watch other comedians perform live, take note of
these things. We’ll walk through some of those aspects here, and discuss
various ways to tweak your stage presence to improve your comedy routine.
We’ll assume that you’ve done some preliminary reconnaissance on the
venue you’ll be performing at. If you haven’t, or aren’t brave enough to
jump on stage yet, these tips will still be helpful.

46
Going on stage
Stand-up comedy is, at its core, just another form of public
speaking. Thus, many of the best practices for public speaking naturally
apply: dress, body language, eye contact, delivery, voice inflection and
project, etc. However, the personal nature of stand-up comedy acts means
that these rules are much more flexible. That is, even if you’re not a good
public speaker, you can still be a good stand-up comedian. Your “flaws”
will simply become part of your style, and the audience will recognize that.

Dress for the part

It seems silly to talk about dress and attire for stand-up comedy, but
it is a pretty important facet of your stage presence. Dress up for the
audience, but work with what you have. You should be comfortable and
think about what kind of attire fits your personality and style on stage. If
you’re not a big hip-hop and rap music fan, going on stage wearing a
Viking helmet and a big clock around your neck a la Flavor Flav is
probably going to give the wrong impression and make the audience very,
very confused.
Instead, pick something comfortable and familiar. Dressing nicely
doesn’t hurt, but it’s a little awkward seeing someone on stage in a new
shirt or blouse that they clearly purchased just for the performance. Until
you’ve made it big time and have your own wardrobe assistant, we
recommend that you stick with what you have in your closet.
The first few times you practice your act, you should dress up the
way you want to appear on stage. This might seem unnecessary, but it’s a
good way to eliminate as many unfamiliar variables before you actually
jump on the stage. That way, there’s one less thing to worry about, and it
decreases the chance that you freak out when you discover on stage that
there’s a big hole in your favorite Hawaiin shirt.

Keep the applause going

47
 The first thing you should do once you jump on stage is to help keep
the applause going. At most performances, there will be a host or someone
acting as the emcee of the show, and introducing the performers as they
come up. Once your name is announced, the audience will start applauding.
By the time you get to the stage, however, the applause will have trailed off
and stopped.
In order to keep the energy up and avoid any awkward silence
moments, you should say something to the effect of “keep it going for
<name of host or emcee>, everybody!” to cue the audience to continue their
applause. As the applause continues, it will also give you a few precious
moments to get your bearings and get acclimated to your home on the stage
for the next several minutes.

Where and how to stand

This depends largely on the layout of the stage you will be
performing on. For the most part, there will be a spotlight trained on the
stage. It goes without saying that you should stand in the middle of the
spotlight! Don’t stand too far back up against the (usually) brick wall, since
that distance makes you appear weary and scared. Remember, there’s
nothing to be scared of! Standing too close to the audience is bad too, since
that becomes a little intimidating and too close for comfort.
For the most part, you want to hang out in the center of the stage. If
you feel like moving around during your performance, feel free to roam.
But just remember to reset yourself in the center so the audience doesn’t get
distracted by all the movement. Pay attention to where the props are located
on the stage. At the minimum, the stage should have a microphone stand
and a stool. Even if you don’t use the props, just be aware of them so you
don’t trip as you move around the stage.

Dealing with the microphone

The microphone is every beginning comedian’s first real obstacle.
Most people don’t have any experience dealing with stage microphones,
and that becomes a bit of a problem. The first thing to do is to decide

