The Importance Of Plausibility In Stand-up Comedy Material

While it is universally accepted that all comedy material is based in truth to varying degrees…

When it comes to stand-up comedy material (or sketch comedy material for that matter), plausibility is far more important than the degree of truth contained within a comedian’s stand-up comedy material.

Plausibility: Seemingly or apparently valid, likely, or acceptable; credible

It is plausibility that allows a comedian to use their sense of humor, unique point of view and imagination in order to effectively generate laughs in their stand-up comedy material — even if their comedy material contains minimal “truth”.

Below is a YouTube video that I produced that illustrates plausibility as it relates to comedy material.

Note: While the content of the video is not stand-up comedy material per se (more along the lines of sketch comedy), the concept of plausibility and its impact remains exactly the same.

As comedian, here’s what you need to know about the importance of plausibility as it relates to stand-up comedy material:

1. Whether your stand-up comedy material is plausible or not is largely dependent upon the degree of genuineness used to express that material — NEVER solely from mere words written on paper.

2. Genuineness, which has a direct impact on plausibility, is primarily influenced by natural body language, facial expressions and voice tone variations.

In other words, if these aspects are not in alignment with the words being spoken, genuineness is lost and the audience will easily surmise on a conscious and subconscious level that they are simply being “joked”.

One of the reasons many comedians struggle with their stand-up comedy material is because they try to “fabricate” or “write” funny instead of structuring their own perspectives and points of view for the stand-up comedy stage.

When they do that, genuineness is lost almost immediately. When genuineness is lost, so is plausibility. The result? Little to no audience laughter.

Note: An individual CANNOT “write” their way to having comedy talent or genuineness on stage.

Whether or not your stand-up comedy material is 100% truthful or 0% truthful does not matter.

But plausibility and the appearance of genuineness ALWAYS matter if you want to get the big laughs on the stand-up comedy stage.

That’s just one of the reasons that the Killer Stand-up Online Course smokes anything on the market when it comes to learning how to develop and deliver stand-up comedy material that actually works on stage — provided an individual actually has real comedy talent to begin with.

The bottom line: plausibility matters greatly in any kind of comedy, whether it be stand-up comedy, sketch comedy, or presentation humor.

6 Replies to “The Importance Of Plausibility In Stand-up Comedy Material”

stage practice is invaluable.you just have to be yourself.

I hit the Submit prematurely by accident as I was writing that previous comment – hence the typos and unclear writing! To clarify : I was trying to say that one must deliver the setup in a convincing manner if he expects to “fool” his audience before pulling the rug out from under them with a good, solid punch line. In order to BE that convincing, one must be able to convince himself that his tale COULD have happened how he’s relating it, and this would add credibility (plausibility) to the setup. I was thinking that an audience seems to be able to detect when an amateur comedian is faking a story, because he doesn’t seem to believe it himself; therefore, any laughter is likely to be minimized or, quit often, polite.

I think that, in order To be conning, It is essential to half-believe your own falsehood! By that I mean that, if you are dealing out less than the absolute Truth, if you are fabricating your stories, the audience probably won’t fully buy into your setup if it (they) sense it’s all “pretend” and you are just fooling around or toying with them. Someone called it “suspension of disbelief” — this ability to lay aside our knowledge that we are watching or reading fiction. I am convinced that it is crucial for the performer to master this skill if s/he desires full participation from an audience. And, for the standup comedian, the payoff will be a harvest of the biggest laughs possible.

kaddu ronald on March 12, 2014 at 3:59 am said:

stage practice is invaluable.you just have to be yourself.
David on June 9, 2013 at 10:11 pm said:

I hit the Submit prematurely by accident as I was writing that previous comment – hence the typos and unclear writing! To clarify : I was trying to say that one must deliver the setup in a convincing manner if he expects to “fool” his audience before pulling the rug out from under them with a good, solid punch line. In order to BE that convincing, one must be able to convince himself that his tale COULD have happened how he’s relating it, and this would add credibility (plausibility) to the setup. I was thinking that an audience seems to be able to detect when an amateur comedian is faking a story, because he doesn’t seem to believe it himself; therefore, any laughter is likely to be minimized or, quit often, polite.
David on June 9, 2013 at 9:49 pm said:

I think that, in order To be conning, It is essential to half-believe your own falsehood! By that I mean that, if you are dealing out less than the absolute Truth, if you are fabricating your stories, the audience probably won’t fully buy into your setup if it (they) sense it’s all “pretend” and you are just fooling around or toying with them. Someone called it “suspension of disbelief” — this ability to lay aside our knowledge that we are watching or reading fiction. I am convinced that it is crucial for the performer to master this skill if s/he desires full participation from an audience. And, for the standup comedian, the payoff will be a harvest of the biggest laughs possible.