Author: NYC Comedy Class

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What Happens in a Stand-Up Comedy Class?

If you’ve never taken a stand-up class, it’s easy to imagine one of two things:

  • either it’s terrifying
  • or it’s just people trying to be funny with no structure

It’s actually neither (if the class is good).

Here’s what really happens.

Week 1: Getting Comfortable + Finding Ideas

You don’t walk in and perform.

You start with:

  • exercises
  • prompts
  • identifying what’s already funny about your perspective

Most people realize they already have funny life stories — they just need shaping

Weeks 2–4: Writing + Feedback

This is the core of the class.

You:

  • write short bits
  • try them out
  • get feedback
  • refine them

You learn:

  • how to tighten jokes
  • how to structure setups
  • how to make things hit harder

Weeks 5–6: Performance + Polishing

Now it becomes about:

  • delivery
  • timing
  • stage presence

You start putting together a real 5-minute set

The Graduation Show

At the end:

  • you perform in a real comedy club
  • in front of an actual audience

This is the part that changes everything

What Surprises People Most

  • how supportive the room is
  • how quickly they improve
  • how fun it becomes

And also, “I can’t believe I actually did that”

Who It’s For

  • complete beginners
  • people curious about stand-up
  • people who want to try something new
  • people who have dabbled in comedy a few times and want to get better, faster

NYC Comedy Class Format

  • 6 sessions
  • small group
  • Manhattan location
  • graduation show
See upcoming stand-up comedy classes

Final Thought

You don’t need to be funny to start.

You just need to start.

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Can Stand-Up Comedy Improve Public Speaking?

Short answer:
👉 Yes — dramatically.

Longer answer:
It’s one of the most effective (and uncomfortable) ways to get better at speaking.

Why Stand-Up Works So Well

Most public speaking training focuses on:

  • posture
  • eye contact
  • filler words

Stand-up goes deeper.

It forces you to:

  • organize your thoughts clearly
  • say something that must hold people’s attention
  • handle real-time feedback

1. You Learn Structure

A joke is basically:

  • setup → expectation → surprise

That’s the same structure as:

  • a story
  • a pitch
  • a presentation

You learn to get to the point faster

2. You Get Immediate Feedback

In most speaking situations:

  • people nod politely
  • or stay silent

In stand-up:

  • they laugh
  • or they don’t

There’s no ambiguity.

3. You Build Real Confidence

Confidence doesn’t come from:

  • affirmations
  • or “visualizing success”

It comes from doing something hard repeatedly and feeling yourself improve at it.

Stand-up forces that.

4. You Learn to Handle Pressure

Bombing (not doing well on stage) is:

  • uncomfortable
  • but incredibly useful

Once you’ve survived that a work presentation feels easy

Who This Helps Most

  • professionals who present
  • people who feel nervous speaking
  • people who want to be more engaging

Where to Start

You don’t need to “be funny.”

You need:

  • willingness
  • curiosity
  • and a structured environment

That’s exactly what beginner classes are for.

At NYC Comedy Class:

  • beginners are the majority
  • classes are small
  • you build toward a real performance
Register for a stand-up comedy class

Final Thought

Public speaking teaches you how to talk. Stand-up teaches you how to be heard.

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Fun Classes for Adults in NYC (That Are Actually Worth It)

New York has a million “fun classes.”

Pottery. Cooking. Wine tasting. Candle making.

Some are great. Some are… you paid $85 to make a mug that looks like it lost a fight to a schnauser.

If you’re looking for something genuinely fun — not just “Instagram fun” — here are a few categories that actually deliver.

1. Creative Classes (Best Overall)

These are the most rewarding because you:

  • make something
  • improve over time
  • and actually feel different by the end

Examples:

  • stand-up comedy
  • drawing or painting
  • writing workshops

These tend to be the most memorable

2. Physical / Skill-Based Classes

Good if you want:

  • movement
  • energy
  • something active

Examples:

  • dance
  • boxing
  • yoga intensives

Fun, but usually less social interaction as everyone is copying the instructor’s moves

3. One-Night Experiences

Examples:

  • cooking classes
  • cocktail making
  • painting nights

These are fun, but they’re more like events than experiences

You show up, do the thing, leave.

