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.
BruceV8 said:
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.
You'll get only stalkers, nerds, MILFs or drunks at these things.Which website is it again?
(badam-tish, thank f
k I'm not here all week)Edited by andy_s on Friday 16th September 17:46
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!)
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!)
BruceV8 said:
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.
The day after I was on TV I did a gig and the I hadn't been in the venue more than 2 mins before 3 or 4 women all said "arent you the guy of TV last night" .... felt like a rockstar (a rockstar that attracted pretty rough groupies but it was a start!)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!)
I know of someone who did this, apparently had a great time doing it and learnt alot!
One thing about the gig at the end... you're encouraged to invite family and friends and this chap invited his 12 year old son. By the end of it he'd learnt more new swear words than he could count on both hands
One thing about the gig at the end... you're encouraged to invite family and friends and this chap invited his 12 year old son. By the end of it he'd learnt more new swear words than he could count on both hands
Might be a plan to have a couple of beers before your first gig; seemed to work for Jack Dee!
Tiggsy: good on yer. Thumbs-up from Brendon Burns can't be bad.
The closest I came to 'stand-up' was 1 minute on-stage at a comedy club in Edinburgh. Had been going for years, knew the compere, an act hadn't turned-up, so he went "fk it. Who wants to have a go?" I'd had some refreshment by that point, so was inhibition-free. Audience was only 30 or 40 people, and after thinking "fk me, the lights are really bright, I can't see the audience. st! Is that my voice?" I gave it a couple of pissed-delivery jokes and actually got a laugh. Decided to quit while I was ahead, after about 45 secs, and sat down. Slightly surprised at the adrenaline rush that getting a laugh out of 40 strangers gave. Not sure I would have tried it sober. Kudos to all that do.
Tiggsy: good on yer. Thumbs-up from Brendon Burns can't be bad.
The closest I came to 'stand-up' was 1 minute on-stage at a comedy club in Edinburgh. Had been going for years, knew the compere, an act hadn't turned-up, so he went "f
k it. Who wants to have a go?" I'd had some refreshment by that point, so was inhibition-free. Audience was only 30 or 40 people, and after thinking "fk me, the lights are really bright, I can't see the audience. st! Is that my voice?" I gave it a couple of pissed-delivery jokes and actually got a laugh. Decided to quit while I was ahead, after about 45 secs, and sat down. Slightly surprised at the adrenaline rush that getting a laugh out of 40 strangers gave. Not sure I would have tried it sober. Kudos to all that do. 
I wouldn't bother inviting any friends to the course gig. I did mine in front of strangers and it was fine. In fact, my wife didn't see me until about my 20th gig and none of my friends saw me until I was on ITV!
T he London circuit is full of muppets....people who have been doing it years and go nowhere. Set yourself a year and if something hasn't happened to make you think " maybe I'm ok at this" then give up or you'll be like them! For me, I got the fhm gig and the london comedian finals within a few months. You need to do years to be great but don't let anyone tell you it isn't clear early on that you either have something or you don't.
For what it's worth my tips....
Get OUT of London! All my best gigs where clubs outside London with a proper headliner.....doing open mics iin London pubs is grim. The second you get positive feedback try to use it to get in a better class of gig.
Do it a LOT....you need to be gigging most nights to get good at the audience banter stuff which will set you apart from he rest.
Never pay to play....lots of gigs say to bring a mate...some insist. I NEVER did this on the basis I was of value to the night and didn't need to sort out their audience for them. That meant not doing lots of gigs that say no mates buying beer, no stage time...screw em!
If you are serious....keep your stuff tv friendly. On my course I got a bit of stick for doing tv type stuff......in that it was very low on bad language and topics with broad appeal. They were all doing student gags that no one over 25 would care about....or rape and paedo stuff ( the London circuit is full of dicks doing "edgy" crap like that). I said I was keeping it tv safe as that was my aim, they laughed....then i was on tv doing the same set!
