mistakeThe mistake I’m about to share with you is one that I personally made, one that caused me to struggle tremendously and almost caused me to quit stand-up comedy altogether after months of hard work.

The mistake I am referring to is about adhering to this false assumption:

Getting big laughs in front of an audience is directly related to your ability to write jokes that “read” funny from a piece of paper.

I’m going to make the best attempt that I can to prove to you that this is absolutely INCORRECT.

Here’s how you do it:

Take a 3 minute recording of any comedian you really like or admire, one who is killing on stage and transcribe the recording (put it down on paper, word for word).

While some of it may “read” funny, you will surely find that MOST of it does not.

Or, if you want a faster (and easier) way to verify what I am telling you…

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If you read these monologues (I have), again, you will find that most of them DON’T “read” funny at all. Why? For a number of reasons:

1. Most verbal communication with an audience that will get ultimately get big laughs involves voice inflection changes, body language and facial expressions.

“Jokes” on paper are solely one dimensional—subsequently, they tend to miss the biggest part of what it takes to get “the big laughs” plus it takes many more words to “get to the point”.

2. We write much differently than we actually talk. We are taught to read and “write” from the beginning of a sentence to the end of a sentence. But when we talk, we talk in 5-12 word bursts and communicate most of what we have to say with voice inflection changes, body language and facial expressions.

3. Naturally funny people already have a “comedic style” that works for them in everyday life that has NOTHING to do with how funny something they say or react to “reads” from a piece of paper.

NOTE: Most of this information is in the free demo materials available at:

http://www.killerstandup.com

Even the most experienced joke writers WON’T usually write anything for someone until they have seen them perform and know the performer’s attitude, point of view, and delivery style.

Even then…

Much of what they will “write” in the way of “jokes” for comedians won’t actually “read” funny at all.

Don’t get me wrong—joke writing is a skill that takes years, if not decades to master. I couldn’t write a “joke” in the conventional sense if my mom was being held hostage.

But I could produce stand-up comedy material all day long that gets 6-10 laughs and over 20 seconds of laughter each minute when I was standing before audiences. And I NEVER concerned myself with how funny anything was when it was “read” from a piece of paper.

What was far, far more important is that I was talking about topics, ideas, observations, etc. that meant something to me AND that I could react to frequently using my own sense of humor.

To me, getting the big laughs on stage THE EASY WAY is really all about structuring the things you want to talk about AND using sense of humor that you already have within that structure.

That’s what the Killer Stand-up Comedy System is really all about.

Nobody can “make” you funny if you aren’t funny already. You can’t “write” your way to big laughs from an audience.

I’ll leave you with this story:

I was speaking recently with Ken Groves (one of the top comedy ventriloquists on the planet) and for the last international ventriloquist convention, he put together a little book that had parts of his act transcribed in it.

He had one guy call him who bought his book at the convention and said:

“I read your book. This stuff isn’t funny at all.”

Then, Ken asked “Did you see me perform on Saturday night at the convention?”

The guy said “Oh yeah! You were hilarious!”

Then Ken said to the guy…

“The bit I did that Saturday night starts on page 23 of the book.”

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

The point here is this:

Some people are just stuck. I don’t mean just a little stuck…

I mean they are locked in hard—convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that if they can produce something that “reads” funny on paper…

Or that if they can learn how to “write” perfect “jokes”…

That somehow—magically—they will automatically be funny or somehow become funny for an audience.

Just sit through any open mike and you will see first hand…

This is simply not the case. But don’t take my word it—simply verify what I have presented in this report for yourself. It’s pretty darn easy to do.

Your comments are appreciated!

Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Professor of Funny for Money

About the Author/Founder of the SCP Blog


Steve Roye is the author of the Killer Stand-up Comedy System and is a globally recognized expert in the field of stand-up comedy material development and presentation strategies -- for entertainers as well as speaking professionals.

Please check out the Featured Articles page for direct links to articles on this blog for pro comedians, comedy entertainers, and speaking professionals.

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