Stand Up Comedy Course
Discussion
Well, here's how it started:
I deliver presentations a lot and try to use humour to liven up what might be a pretty dry subject (although the one I did for PHers didn't seem to get many laughs). I thought I needed some new material so I went online looking for a creative writing course but all the local ones were fully booked. Then I found a one day joke writing course at City Lit near Covent Garden (thats in That London for all you northern monkeys).
So I booked myself onto it. Then I thought "who is the guy running this course and what makes him so good at writing jokes?". A few seconds of googling revealed that he is well regarded on the comedy circuit and his website has details of a stand up comedy course in London - one night a week. So in a flash of stupidity I signed up for that too. It starts on Monday and it ends ten weeks later with a live gig in front of a paying audience. What have I done?
The thought may have crossed my mind that if I turn out to be any good at this, it might be a great way of meeting women.
I deliver presentations a lot and try to use humour to liven up what might be a pretty dry subject (although the one I did for PHers didn't seem to get many laughs). I thought I needed some new material so I went online looking for a creative writing course but all the local ones were fully booked. Then I found a one day joke writing course at City Lit near Covent Garden (thats in That London for all you northern monkeys).
So I booked myself onto it. Then I thought "who is the guy running this course and what makes him so good at writing jokes?". A few seconds of googling revealed that he is well regarded on the comedy circuit and his website has details of a stand up comedy course in London - one night a week. So in a flash of stupidity I signed up for that too. It starts on Monday and it ends ten weeks later with a live gig in front of a paying audience. What have I done?
The thought may have crossed my mind that if I turn out to be any good at this, it might be a great way of meeting women.
Tiggsy said:
I did this a couple of years ago, got the bug and did it for 7 or 8 months after the course.
Got as far as the TV finals of FHM's Stand Up Hero and did gigs with loads or "proper" comics (including a few of the guys on show me the funny)
Brendon Burns and Phil Jupitus reviewed my set and said "you could put him on Letterman with that set"
What stopped me was realising that you need to be flat broke with no family to make a go of it! As soon as you have someone at home that isnt keen on you being out till 2am every night it falls apart...on top of that there is so little money in it until you get a DVD! I got (relatively quickly) to the point of getting paid gigs but it was just petrol money. I did a gig once with a guy who had been on TV twice the week before but spent all night backstage moaning about how he couldnt afford the train ticket home! Bit embarrassed when we left and my Merc was parked outside.
Tiggs
PS. The good thing about a course - you cant possibly be the worst one there (and if you are, you are mentally ill and wont realise!)
Great post Tiggsy. Do you ever do it at all these days? I gather that there are loads of people - in London at least - who will not only gig for free, but will actually pay to go on stage, so getting paid gigs is quite an achievement. Apart from what I've recently read on some of the comedy forums I know very little about the comedy circuit. This really was a spur of the moment thing for me. Getting up in front of an audience and talking is usually easy for me. What remains to be seen is if I can be funny!Got as far as the TV finals of FHM's Stand Up Hero and did gigs with loads or "proper" comics (including a few of the guys on show me the funny)
Brendon Burns and Phil Jupitus reviewed my set and said "you could put him on Letterman with that set"
What stopped me was realising that you need to be flat broke with no family to make a go of it! As soon as you have someone at home that isnt keen on you being out till 2am every night it falls apart...on top of that there is so little money in it until you get a DVD! I got (relatively quickly) to the point of getting paid gigs but it was just petrol money. I did a gig once with a guy who had been on TV twice the week before but spent all night backstage moaning about how he couldnt afford the train ticket home! Bit embarrassed when we left and my Merc was parked outside.
Tiggs
PS. The good thing about a course - you cant possibly be the worst one there (and if you are, you are mentally ill and wont realise!)
Tiggsy, I have to say thank you very much. That was a lot of words you put down there for a bloke you don't know on an internet forum. A good deal of you have said coincides with what I have been reading on the comedy forums, so I know its good advice. That, plus your personal experience, is invaluable. So thats a genuine thank you.
