The following is an article from a source not affiliated with this blog that attempts to provide useful stand-up comedy tips. My comments are provided in bold below.

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People say you’re funny. You’re always making people laugh. It’s something you enjoy doing and when people laugh it is the ultimate reward. You fell like you understand comedy, and now you want to take it to the next level by becoming a professional comedian.

But, being a stand-up comic and comedian is a lot different than making a joke and waiting for your friends to laugh. With comedy, you need to be conscious about the audience, learn about stage presence, and write jokes that have a universal appeal.

Yes, you need to develop comedy material that has universal appeal.  But you don’t have to “write” one single joke.

Joke writing in the conventional sense is old and antiquated. Unfortunately, it’s statements like this that lead people to stare at a blank piece of paper for hours trying to “write” a joke from some plucked from the air concept. It doesn’t have to be that way. Read the rest of this entry

For more information about Steve Roye, author of this blog and the Killer Stand-up Online Course, click here.

Essential for the aspiring comic or the working comedian interested in updating his or her comedy routine, Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy is the most comprehensive and useful book ever written on the art of the stand-up comedian.

About the Author

Greg Dean is a former Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus clown, a street performer, and a regular at the Comedy Store in Hollywood.

Through his popular “Stand-Up Comedy Workshop” at the Santa Monica Playhouse, Dean has worked with many of today’s top comics. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California.

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For more information about Steve Roye, author of this blog and the Killer Stand-up Online Course, click here.

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: Read the rest of this entry

For more information about Steve Roye, author of this blog and the Killer Stand-up Online Course, click here.