I have registered a new reality TV show concept focused on stand-up comedians with WGA (Writers Guild of America). And this concept actually has a significant measure of real credibility attached to it, as opposed to many of the reality TV offerings you may have seen on the boob tube.

While I can’t give all the specific details about the concept, I can tell you this…

Most every comedian who has been performing any amount of time has been involved in some sort of stand-up comedy competition. And the person who ultimately wins one of those comedy competitions is many times NOT the funniest comedian.

There are usually other “factors” such as politics involved.

The same is true with reality TV shows involving stand-up comedians. Take Last Comic Standing for example. The outcome of that program didn’t necessarily focus on which comedian was actually the absolute, drop dead, make an audience choke to death, funniest comedian in many cases. The participants and the winners were known in advance and the “story line” was more based on predetermined dramatic situations, presentation and production values to grow and maintain viewership.

And I have to say that I understand why completely.

Reality TV (or any television program for that matter) is dependent upon profitability to survive, no matter what the reality TV concept is about. TV show profitability is directly related to viewership.

Limited viewership = limited advertisers = limited income = a dead show

If you cannot build a large enough TV audience, you simply do not have a viable TV show, no matter how great a relatively few people may think that it is.

But what would happen if…

There was a reality TV show that DID focus on the actual skill and ability of stand-up comedians — specifically focusing on and determining which comedians were THE funniest comedians?

I’m talking about a reality TV show that’s not focused on:

• Politics or whose relative or “buddy” is in the line up
• Judges who make subjective determinations
• Audiences who make subjective determinations that are not reflective of their actual laughter response
• Post performance audience applause
• Whether or not a comedian has that “TV look”, or can exacerbate some sort of predefined dramatic situation on camera
• How many of the comedian’s friends or family are in the audience

What I am talking about is determining a comedian’s true skill and ability to generate big laughs, based on actual measured audience reaction during their performance (laughter, cheering and applause). Needless to say, I would recommend that this accessment be determined using my patent pending Comedy Evaluator Pro software.

So, now the big questions are these:

Would a reality TV concept that determines who really is the funniest comedian based on measured audience reaction generated during a performance be a viable reality TV concept for a show?

Would such a reality TV show attract and retain viewers? Would it contain all the drama, anticipation, controversy and excitement needed to engage an audience and keep them watching when the next show arrives on the air?

I am very interested in hearing your opinion because…

I am going to find out soon whether or not my new reality TV concept involving stand-up comedians actually has what it takes to make it on TV.

And I will tell you this — I think it does.

UPDATE: Check out my article in response to a killer comment that I got about this reality TV show concept involving stand-up comedians!

I will keep you informed as this adventure progresses!

Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Professor of Funny for Money

About the Author/Founder of The Stand-up Comedy Professional

Steve Roye is the author of the Killer Stand-up Comedy System and author of the content made available in the Comedy Pro Membership Program available on this site.

Over the past decade, Steve has established himself as a leading, globally recognized expert in the field of stand-up comedy material development, delivery and entertainment business strategies for comedy entertainers as well as speaking professionals.

For more information about Steve, please check out the About The Author section on this site.

I already know that when the stand-up comedy documentary I Am Comic premieres at the Slamdance Film Festival (January 27, 2009)…

There will be some comedians who have some real issues with my Comedy Evaluator Pro software which is featured in the documentary. I know this because of the reported reactions already expressed by some comedians who reviewed the film at initial screenings.

I will be attending the premiere of I Am Comic at Slamdance and I am more than ready to swiftly defend my software and respond to any question without hesitation or reservation — regardless of how famous the comedian may be asking the questions.

That’s how I managed to get a role in I Am Comic in the first place.

A part of the controversy surrounding my Comedy Evaluator Pro software will consist of some variation of this question:

How is it even possible to evaluate something as subjective as a stand-up comedy act with software?

That’s a very easy question for me to answer.

First of all, Comedy Evaluator Pro does NOT evaluate the content or any “subjective” aspect of a comedian’s act. The Comedy Evaluator Pro software is a tool to help accurately measure the duration and frequency of results (laughs, cheering, applause) generated by the comedian’s content or subject matter and to calculate a ratio of “laugh time” vs. “talk time”.

In other words…

My software measures results that have already occured for a particular performance (unless it is being used to evaluate a live stand-up comedy performance — even then it is still actual results that are being measured).

Below are a series of questions and answers to better help folks understand how my Comedy Evaluator Pro software works:

Can the length of time a comedian is performing on stage be measured in minutes?

Yes, it can be measured very easily using a watch or stopwatch. My software is not needed to figure this out.

Can the length of time an audience laughs at a joke or comedy bit be measured?

Yes, the duration of laughs (in seconds) generated by a comedian can be very easily measured with a stopwatch (or Comedy Evaluator Pro).

Note: One must be aware that the larger an audience is, the longer (and stronger) laughs can be for any given stand-up comedy material that works well (this is common knowledge for which a multi-million dollar government study is NOT required to substantiate).

