After rave reviews at a number of the major film festivals, the stand-up comedy documentary “I Am Comic” directed by Jordan Brady will air for the first time on Friday June 11, 2010 at 11 pm on the Showtime cable network.

One thing I will tell you about this film — it’s funny and highly entertaining, which simply cannot be said about most documentary films. So, don’t let the fact that this film is a documentary keep you from being thoroughly captivated for 90 minutes.

And it doesn’t matter if you are simply a fan of stand-up comedy or you are a professional funny person yourself, you will have a blast watching the film. At the very least, you will have something interesting to talk about around the water cooler at work.

Once I can record “I Am Comic” on my DVR and can review it more than once, I plan to expand upon specific aspects of stand-up that are presented in the film in future blog articles.

I have only seen “I Am Comic” once myself – that was at the world premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival in Jan.

My part in the film continues to polarize audiences — especially comedians. Those who are smart understand that my Comedy Evaluator Pro software objectively measures the laugh time to talk time ratio for any given comedy performance.

Yet, there are still others who, along side those who still believe the Earth is flat and that the moon landing really happened in Arizona, are adamant that my software and evaluation process is not really viable.

The real issue that many comedians have with Comedy Evaluator Pro is that they DON’T want a tool that tells them objectively how poorly they are doing when it comes to generating laughter, cheering or applause on stage. I guess the persistent notion is that you can somehow have a lame stand-up comedy act, yet still be considered a great comedian…

But check it out for yourself on June 11, at 11 pm when “I Am Comic” premieres on the Showtime cable network.

Then come back and leave a comment on this blog. Let me know what you think.

Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Professor of Funny For Money

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

One of the things I was asked to do when being filmed for the stand-up comedy documentary I Am Comic which premieres at the Slamdance Film Festival this month was to evaluate a Jeff Foxworthy performance before he became a household name.

I don’t even know if that scene made it into the film. But here’s what happened during my part of the filming…

When I arrived at the Uber Content studio in Hollywood, Jordan Brady (director) and Ritch Shydner (host) had already preselected 6 or 7 comedians for me to evaluate using my Comedy Evaluator Pro software. A Jeff Foxworthy performance before he became a comedy star was one of those earmarked for evaluation.

The Jeff Foxworthy performance I evaluated (for 3-4 minutes) was in a comedy club venue and I am going to roughly guess that there were no more than 300 audience members in that venue for that performance.

I started the evaluation at the very beginning of Jeff’s comedy club set, which tends to be the weakest part of a headlining comedian’s comedy routine overall.

After 3-4 minutes I stopped the evaluation and determined Jeff Foxworthy’s PAR Score to be 35 — an average of 35% of each minute evaluated (21 seconds) was filled with laughter, cheering or applause.

Here’s what I know from that brief, yet revealing evaluation:

1. Jeff Foxworthy was just “coming into stride” with his routine when I was asked to stop the evaluation. I suspect that had I evaluated more of his comedy routine, he would have had a PAR Score approaching 40, which is very significant for a comedian in a venue of 300 audience members or less.

2. ANY comedian who can achieve and maintain a PAR Score of 35 or above consistently is noteworthy anywhere, regardless of fame or popularity.

Then Ritch Shydner asked me this question:

Does a comedian’s “star power” have an impact on their PAR Score?

The answer is yes, but it mostly has to do with the audience size a comedy star can draw and perform for rather than the “awe factor” of watching a comedy star perform. Big comedy stars don’t usually perform in 200-300 seat venues. And the larger the audience, the longer (and stronger) laughs can be which directly impacts a comedian’s PAR Score.

Keep this in mind — no matter how big a comedy star a performer may be, if they are NOT funny, they aren’t going to get a great PAR Score just because they are a comedy star no matter how big (or small) an audience may be.

But just like me, you will have to wait and see which one of my scenes actually made it into the film. And my anticipation to see the film is building I must say!

The stand-up comedy documentary is called I Am Comic and managed to rate a special screening at the Slamdance Film Festival in Jan 2010.

Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Professor of Funny for Money

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

Sometimes I get to do some stuff that’s just way beyond cool.

Such is the case when I got to interview Jordan Brady, a hilarious comedian who transitioned into directing movies. Here’s a brief clip of Jordan in action when we was actively performing stand-up comedy—click here to watch the clip.

Jordan began his career as a stand-up comedian and traveled to over 500 cities in the United States during his eight-year stint as a professional comedian starting in the 1980′s. In 1990, he hosted MTV’ s Turn It Up With Jordan Brady, a daily show that won the Cable ACE Award.

He subsequently split his time among college tours, roles on assorted television series and stand-up comedy appearances on television.

Jordan has since transitioned from stand-up comedy into movie directing…

Jordan’s first film Dill Scallion was released in 1999 and remains his favorite.  He wrote and directed this movie and filled it with comedians like Dana Gould, Kathy Griffin, David Koechner (his first film), Hiram Kasten, Chip Chinery, Wayne Federman, Dave “Gruber” Allen, Ron Lester, and more. It was originally an idea for Jeff Foxworthy, but Jeff’s schedule and soaring fame made him unavailable.

His most recent films are Waking Up in Reno, American Girl and The Third Wheel. Jordan is now working on a documentary about stand-up comedy (WooHoo!)

Jordan does funny TV commercials as well – check out http://www.ubercontent.com/and click on Brady once you have entered the website. He tries to use comedians in his commercials whenever possible.

Here are the three Interview questions I asked Jordan about stand-up comedy:

Q: What are some of the most significant or exciting things you have done as a result of your stand-up comedy career?

Jordan: Specifically, doing stand-up on an MTV 1/2 Hour Comedy Hour (back in the first boom) got me an audition to Host a game show, which I landed. 

Then I got a gig Co-Hosting NBC’s “Name Your Adventure” – a kids’ show that exposed me to shark diving, space camp, and adventure in between. 

Because of my stand-up skills and new Hosting chops, I started directing segments on that show.  So stand-up comedy led to directing, via hosting.  Odd and most exciting.

Q: What advice would you give to those looking at jumping into the game of stand-up comedy?

Jordan:  Stage time. Anywhere, any crowd. Stay original and true to what YOU think is funny, even if it bombs.  Oh, and get more stage time.

Q: We have discussed that the next stand-up comedy boom is upon us. Why do you feel that way and how could a comedian make the most of this boom?

Jordan:  The next Boom is swelling.  With the internet (Funny or Die, YouTube, personal sites) and cable, we have so many outlets for creativity.  Every comic should use this to express their comic voice and to publicize their work. 

Never before has the comic had the tools to get their stuff out there.  Now, tools do not equal talent… but if it is funny… people will find it. 

Comedy Central and other networks are still using the tried and true stand-up to develop shows.  To cut through the clutter, a comic needs a strong point of view.  Not just anger, or irony either, a strong, original COMIC point of view.

I love comedy and stand-up comedy most.  Comics are smart and help us see the lunacy around us.

End of interview.

I want to personally thank Jordan for taking the time to share his insights—they are spot on! But wait, there’s more…

Jordan has set me up to interview comedian/writer Ritch Shydner–one of my favorite comedians when I was looking to jump into stand-up comedy myself. So, stay tuned!!

Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Professor of Funny for Money

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