Want A Comedy Expert To Read Your Stand-up Comedy Material To See If It’s Funny?

Can Reading Stand-Up Comedy Material Predict On-Stage Success?

It has gotten to the point that, on a regular basis, somebody wants to pay me to read their stand-up comedy material.

I know why—they want me to determine if their stand-up comedy material will get laughs before they take it on stage.

And most of the time, I will respectfully decline—without hesitation or reservation. Why would I do that?

It’s certainly not because I don’t want to help someone in their stand-up endeavors. That’s not the case at all.

It has to do specifically with the critical variables for generating laughs that are missing from just reading words from paper or on a computer screen.

The Difference Between Writing and Performing

Let’s start at the beginning so that you can better understand what I am talking about…

I know without question that every comedian (new or experienced) wants to know before they hit that stage that the stand-up comedy material they want to deliver will get laughs.

Once a person has their stand-up comedy material written out, seemingly solid logic indicates that someone—particularly a stand-up comedy expert such as myself—could read that material and easily determine if it will be funny when delivered on stage to an audience.

The problem with that logic is this:

Writing and talking (or speaking) are not the same forms of communication—they are as different as the sun and the moon.

• Writing involves only words structured for consumption by an individual reader.
• Talking involves not only words but a wide array of other communication attributes designed for consumption by a listener(s) or observer(s).

Writing is formally taught and involves a standard set of rules that apply to producing communication designed for an individual reader. Talking, however, is informally learned and has no such “standard” rules.

All the critical variables that make a person funny in everyday life (other than the literal words a person uses)—their sense of humor, point of view, manner of expression, etc.—cannot be experienced from an audience perspective by reading just words.

Why Reading Doesn’t Translate to Laughter

This is the primary reason why most (but not all) stand-up comedy material that works to get laughs on stage simply doesn’t “read” funny when read.

But what about stand-up comedy material that does “read” funny? That tells you one basic thing:

It indicates that your jokes or stand-up comedy material were funny to an individual reader.

While that may be great for a Facebook post, Twitter post, or an email message that will be consumed by an individual reader…

There is no way that I know of to determine with great certainty if something that reads funny to an individual reader will get big laughs on stage. This is because of the critical laughter generation variables that are unaccounted for when those jokes or material are delivered to a live audience—not an individual reader.

The Limits of Written Material

That’s also the reason that I can’t simply “read” someone’s stand-up comedy material and tell them with great certainty that it will get laughs on stage.

That would be no different than asking me to examine only the steering wheel of a car to determine what shape the rest of the car is in.

Note: I don’t know of a single method, process, or technique that will allow anyone to “read” somebody’s stand-up comedy material and accurately predict that it will work on stage.

Even professional comedy writers don’t just depend on words and sentences alone, written in a vacuum, to get laughs when they are producing stand-up comedy material for a comedian.

They also consider (and incorporate) all the other aspects of a comedian’s laughter generation talent and ability to the greatest extent possible when they develop comedy material for them.

Why Video Is a Better Tool for Feedback

Now, provide me with a 3–5 minute stand-up comedy video to review (regardless of the laughs or lack of laughs generated during the set)…

That is a completely different story. With a video to review, I can evaluate a comedian’s demeanor, manner of expression, personality, speech rate, comedy timing, along with a laundry list of other attributes as they relate to generating audience laughs.

And it allows me to provide much more solid, actionable feedback and advice with a much greater degree of confidence than I ever could by simply reading someone’s stand-up comedy material.

Note: Killer Stand-up Online Course Members can get stand-up comedy videos reviewed as part of an optional one-on-one phone or Skype consultation.

Understanding What Makes You Funny

Here’s what you really need to know:

What makes you a funny person in everyday life is comprised of much more than just the mere words that you use when you communicate and interact with others.

What makes you funny in everyday life is also the key to generating noteworthy audience laughter as a comedian (if you want to progress quickly).

There is a huge difference between trying to “write” for a response from a reader and creating, developing, and structuring what you want to say and express to an audience using your already developed sense of humor (the comedy talent you already have).

Leverage Your Natural Comedy Talent

Don’t you already use your sense of humor in everyday life with a high level of certainty and confidence?

So, you tell me…

Why shouldn’t you be able to use that same sense of humor as a comedian with a high level of certainty and confidence?

Well, I’m here to tell you that you can.

But not if you are trying to substitute “writing for a reader” as a means of talking and expressing yourself using all of your comedy talent the way you do naturally—in a way that is designed from the start to get you the laughter results you want as a comedian.

What makes you funny in everyday life is more than just the words that you use when you talk—there’s so much more that most tend to ignore because of the so-called comedy “experts” that tend to focus only on the words alone.