Why Stand-Up Comedy Is Different

Stand-up hits a unique combo:

  • creative
  • social
  • slightly terrifying (in a good way)
  • and incredibly rewarding

You:

  • write your own material
  • perform it
  • and get real reactions

It’s one of the few classes where you walk in one person and walk out more confident

Who It’s Good For

  • people new to NYC
  • people stuck in routine
  • people who want something social but not awkward
  • people who want to challenge themselves a little
  • people who want to improve their public speaking
  • people who wanna laugh

If You Want to Try It

NYC Comedy Class runs:

  • small group classes
  • in Manhattan
  • ending in a graduation show
Register for a stand-up comedy class

Final Thought

The best class isn’t the one that looks fun.

It’s the one you’re still thinking about weeks later.

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Best Comedy Classes in NYC (An Honest Breakdown)

If you Google “best comedy classes in NYC,” you’ll get a mix of improv schools, stand-up classes, and sketch programs that all claim to be “the best.”

They’re not all the same. And “best” depends on what you actually want.

So here’s a real breakdown — not marketing fluff.

First: Know What Type of Comedy You Want

There are three main categories:

1. Improv classes (UCB-style)

  • No writing
  • Group games
  • Great for creativity and looseness

2. Stand-up comedy classes

  • You write your own material
  • You perform solo
  • You build toward an actual set

3. Sketch comedy

  • You act in scenes with other actors
  • You write your own SNL style script
  • Some classes focus on both writing and acting, some are just one or the other

If your goal is:

  • performing
  • public speaking
  • and saying something in your own voice

Then you want stand-up, not improv or sketch.

What Actually Makes a Good Stand-Up Class

Here’s what matters (and what most sites won’t say clearly):

1. Small class size

If there are 20 people, you’re not getting real feedback.

The ideal is ~10–12 students

2. A real performance at the end

Some classes skip this or make it optional.

That’s like taking swimming lessons without getting in the water.

You want a graduation show in a real comedy club

3. Structure (not just “hang out and be funny”)

A good class teaches:

  • joke structure
  • how to come up with material
  • how to edit the material down to the best parts
  • how to perform it

Not just “say something funny and we’ll clap.”

4. Instructor who actually performs

There are classes taught by:

  • career comics
  • and classes taught by people who teach comedy but don’t perform

Those are not the same.

So What’s “Best”?

There isn’t one answer.

But here’s a simple way to think about it:

  • Want social + playful → improv
  • Want to perform + build a set → stand-up
  • Want real progress → small class + real show

Where NYC Comedy Class Fits In

Our class is built for:

  • complete beginners
  • people who want to try stand-up
  • people who want to get better at speaking

It’s:

  • 6 weeks
  • small group
  • ends with a graduation show at a Manhattan comedy club
Register for a stand-up comedy class

Final Thought

The “best” class is the one that:

  • actually gets you on stage
  • actually improves your material
  • and doesn’t waste your time

Everything else is branding.

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How To Seem Confident

When starting out in stand-up comedy, it’s hard to feel confident. What if you forget your material? Will the audience laugh or not? You often don’t feel in control. So here are some tips to keep in mind that might help:

– Practice your jokes and whole routine out loud. The first step to coming off confident is feeling prepared. So before you leave your house or get out of your car, say the jokes you plan on saying out loud until you feel you know it. This will help much more than you think.

– Go up on the stage looking at the audience and smile before starting to talk. Let the audience take you in for a couple of seconds before you start. Don’t focus on getting the mic out of the stand. Focus on the audience. This makes them feel like you’re there with them, instead of a puppet whose string was pulled when you start talking.

– Start with a greeting like “hello” not with the word “so” or “ummm.” If you were talking to a new person at a bar, your first word wouldn’t be “so” or “umm” – it’d be “hey” or “hi”. Comedy should feel like talking to a friend or new pal at a bar.

– Talk slower. Confident people talk slowly because they believe what they have to say is so important, people won’t interrupt. Nervous people talk a mile a minute. If you think you’re going too slow, you can still slow down!

