Has anyone here tried to do amateur stand-up comedy?

[cheese wagstaff]

I went to a show where my friend was doing her first routine ever. There were five contestants:
- Super corny, mid-30s nerd reciting some poem about the future and aliens.

- Basic awkward college kid, Michael Cera-type... got a few laughs

- Smooth white guy goes into a crazy rap about cooking with a Bone Thugs flow. Women go nuts

- Overly and uncomfortably racist white guy gets fake laughs

- My friend, a former coworker who is a big girl (300+ lb) and the funniest girl I've ever met. Did a routine on online dating; women also loved this one

 I think I could at least get some laughs based on the weak talent out there. I mean a guy really did a spoken word thing about getting abducted and got no reaction... everyone hit him with the 

... or, I am being really naive and it's way, way harder than it looks. Has anyone tried it?

 

[shoryuken]

I'm pretty sure there was a NTer that posted up a vid of his material at a small show he did..

Or at least it was his homie or something, I remember watching it and it wasn't bad

 

[thunderchunk69]

What city did she perform in?

 

[lil dre 08]

One of my best friends does standup. He is trying to make it big and has had some small shows in L.A. He moved back home to work and save some money up to go back. He does armature shows here in town. He is pretty funny and I could definitely see him blow. (Not just saying that because he is my friend, trust I would have let him know if he was bad). It's his passion though. It really is hard work, all of the time he puts in is crazy.

 

[jrdnsrnss]

I've always considered it, love stand up comedy and usually these amateur clubs you don't have much time anyway. I've always thought of material in my head that i could use and feel like i would get some laughs out of it. Would be fun to at least try it once.

 

[monstar1]

Yeah it comes natural to me. Did a open Mic night off a drunk bet. Killed it. Had people laughing like def comedy jam in 93...dropped the Mic and exited like dude on coming to America "sexual chocolate"

 

[iYen]

Originally Posted by Cheese Wagstaff

I went to a show where my friend was doing her first routine ever. There were five contestants:
- Super corny, mid-30s nerd reciting some poem about the future and aliens.

- Basic awkward college kid, Michael Cera-type... got a few laughs

- Smooth white guy goes into a crazy rap about cooking with a Bone Thugs flow. Women go nuts

- Overly and uncomfortably racist white guy gets fake laughs

- My friend, a former coworker who is a big girl (300+ lb) and the funniest girl I've ever met. Did a routine on online dating; women also loved this one

 I think I could at least get some laughs based on the weak talent out there. I mean a guy really did a spoken word thing about getting abducted and got no reaction... everyone hit him with the 

... or, I am being really naive and it's way, way harder than it looks. Has anyone tried it?

Do it.
I'm definitely going to do an open mic, but I don't know when exactly.
I wanted to be a stand up comic in 7th grade, but the money made me rethink that.

Originally Posted by MonStar1

Yeah it comes natural to me. Did a open Mic night off a drunk bet. Killed it. Had people laughing like def comedy jam in 93...dropped the Mic and exited like dude on coming to America "sexual chocolate"

What jokes did you do?

 

[ricky409]

Originally Posted by MonStar1

Yeah it comes natural to me. Did a open Mic night off a drunk bet. Killed it. Had people laughing like def comedy jam in 93...dropped the Mic and exited like dude on coming to America "sexual chocolate"

tales of duck ... naw j/k famb... lol...

 

[chrispcb15]

I want to do it one day....Do you think most of the amateur comedians go in Freestyling improv, just on the spot? or do they have stuff mentally prepared? i plan to just go in and say !@%+ it

 

[iYen]

Originally Posted by Chrispcb15

I want to do it one day....Do you think most of the amateur comedians go in Freestyling improv, just on the spot? or do they have stuff mentally prepared? i plan to just go in and say !@%+ it

I assuming the people who want to have a good set have material prepared.

 

[monstar1]

Originally Posted by iYen

Originally Posted by Chrispcb15

I want to do it one day....Do you think most of the amateur comedians go in Freestyling improv, just on the spot? or do they have stuff mentally prepared? i plan to just go in and say !@%+ it

I assuming the people who want to have a good set have material prepared.

Yeah this ain't the rap game. U gotta have some type of material planned. My set was about how the only reason I workout is in case I go to prison, white people don't care if you step on their shoes, and having sex with a milf with kids on the house.

 

[|A-Man|]

Originally Posted by Shoryuken

I'm pretty sure there was a NTer that posted up a vid of his material at a small show he did..

Or at least it was his homie or something, I remember watching it and it wasn't bad

Yeah at least 2 NTers have made threads about their own stand up and have posted vids.

 

[iYen]

Originally Posted by MonStar1

Originally Posted by iYen

Originally Posted by Chrispcb15

I want to do it one day....Do you think most of the amateur comedians go in Freestyling improv, just on the spot? or do they have stuff mentally prepared? i plan to just go in and say !@%+ it

I assuming the people who want to have a good set have material prepared.