I should reiterate that I'm just doing this for a laugh - but I have heard so many people say that getting a laugh is addictive. So lets see how we do...........
I should reiterate that I'm just doing this for a laugh - but I have heard so many people say that getting a laugh is addictive. So lets see how we do...........
The course finished last night with the gig. I was on second to last so had to stay sober all night but from what people have said my set went down well. In fact PH's very own V8Mate was there and he said he liked it. I also got positive feedback from Helen Lederer and that Belinda Lang who were in the audience.
This was the course that I did: http://www.chris-head.com/Stand-upCourseJanuary201... I'd recommend this course to anyone with an interest in stand up comedy, even if only for the fact that you'll find out if you're any good before you launch yourself onto the circuit. For me, I had a lot of fun over ten weeks, I've learned loads and I've definitely got the bug.
This was the course that I did: http://www.chris-head.com/Stand-upCourseJanuary201... I'd recommend this course to anyone with an interest in stand up comedy, even if only for the fact that you'll find out if you're any good before you launch yourself onto the circuit. For me, I had a lot of fun over ten weeks, I've learned loads and I've definitely got the bug.
On Monday night two friends from the course and I went to see the King Gong show at the London Comedy Store. If you're not familiar with it, there are about 30 acts who each have a 5 minute set to do. Three members of the audience are given red cards and act as judges. If the judges or the crowd don't like the act - they express this dislike with heckling and booing - the judges hold up their cards. If and when three cards are up the gong is banged and the acts has to get off.
My god it is brutal! Most of the acts were fairly experienecd comedians. Most were actually quite good, although some were dire. Most were gonged off after a minute or two. Some only lasted 45 seconds, which is terrible considering that you normally have to book two or three months in advance just to get a spot.
We thought we could do better than some of the acts so in a fit of over-confident stupidity we went to the compere's box to see if there had been any no-shows whose spots we could take. There were! We were on second, third and fourth from last which is the hardest time as the crowd are now whipped up into a frenzy.
One friend was gonged off after 1 minute 18 seconds, not because he wasn't funny - he was - but he stumbled with his lines and paused and the three cards went up simultaneously. The next was heavily heckled as soon as she stepped on the stage but dealt with that well, only to be gonged off when she launched into her material - she lasted two minutes.
I was heckled on arrival but dealt with that. Its not like I wasn't expecting my height to be mentioned - it makes up a fair bit of my set! I had two cards go up in the middle where there were long-ish preambles to punchlines (only 20 seconds or so but thats long for here where they just want gag after gag every 10 seconds) but I stayed on and beat the gong, lasting the full five minutes. I went through to the finals with four other much more experienced comics but wasn't chosen for the joke-off. Thankfully!
In truth none of us should have done it - certainly not at this stage of our comedy careers. King Gong is NOT for people's second gig. I'm pretty confident in front of an audience but I'll admit that this was nerve wracking - I messed my set up a bit at the start as well. On the other hand we displayed a bit of initiative in getting the spots and from now on I reckon most gigs will be pretty easy compared to that. Plus I can say that I've beaten the gong at The Store which not a lot of people can.
My god it is brutal! Most of the acts were fairly experienecd comedians. Most were actually quite good, although some were dire. Most were gonged off after a minute or two. Some only lasted 45 seconds, which is terrible considering that you normally have to book two or three months in advance just to get a spot.
We thought we could do better than some of the acts so in a fit of over-confident stupidity we went to the compere's box to see if there had been any no-shows whose spots we could take. There were! We were on second, third and fourth from last which is the hardest time as the crowd are now whipped up into a frenzy.
One friend was gonged off after 1 minute 18 seconds, not because he wasn't funny - he was - but he stumbled with his lines and paused and the three cards went up simultaneously. The next was heavily heckled as soon as she stepped on the stage but dealt with that well, only to be gonged off when she launched into her material - she lasted two minutes.
I was heckled on arrival but dealt with that. Its not like I wasn't expecting my height to be mentioned - it makes up a fair bit of my set! I had two cards go up in the middle where there were long-ish preambles to punchlines (only 20 seconds or so but thats long for here where they just want gag after gag every 10 seconds) but I stayed on and beat the gong, lasting the full five minutes. I went through to the finals with four other much more experienced comics but wasn't chosen for the joke-off. Thankfully!