48
whether you want to have the microphone in hand during your stand-up act,
or leave it in the stand.
Having the microphone in hand allows you to be more fluid during
your routine, and walk or pace around while making motions. Leaving it in
the stand is a lot easier and more straightforward - you don’t have to fuss
with the stand and the audience has only one spot to pay attention to.
However, that also limits your range of motion and movement. We
recommend leaving the microphone in the stand the first couple times you
go on stage. Once you’ve gotten used to the experience, you can experiment
with having the microphone in hand.
The main drawbacks to having the microphone in hand is that a lot
of people don’t know how to move when on stage. If you want professional
comedians on stage, their movements and pacing are quite methodical.
Nothing is sudden or distracting - it all fits in well with their delivery style
and the pace of their performance. These things require time to pick up, so
it’s better to impose a restriction on yourself so that you don’t start moving
all over the stage and distract the audience from your jokes.
You should also practice adjusting a microphone stand, so that you
can do so in a fluid motion when you hop on stage. More often than not, the
microphone will be too high or too low for you to stand comfortably and
deliver. Pay a visit to your local Guitar Center (or any other musical
instrument store) and play around with the microphone stand. Practice using
two hands to adjust the stand - one near to adjust the angle of the
microphone, and another to adjust the height of the stand. With a little
practice, you should have this down pat.
If you do decide to go with the microphone in hand, you should
practice taking the microphone out of the stand, and moving the stand
several feet behind you in one fluid motion. You should do this at the very
beginning of your act, as your start delivering the setup for your first joke.
That way, the motion remains natural and blends into your act, and there
will be no awkward pause while you get situated on the stage.

Delivery

49
 Your delivery should be tailored to your style. It’s a simple as that.
Don’t worry if you have a monotone voice. Just talk normally, as if you’re
talking to friends. When first starting out, err on the side of a slow delivery.
Take some time to let the jokes sink in, and let the laughter draw out.
Having these pauses will help you maintain a good pace, and prevent you
from going too fast and messing up the jokes or forgetting them altogether.

Eye contact
Maintaining eye contact with the audience is important when doing
any form of public speaking. It isn’t as critical in stand-up comedy, but it is
a useful tool to utilize to make some jokes more effective. For the most part,
you should let your eyes wander as they please, but don’t change your focus
rapidly. As you go through each bit, focus on one person or one area of the
audience. That way, it’s easier for the audience to follow your train of
thought.
In most comedy club settings, the spotlight illuminating the stage
with the dimmed/off houselights will make it so that you can’t really see
your audience. For beginner comedians, this actually works to your
advantage. Instead of hundreds of faces staring back at you, it’s just a sea of
shadows. Just maintain your eye contact on certain areas, and you’ll be fine.
For those of you that want an extra kick in your bits and get some
audience participation, you’ll want to do some advanced scouting before
you go on stage. When you’re in the on deck circle, waiting to go up, scan
the audience and look for anyone you might want to point out during any of
your bits. For example, if you’re doing a joke about married couples, you
may want to look for a married couple in the audience that’s enjoying
themselves and having a good time.
During your joke, you can then establish eye contact with the
married couple and deliver your joke as if you’re talking to them directly.
You can point them out during your setup so the rest of the audience knows
what’s going on. Doing this will make your routine more personable, and
make you seem more spontaneous and quick on your feet as you’re able to
bring members of the audience into your stand-up act.

50
Timing
Timing is everything. The key to getting the timing of your jokes
right is practice and repetition. Sticking with a slow, methodical delivery
will help you with timing your jokes the first few times you perform. Since
every audience reacts to jokes differently, you never know the exact
response you’ll get to your bits. By taking your time and letting your jokes
simmer for a bit on the minds of the audience, it gives you more flexibility.
That way, if you need to speed things up, you can.

Wrapping it up
Most comedy clubs will have some sort of light that will indicate
when your time on stage is about to be up. When you check out a venue
you’ll be performing at, make sure to locate the light ahead of time. Find
out ahead of time exactly how much time is left when the light goes on. It’s
okay to end your set before your allotted time is over, but going over is a
frowned upon.
When the light’s on, get ready to wrap it up. Even if you’re still not
close to finishing your set list, you’ll want to bail at the first chance you get.
If you feel gutsy and think you can skip to your last few jokes, go for it.
Otherwise, you should try to end your performance when you get a big
laugh. Being an entertainer is all about making the audience want more.
You want to end on a high note. If you get a very positive reaction to one of
your jokes and you’re running out of time, wrap it up with “thank you,
goodnight!” and exit the stage.