Yeah this ain't the rap game. U gotta have some type of material planned. My set was about how the only reason I workout is in case I go to prison, white people don't care if you step on their shoes, and having sex with a milf with kids on the house.

 

[ebay dostres]

No but I have tried doing amateur porn.

 

[josednk1068]

Originally Posted by MonStar1

Originally Posted by iYen

Originally Posted by Chrispcb15

I want to do it one day....Do you think most of the amateur comedians go in Freestyling improv, just on the spot? or do they have stuff mentally prepared? i plan to just go in and say !@%+ it

I assuming the people who want to have a good set have material prepared.

Yeah this ain't the rap game. U gotta have some type of material planned. My set was about how the only reason I workout is in case I go to prison, white people don't care if you step on their shoes, and having sex with a milf with kids on the house.

Doesn't even sound remotely funny, you got a vid or something? 

  

 

[youngcfromthad]

Originally Posted by MonStar1

Originally Posted by iYen

Originally Posted by Chrispcb15

I want to do it one day....Do you think most of the amateur comedians go in Freestyling improv, just on the spot? or do they have stuff mentally prepared? i plan to just go in and say !@%+ it

I assuming the people who want to have a good set have material prepared.

Yeah this ain't the rap game. U gotta have some type of material planned. My set was about how the only reason I workout is in case I go to prison, white people don't care if you step on their shoes, and having sex with a milf with kids on the house.

  Sound like a good set.  You based off of generalizations or real life situations you may have went through?

 

[rick2345]

I've always been a story teller so stand up always came easy to me and most of them are stories i can't believe actually happened to me

 

[nixonjames]

Been doing standup in Boston for about 3 years.  Slowly working my way to what I wanna do. 
Standup is one of the hardest things there is to do.   Considering most people are more afraid of public speaking than death that's a big hurdle folks never get over. 

But if you wanna do it, by all means, get out there and do it.  But it's a lot of work and a lot of commitment.  It took me roughly 18 months (about 500 live sets) to filter through the learning process and adapting that knowledge to something that worked for me.   Even then I've realistically only got 8-10 minutes.  Which should be fun when I work a club in NH in October where I'm doing 15.... tightening up some of that B+/A- stuff to get it ready to go.

If anybody has any questions/thoughts/whatever I'll be happy to share my thoughts, just realize all advice is based on that person's experience.  So to really understand it you'd have to be that person or have sufficient experience to understand what they're really saying.

When I get some killer tape I'll put somethin up, maybe my 3 minutes on how Mannie Fresh is insecure.

 

[deleted]

One thing I've noticed is that anyone with a couple silly stories thinks they can excel at stand-up.

 

[johnnyredstorm]

never tried stand up but i've done a live improv show which was really fun. really just takes confidence and trusting your mind. once you second guess yourself, you fall into a hole. just be free and let your material flow if you decide to ever do it.

 

[luckyp824]

Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Ricky Gervais, and Louis CK just talking about standup. Entertaining and you might take something away from it too. They get pretty technical in some parts. Interesting look into their heads.

 

[iYen]

One thing I've noticed is that anyone with a couple silly stories thinks they can excel at stand-up.

What do you need to excel at stand up? I've heard on Eliot Chang's podcast that a crowd needs to leave with a little piece of you. Something like that, if that makes sense. Basically the crowd needs to get a sense of who you are after watching you perform so they keep coming back to see you.

 

[tom23]

Don't think about it, go and do it.

But be prepared to plank your face straight flat on the ground. That way, if that happens you won't be disappointed and if you do good - you'll respect it. 

It's a weird gig man. You go on the stage, fully lit and mic'd up, in front of bunch of people, half of them ready to smartass and heckle, and they all sit in the dark. LOL.

 

[sneakaholic4life]

You can go for it, but you gotta be real wit yourself because some ppl, though aware of their corniness, still go out there n embarrass themselves under the pretext that "on must follow his/her dreams"

 

[nixonjames]

Definitely just go get up.  But get up like 10-15 times.  You'll either catch the bug or you won't.  It's the worst addiction I've ever had.  Cuz I can only get it by going and sitting somewhere during a weeknight... and I usually have to hear a dozen or two **** 'n rape jokes to get to my disinterested open mike crowd...

It's a lot harder than it looks but if you're naturally funny and stick with it.  You'll do it enough to learn how to tell jokes and be comfortable.  You'll be able to try out a lot of different stuff and figure out what works for you and cater your writing and performance to find what works.  I always try to stress get out as much as possible, don't give up, and keep working towards meeting your standards.  If you're trying to meet someone else's you'll drive yourself crazy since it's a subjective art form.

And I'll share my 1 regret.

I decided in 2007 I wanted to do stand up comedy.  Spent 2 years writing down stupid ideas, looking up comedy advice, and readin **** that didn't matter at all.  I took until 2009 to get up... My only regret is the 2 years I could've been getting up on stage that I instead spent dicking around.  If you wanna do it, do it.  The cream rises to the top, and sometimes it's a long crawl though tons of ********.

anybody needin stagetime in boston hmu