Video EVERY gig you do and learn from every gig. The gig with 2 people and a dog will teach you something, even if it doesn't feel like it at the time after you drove 2 hrs to get there!
Any questions, happy to help.
T he London circuit is full of muppets....people who have been doing it years and go nowhere. Set yourself a year and if something hasn't happened to make you think " maybe I'm ok at this" then give up or you'll be like them! For me, I got the fhm gig and the london comedian finals within a few months. You need to do years to be great but don't let anyone tell you it isn't clear early on that you either have something or you don't.
For what it's worth my tips....
Get OUT of London! All my best gigs where clubs outside London with a proper headliner.....doing open mics iin London pubs is grim. The second you get positive feedback try to use it to get in a better class of gig.
Do it a LOT....you need to be gigging most nights to get good at the audience banter stuff which will set you apart from he rest.
Never pay to play....lots of gigs say to bring a mate...some insist. I NEVER did this on the basis I was of value to the night and didn't need to sort out their audience for them. That meant not doing lots of gigs that say no mates buying beer, no stage time...screw em!
If you are serious....keep your stuff tv friendly. On my course I got a bit of stick for doing tv type stuff......in that it was very low on bad language and topics with broad appeal. They were all doing student gags that no one over 25 would care about....or rape and paedo stuff ( the London circuit is full of dicks doing "edgy" crap like that). I said I was keeping it tv safe as that was my aim, they laughed....then i was on tv doing the same set!
Video EVERY gig you do and learn from every gig. The gig with 2 people and a dog will teach you something, even if it doesn't feel like it at the time after you drove 2 hrs to get there!
Any questions, happy to help.
Oh, NEVER drink when working. You'll think you're better but there is no way you will be as quick witted with beer in you. Get used to coke and lemonade!
And LEARN your set....on some open mic nights there will be 30% of people there with stuff written on their hands. You will look unprofessional and stupid. I must have gone over my stuff a hundred times a day so I knew every word, pause, glance ..... That way when some tool heckled you you'll be able to deal with it and get back on script. You can also refine it properly.....so many people did sets that were a bit different each time (you get to see the same stuff over and over as you all do the same pubs and clubs) they just added stuff for no reason. EVERY word should count.....WRITE your stuff down and highlight the laughs....a gag non stop is the aim.
Download some old friends scripts as an example of every line being a feed to a gag.....or a chris rock standup script for how so few words on a page equals an hour of comedy.
And LEARN your set....on some open mic nights there will be 30% of people there with stuff written on their hands. You will look unprofessional and stupid. I must have gone over my stuff a hundred times a day so I knew every word, pause, glance ..... That way when some tool heckled you you'll be able to deal with it and get back on script. You can also refine it properly.....so many people did sets that were a bit different each time (you get to see the same stuff over and over as you all do the same pubs and clubs) they just added stuff for no reason. EVERY word should count.....WRITE your stuff down and highlight the laughs....a gag non stop is the aim.
Download some old friends scripts as an example of every line being a feed to a gag.....or a chris rock standup script for how so few words on a page equals an hour of comedy.
Lastly....don't do it for fame and fortune!
It's a st job that means spending most nights in clubs for very little money. There are lots of tv comics making no money. Unless you are touring and getting DVD deals it's not a money maker.....and that's more about if your face fits with what the tv people want at that time rather than real talent.
As an example...John bishop was a sales rep and had to quit being johnathon Ross warm up guy becuse he couldnt do both jobs and the comedy wasn't paying enough!
It's a s
t job that means spending most nights in clubs for very little money. There are lots of tv comics making no money. Unless you are touring and getting DVD deals it's not a money maker.....and that's more about if your face fits with what the tv people want at that time rather than real talent.As an example...John bishop was a sales rep and had to quit being johnathon Ross warm up guy becuse he couldnt do both jobs and the comedy wasn't paying enough!
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