Can the number of laughs a comedian generates during a show be determined on a minute-by-minute basis?

Yes, this can actually be accomplished using one’s fingers (and toes if necessary), but does require monitoring a timepiece to determine when each performance minute ends/begins to get an accurate count of how many laughs a comedian generates in any given minute (accomplished automatically using Comedy Evaluator Pro).

How many minutes can a comedian go without getting any laughs during a performance?

Unless a comedian is performing a specific comedy bit or routine that is not designed to get laughs during their show (i.e. dramatic segment in a one man show)…

A comedian cannot go “minutes” without getting laughs and retain credibility (or popularity) as a comedian. If any comedian goes “minutes” without a laugh when they are performing, they are bombing.

Headlining comedians, whether they are famous or not, have the skill to generate multiple laughs every minute they are on stage. Otherwise, they would not be headlining comedians.

Is it possible to determine if one comedian is funnier than another?

The answer to this question is YES, without a doubt, which will absolutely chap many comedians to the point of needing medication.

But let me ask you this simple question:

Given the same size audience to perform for…

Which comedian is funnier — one who can generate 10 seconds of laughter each minute (average) they perform or one who can generate 30 seconds of laughter each minute they perform?

You simply don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

It is this application of time measurement and simple math ratio calcuations (“laugh time” vs. “talk time”) provided by the software that can easily be the foundation for the objective determination of “World Champion” comedians every year in a number of categories and forms the basis of my reality TV show concept called “Comedy Fight Night” (WGA Reg#1376283) .

Important: Virtually every single known stand-up comedy star has the ability to generate between 24 and 30 seconds of laughter (average) for each minute they are performing as evidenced by their comedy CD’s and videos — which have been available to the public for DECADES.

Needless to say, I am very much looking forward to fielding questions from comedians and media types alike about my software when I am at the world premiere of I Am Comic at the Slamdance Film Festival.

Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Professor of Funny for Money
Twitter: @SteveRoye

About the Author/Founder of The Stand-up Comedy Professional

Steve Roye is the author of the Killer Stand-up Comedy System and author of the content made available in the Comedy Pro Membership Program available on this site.

Over the past decade, Steve has established himself as a leading, globally recognized expert in the field of stand-up comedy material development, delivery and entertainment business strategies for comedy entertainers as well as speaking professionals.

For more information about Steve, please check out the About The Author section on this site.

Update: I failed to mention Traci Skene initially in the article that follows. My bad. A specific article directed at her and her comments about me and my Comedy Evaluator Pro software can be found here.

I feel compelled to respond to the scathing article about me on his stand-up comedy blog called Shecky Magazine concerning my software and reality TV show concept involving comedians (Traci Skene and Brian McKim).

Shecky—well done! I am more than familiar with “controversy” marketing. Trying to ride my stand-up comedy coattails to promote your blog or whatever is NOT a new concept.

But before I respond to Shecky comments, let’s be fair:

Here’s the link to the Shecky Magazine article that lamely attempted to attack my Comedy Evaluator Pro software, my reality TV show concept and to discredit me:

Click Here To Read The  Article That Tried To Discredit Me

First, Shecky—let me say thank you for exposing my software and my concepts to your readers. Once they hit my blog, I knew instantly that your readers were far, far smarter than you thought them to be, mostly because…

I had a drastic increase in sales of my products from traffic generated by your blog post. Whoops!

But let’s get down to some real stand-up comedy business, shall we?

I checked out your stand-up comedy videos on YouTube (Brian McKim). I thought your PAR Score results would be higher…

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Still, I appreciate your “controversy” marketing technique—great strategy to get attention to your blog from MY hard work—work that actually HELPS comedians succeed in this very difficult show business art form.

And I simply cannot deny the traffic you have sent to my blog from yours. Heck, I sure couldn’t get that kind of attention if I requested it (not that I ever would). Thank you very much!

So keep up the good work! Spread the news about how “far out in outer space” my stand-up comedy concepts/software really are. You have it so dialed in. You are my hero!

Again, your blog post is very much appreciated, no matter how caustic it may be.

And God forbid, should you either of you ever want to get funnier yourself…

Naw. Let’s not go there. You surely don’t want that, not with all those TV credits and massive stand-up comedy achievements that have your laurels already resting comfortably on YouTube.

So, just keep your “finger on the pulse”. I always love the “alternative” view from so-called “real” stand-up comedy pros.

And serve up some more of that controversy marketing, will ya? I’m really digging all the traffic… 

Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Professor of Funny for Money

About the Author/Founder of The Stand-up Comedy Professional

Steve Roye is the author of the Killer Stand-up Comedy System and author of the content made available in the Comedy Pro Membership Program available on this site.

Over the past decade, Steve has established himself as a leading, globally recognized expert in the field of stand-up comedy material development, delivery and entertainment business strategies for comedy entertainers as well as speaking professionals.

For more information about Steve, please check out the About The Author section on this site.