Be comfortable - It’s all about you

The real secret to success on stage is to be comfortable. Let your
personality shine through, and be yourself. Be truthful and honest and the
audience will love you. If you knock over the microphone stand because
you’re nervous, casually pick it back up and continue on with your act.
Better yet, use it as an opportunity to talk about just how nervous you are,
and crack a joke about how your dates also always seem to just fall over as
well. The classic way to recover from an on-stage blunder is to spin it into a

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joke.

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 Day Six: Refine, Practice, and
Repeat
 
By now, you’ve honed and toned your stand-up comedy act,
practiced it by yourself, in front of a camera, and with friends, and prepared
for the stage. You’re pretty much ready for the big show! When we said that
you can become a stand-up comedian in one week, we really meant it.
However, like most creative acts, your stand-up comedy routine will
only get better with time. It’s always good to let ideas simmer overnight and
to revisit them over several days. The best way to improve your routine is to
perform it in front of people and adjust to their reactions. The second best
way is to constantly revisit your jokes, and let new ideas, experiences, and
perspectives help you refine and tweak your act.

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Cut or tweak jokes
After several days of creation and putting pencil to paper, it’s time to
take your set list to the cutting board. Remember, word brevity of the
essence when it comes to stand-up comedy. Say too much and you’ll lose
the attention of the audience. You also need to be aware of the time allotted
to you for your performance.
If you’ve booked a slot with a comedy club, they should have let
you know the amount of time each comedian will get to do his or her thing.
For amateur nights or open mics, it’s usually around three to five minutes.
That really isn’t a lot of time, so you want time your routine accordingly.
For instance, if you’re given five minutes, aim for about four
minutes of material when delivered at a casual pace. That way, you can
leave room for fillers (which we’ll talk about later) and reacting to the
audience. If the entire club breaks out into roaring laughter at one of your
jokes, you’ll likely want to take a few seconds and bask in it; cutting it off
prematurely and moving on to your next joke will not be as effective.
Go through your set list and look for any unnecessary words or
sentences. If a line isn’t contributing to the setup or the punchline, it can
probably be cut. If a joke needs more context, or can be made funnier with
additional tags, add some lines in. If some bits make more sense or are
funnier when grouped together, reshuffle your set list to make that happen.

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Fillers
Fillers are the things you say or do in between your jokes.
Depending on what the action is, it can actually become a tag and make
your joke even funnier. These may be things like saying “that’s right!” or
“uh huh” after a joke, or simply a facial expression or body gesture.
Usually, fillers aren’t planned in advance. Rather, it’s just something you
say or do to indicate your emotion after a joke.
By pacing your act and leaving yourself ample time, you can throw
in fillers at your leisure to make your performance even more personable,
intimate, and funny. As you become more comfortable on stage, fillers will
come to you naturally.

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Audience participation
As we discussed earlier, it’s good to scout out your audience before
you go on stage to see if there are any audience members you can point out
during your routine. Sometimes, these will happen spontaneously. However,
it’s also okay to go through your set list and look for jokes where the
audience can get involved.
If you have any bits that involve asking the audience a question,
consider actually getting a response from an audience member to build the
setup of the joke. You can ask an audience member for their name, or what
their relationship is to the person sitting to them, etc.
As you start out, plan some of these cases in advance. However,
don’t rely solely on audience participation to make a joke work. Your joke
should be able to stand on its own, or you should have a fallback
mechanism in case your attempt at getting an audience member to
participate goes awry.

