Tighten Your Stand-up Comedy Material Using The 20 Word Rule

One of the biggest problems most new comedians encounter is that the “set-ups” to the punchlines in their comedy act are way too long.

You simply cannot have lengthy set-ups if you are expecting to achieve an average of 4-6 laughs per minute—minimum.

So, what can you do to tighten your stand-up comedy material?

I have developed a rule of thumb that you can use to evaluate your stand-up comedy material called the 20 word rule.

This rule is NOT a hard and fast rule, but more of a guideline you can use to tighten your stand-up comedy material. Here’s the 20 word rule in a nutshell:

If you speak more than 20 words before getting to a punchline, the chances are great that your set-up to that punchline is too long.

You only have to use some simple math to understand this rule…

Most people speak at a rate of 100-120 words per minute.

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And I will tell you that a speech rate of 120 words per minute is pretty fast – so you will likely need to use less than 20 words before you get to the punchlines.

Just realize this:

As a comedian, there are only two major things that happen when you are performing on stage:

- You are talking and delivering your comedy material or..
- The audience is responding to your comedy material.

And best of all…

You can verify this 20 word rule concept. All you need to do is transcribe a minute or two of a headlining comedian’s act from a YouTube video and count the words used before a punchline is delivered.

The information that I have provided in this article should shed some light on why is it vitally important to have frequent punchlines in your comedy material and…

Provide you a simple and flexible guideline to use to tighten your comedy material.

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.

Last 5 posts by Steve Roye

• How To Deliver Stand-up Comedy Material Effectively - March 12th, 2010
• The Big Punchline Secret Nobody Talks About - March 10th, 2010
• What Are The Best Comedy Topics? - March 8th, 2010
• Comedy Show Promotion Basics - March 8th, 2010
• Performing In Comedy Venues With High Ceilings - March 6th, 2010

Tagged with: become a comedian • punchlines • stand up comedy • tighten comedy material

Filed under: Comedy Material Development • Free Articles & Reports • Performance Improvement

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