When I teach stand up, I start every class by letting the students know that every “rule” I present is broken by someone who succeeds wildly. The example I like to use is “Look at your audience, not at your feet.” Pretty simple rule, and not a controversial one but Mitch Hedberg broke this rule beautifully, looking down as he tells his joke, and then looking up with that big smile of his as the laughs came in. So, I’m gonna tell you a few things that tell an audience, sometimes on a subconscious level, that the comic on stage isn’t as calm, cool, and collected as they’d like us to think, and if one of these is something you do, just ask yourself, Do you mean to do it? Is it vital to your performance? If so, cool, keep on, but otherwise, knock it off.
Nodding and Shaking Your Head
Nodding your head “Yes” and shaking your head “No” while you deliver your jokes. I don’t know why, but this is totally a new comic thing to do.
Yelling
Stop yelling. Only a few comics have ever made it work and mostly it just feels like you’re really desperate to hold our attention, and you don’t trust your material to do it. And it might be working for you, you might be doing better yelling than if you just talked to the audience, but this might be keeping you from finding that delivery and material that will really connect. I went to a show last night and observed that from the host, to the guest set, to the feature, and finally to the headliner, each comic’s volume dropped down a notch. The headliner was so relaxed, just having a chat with us.
You’re on a boat
Moving around onstage is great, but shifting back and forth from one foot to the other is a common expression of nerves, and it broadcasts your discomfort. Just planting your feet to the ground like your shoes are nailed to the stage isn’t necessarily the best either, but I’ll take it over the balancing on a boat dance any day.
That’s So Stupid
When a comedian calls every joke they tell stupid or dumb I find myself muttering under my breath “If it’s stupid, why’d you tell it.” You can tell a joke about doing something stupid, and describe as so, but the nervous tick of just dismissing every punchline you make as stupid gets old fast.
This Ain’t Deadwood
I can do a clean set, thought its not my default setting, which is to say I’m no prude when it comes to cursing, but saying fuck and bitch over and over again is a clear and common sign of nerves.
Filthy
Going super dirty can come across lazy. I love going filthy sometimes. There are pros who do it and do it well. You can be dirty and awesome, but I recommend trying to do a cleanish set now and then, just to make sure you’re working out all your comedy muscles and not just getting the easy laugh that come from saying outrageous things.
You ever have this experience?
See also, “I don’t know if this happens to you…” Its a new comic thing to say these phrases before every set up. Yes, a lot of professionals do this, especially older comics but doing it too much, like on every joke, is distracting and feels amateurish, and honestly I feel like its grown to be pretty hacky unless you’re trying to sound like an old school comedian.
Clumsy Segues
This is another old school thing, where every joke had to have some kind of segue to get to the next joke. It’s not necessary and a forced segue comes across really awkward. Natural segues are great, but you can also just let the crowd laugh, take a sip of your drink, and then talk about the next subject.
Start, and Finish like a pro
Don’t run to the mic and start immediately into your first joke. Take your time, enjoy your walk up music, say hi, but also don’t spend a lot of time chattering and avoiding starting your first joke. At the end of your set, stick the landing! What I mean is, tell that great punch line, let them laugh, and when the laugh is dying down, say “Goodnight”. There should not be a lot of words after your big finish. A lot of pros will even give their pitch, selling their shirts, stickers, podcast, books, before their closer so that they can close strong, and clean. Leave on that high not without watering it down.
Oh, and also, Look up, not at your feet!
And yes, I could go through this list and tell you exceptions to almost every one of these. The most important rule is you be you. If you’re a crazy yelling, cursing, comedy monster who loves filthy old school segues, rad! Kill it!
Also here’s Mitch, because I referenced him and he was delightful.
Wow. That was a tight five minutes.