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Identify callbacks
Callbacks are and always will be great jokes to have in any set list.
They almost come for free, and work like magic. Once your set list is
fleshed out, you can identify more places where you can make callbacks.
Cutting your material down so you have more time also gives you more
room for callbacks.
Be creative and imaginative. For the most part, you can simply pick
a couple different jokes and refer back to them as the act goes on. Using the
same callback a couple times will be quite effective. Just make sure the
original joke you’re calling back to was funny and memorable, and don’t
overuse it either.

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Try not to use notes
By now, you should have a pretty good grasp on your set list. In
order to prepare yourself for your performance, it’s absolutely imperative
that you run through your whole routine, ideally without notes. If you
haven’t gotten your act down pat by now, chances are you’ll probably miss
a few things on the night of the performance. In that case, suck it up and
just prepare to perform with notes.
The best way to do this is to condense your set list into an index
card or post-it, and bring it up on stage with you. Instead of carrying the
notes in hand, leave your notes on the stool on stage. Whenever you feel
like you have a memory lapse, casually pause and look down at the stool.
By leaving the notes out of your hand and slyly looking at it for reference,
the audience will remain focused on you instead of the fact that you didn’t
memorize your act. If you brought a bottle of water or some other sort of
beverage on stage, you can steal a glance at your notes while taking a sip to
cover your memory lapse.
In general, the best time to look at your notes is immediately after a
joke, while the audience is still laughing. Always avoid looking at your
notes during periods of silence, since that only contributes to the awkward
situation and makes your use of notes even more noticable.

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 Day Seven: Showtime
 
Take a deep breath. Listen for your name to be called. This is your
moment to shine. Embrace it! All that hard work will finally pay off today.
You’ve gone from zero to comedy hero in a mere week. That is a pretty
incredible feat. Here are some final tips to keep in mind before you go on
stage. Remember, be yourself, and everything will work out fine.

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Forget the hecklers, but don’t ignore them
Hecklers are a part of the stand-up comedy life. If you did your due
diligence and invited as many of your friends as possible to your
performance, chances are you’ll have built a friendly audience. Still, there
will always be drunkards that have nothing better to do than yell random
things during a stand-up routine.
For the most part, you should forget the hecklers. That is, don’t
worry about them. However, if they happen to rear their ugly heads, you
should see it as an opportunity to capitalize on their mistake and poke fun.
Not only will it make them settle down, it’ll solidify your status as a witty
comedian.
The first thing you should do when a heckler speaks up is to repeat
what the heckler said so the whole audience can hear it. That way, you can
establish the context (think of it as the setup for your eventual punchline),
and it also gives you a few moments to think of a retort. Here are some
standard but effective ways to respond to a heckler. Simply comment on:
What they do (i.e. type of job)
If they’ll get laid
How dumb they are
How drunk they are
How they’re a jerk
or simply tell them “Hey, up yours!”
Remember, you have the microphone, and they don’t. A few simple
witty remarks should be enough to shut the heckler up. If the heckler
continues to disrupt your performance, the club management should
respond and have security deal with the trouble maker.

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Work the audience
Without the audience, there is no you. Remember that mantra. It’s
absolutely critical that you respect and work with the audience’s response to
your stand-up comedy act. Give them time to think and react to you. Love
them, embrace them, and engage them in conversation. Treat your
performance as if you’re sharing your thoughts and ideas with friends. Be
cordial.
The biggest fear beginning stand-up comedians have is that the
audience won’t laugh. If you’ve followed along so far, this fear is
unfounded. What’s more likely to happen is that your set will garner more
laughs than expected, but you’ll be too nervous to notice it. That’s why it’s
important to take your time. Let yourself bask in the attention of your
audience. Make sure your jokes don’t just work on them, but work with
them.

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Work with other comedians
Chances are you’ll be performing with comedians that have had
more experience than you. It’s a great opportunity to learn from those who
have been there and done that. It’s also a great opportunity to show off your
stuff and build a little reputation for yourself. Pay attention during other
comedians’ performances, especially those that are going before you. If you
spot a particularly good, memorable joke that got a great reaction out of the
audience think about calling back to that during your performance.
Take care to not just repeat the joke, however, as taking material
from other comedians is a big no-no. Instead, make sure your delivery of
the joke acknowledges the fact that the joke came from another comedian,
and callback to it during your performance. The other comedian will be
flattered that you gave him or her a shout out, and the audience will
appreciate connection.