In truth none of us should have done it - certainly not at this stage of our comedy careers. King Gong is NOT for people's second gig. I'm pretty confident in front of an audience but I'll admit that this was nerve wracking - I messed my set up a bit at the start as well. On the other hand we displayed a bit of initiative in getting the spots and from now on I reckon most gigs will be pretty easy compared to that. Plus I can say that I've beaten the gong at The Store which not a lot of people can.
Tiggsy said:
BruceV8 said:
MC the next one is the Plum Tree in faringdon, but it will be the same routine.
lol...welcome to the real world 
Every gig is different, but when I did a set there it was your classic - in a cellar with a crowd of 10 - 9 of which were acts....and 7 of those were mates with the guy running it......and all looked like they were fresh off a University fees protest.
All part of the "learning" experience. What you tend to learn is every female stand up has to mention sex with 10 seconds and every student stand up tends to open with a nice rape or paedo gag and thinks Michael McIntyre sucks.
If you are after doing some gigs outside London (where people are paying for the show) let me know and I can suggest some promoters that will consider you for a slot off your video. I found the ladder seems to be - London Open Mic where no one in their right mind pays, then out of London Gigs where people are paying and there will normally be a paid headliner, then back to London for the paid gigs (which is years off for most comics) The nice thing about being an open on a paid gig is (if you are good) you may get a) petrol money and b) invited back to a better/longer slot.
Doing an open 10 and getting £20 is hardly 8 out of 10 cats, but compared to some s
tty london dungeon with 8 other mental cases, it may as well be! And you start to meet "proper" comics, the people on the fringes of panel shows, people with Edinburgh Shows, etcI'm also registered with Mirth Control and have told them I'm happy to travel almost anywhere but nothing has come of that yet. I'd certainly appreciate any help you can offer Tiggsy.
BruceV8 said:
Slght update: Ahead of my student dungeon on Monday, I'm now on at Komedia in Bath on Sunday night - exactly the kind of spot that Tiggsy would recommend, I think, with pro acts being in the majority. Its like a blur at the moment...
Further update - I am getting delusions of adequacy. Its at the Comedy Cavern in Bath, not Komedia. Still a good gig and although unpaid is my first booking through a professional booker - Mirth Control. My hope is that if I do well it will lead to more bookings and eventually paid spots.Tiggsy said:
BruceV8 said:
MC the next one is the Plum Tree in faringdon, but it will be the same routine.
lol...welcome to the real world Every gig is different, but when I did a set there it was your classic - in a cellar with a crowd of 10 - 9 of which were acts....and 7 of those were mates with the guy running it......and all looked like they were fresh off a University fees protest.
All part of the "learning" experience. What you tend to learn is every female stand up has to mention sex with 10 seconds and every student stand up tends to open with a nice rape or paedo gag and thinks Michael McIntyre sucks.
If you are after doing some gigs outside London (where people are paying for the show) let me know and I can suggest some promoters that will consider you for a slot off your video. I found the ladder seems to be - London Open Mic where no one in their right mind pays, then out of London Gigs where people are paying and there will normally be a paid headliner, then back to London for the paid gigs (which is years off for most comics) The nice thing about being an open on a paid gig is (if you are good) you may get a) petrol money and b) invited back to a better/longer slot.
Doing an open 10 and getting £20 is hardly 8 out of 10 cats, but compared to some s
tty london dungeon with 8 other mental cases, it may as well be! And you start to meet "proper" comics, the people on the fringes of panel shows, people with Edinburgh Shows, etc
But as you say, first step on the ladder.Well not quite. On Sunday I did a gig in Bath between two pro acts. I got lots of good feedback and advice from them and was offered a paid spot (well, paid enough to cover my expenses) for a Friday Night gig in Bristol in January by a promoter who was in the audience. So I'm a happy bunny. Following your advice I've entered a competition too.
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