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Have fun out there!
Remember, you’re performing stand-up comedy! Enjoy yourself,
and remember to smile. You’re taking a big leap of faith in yourself. If
anything, the fact that you’ve come so far means that you’ve already
succeeded. Relax, breathe, and have fun.

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 The Afterglow: What’s Next?
 
You’ve become an overnight sensation. Your open mic or amateur
night performance reverberated throughout the local stand-up comedy
community, and the video recordings made it onto YouTube and garnered
thousands of views. Is it time to quit your day job?
Well, the next steps are really up to you. Hopefully, this program has
given you the basic tools you need to create and craft your own stand-up
comedy routine, along the confidence to step on stage and dish out the
jokes. You’ll have performed your stand-up comedy act on stage in front of
dozens if not hundreds of people, and built some buzz around your comedy
career.
Many graduates of the program simply did it as a one-time thing - a
way for them to get away from the usual 9-5 ordeal and have their moment
in the spotlight. Some of the others, however, used it as a chance to launch
their comedy careers. If you want to do the same, there’s no one stopping
you.
Continue building your experience and buzz by performing in your
local comedy clubs. Use social media tools to build your reputation on
websites like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. In this day and age of the
Internet, comedic sensations have literally been made overnight, and you
can do the same.
We hope that you’ll continue to pursue your dreams and remain
diligent and determined in your comedic endeavours. Everyday represents a
new opportunity to discover something funny about life. Always keep that
in mind and you’re sure to find new and ever more humorous ways to look
at the world.
 

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 Thank You.
 
My sincerest thank you for picking up this book and wanting to learn more
about stand-up comedy. I know when I’m having a stressful day and
looking for a laugh, I turn to stand-up comedians for some relief. Your
sense of humor can brighten someone’s day, whether you’re on stage or
with your friends and colleagues.
 
If you’d like to receive a free copy of a 163 page “The Stand-Up Comedy
Encyclopedia” please email me at info@dostandupcomedy.com. Simply
copy and paste this message.
 
Subject: Stand-Up Comedy Encyclopedia
 
Message:
Hello! I’d like to receive my free copy of the Stand-Up Comedy
Encyclopedia. Thank you!
 
Finally, if you enjoyed what you read, please help improve the value of
stand-up comedy by leaving an honest review on Amazon. The more
people understand what goes on behind the scenes of stand-up comedy, the
more appreciation people like you will have. Here is the review page:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NHWUEA4 (this may be different
depending on your country of purchase).
 
Thank you again for reading the book. I wish you the best of luck in your
comedic pursuits. 

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 Appendix
 
Can’t get enough of stand-up comedy? Want to learn more? Here is a list of
books that you may find useful as you progress through your career.
Whether you want to become a professional stand-up comedian, a comedy
writer for television, or just want to learn more about the world of comedy,
you should maintain an inquisitive nature and keep reading and learning.
Judy Carter, Stand-Up Comedy: The Book, 1989
Jay Sankey, Zen and the Art of Stand-Up Comedy, 1998
Bob Stobener and R. Scott Edwards, Be a Stand-Up Comic: Or Just Look
Like One, 1990
Mel Helitzer, Comedy Writing Secrets, 2005
Steve Allen, How to Be Funny: Discovering the Comic You, 1998
Gene Perret, How to Write and Sell Your Sense of Humor, 1986
Gene Perret, Comedy Writing Workbook, 1994
Betsy Borns, Comic Lives, 1987
Richard Belzer, How to Be a Stand-Up Comic, 2000
Bill Maher, True Story, 2005

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