– Sound excited about what you’re sharing. While you shouldn’t talk quick and nervously, you should still change the inflection in your voice and sound excited about your material. If your tone is “oh god here are the words that need to be said” you’re screwed.

– Look people in the eye. Or at least look at their forehead, they’ll think you’re making eye contact. People with low confidence look at the floor or over the audience.

– Look at different spots of the audience. But don’t scan nervously. Pick three friendly faces – one in the middle, one a little to the left, and one a little to the right. Pretend like you’re facilitating a four person conversation, where you want everyone to feel included as you’re talking. But not in a nervous “oh god are they still listening or are they now on their phone?!?” sort of way. 

– Take pauses in the middle of sentences, as well as after the punchline. But don’t “freeze” as you wait for laughs, laugh to yourself or do some sort of physical action that matches your bit. A lot of comedy is timing, picking your spots to pause helps increase anticipation of the funny part.

– Mental bonus: Before going up, remind yourself that you’re a funny person, and that it doesn’t matter if the crowd “seems bad” before you – that’s just because they’re waiting for you to make them laugh and you will impose your hilarious will on them.

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Repeating Jokes At Open Mics

Recently a former student emailed asking, “If I stick to one open mic and go weekly, should I focus on trying new material each time, or is it okay to practice the same set a few times, even if it’s the same audience?”

We would recommend do a mix. It’s fine to do the same set (with maybe some minor tweaks) for 3-4 weeks in a row (if you don’t have anything new you’re excited to try).

But we’d avoid doing the exact same set for months on end at the same mic.

Also keep in mind the “audience” usually changes every week, at least partially.

The main thing should be to do a short joke or two at the start that you know is funny, so you can then gauge the rest of the laughs of the set based on that. 

For example, if the joke you know usually works gets an okay laugh, then that level of laugh or higher is what you want for anything new you’re trying.

If a good joke doesn’t land at all, and then no other jokes land, then you know it was just a weird vibe.

If a good joke doesn’t land at all, and then a new joke does land, you might have a really good new joke!

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Comedy Open Mics Recommendations

Recently a former student emailed asking, “Do you have any recommendations for the best open mics for newbies?”

First, to see a current list of open mics, check out badslava.com

Our main recs for open mics are:

  1. Try something new every time. It can be a one word change or a brand new joke, but don’t do the exact same set word for word every time.
  2. Go where it’s convenient for you – aka almost no mic is worth an 80-minute subway ride.
  3. Try a mic, if you like the vibe, keep coming back and become a regular. If you don’t like it, try somewhere else. (But keep in mind the vibe might shift a little week to week.)
  4. If you can find a music mic that allows comedians, those tend to be better because the musicians are “real audience” and not other comedians.
  5. A slight laugh at a mic is usually a good sign.
  6. Have low expectations. The main benefits of a mic are:

a) practicing saying words out loud while people look at you – which makes your delivery different than when you’re talking into your hairbrush at home

b) you meet other comedians and make friends and maybe do their shows

c) you get comfortable with silence, so when you’re in front of real crowds and something doesn’t hit, you don’t panic

d) you see what material to avoid based on what everyone and their mother keeps repeating.

e) working on riffing and being in the moment and thinking on your feet

Notice how the benefits don’t include “getting standing ovations” and “feeling great about comedy” – that’s because most mics will not give you that outcome. But as long as you know in advance, you won’t be disappointed.

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How Do I Get Booked On A Comedy Show?

Recently a former student emailed asking, “How do you choose the openers for the comedy class graduation show?”

(Note: Our class shows always have a pro MC, 2-3 opening acts and a professional comedian closing the show.)

Our openers for the class shows usually meet most, if not all, of the following criteria:

1) They have been doing comedy consistently (5-10 sets a week, every week) for 5+ years

2) They’re on the higher energy side of performers

3) They’re able to do crowd work / improvise / change their set if needed

4a) We trust them to do 10-12 minutes of material and do well

or:

4b) If it’s not going well, we know they won’t get phased and make the room weird. (Sometimes early in a show, the crowd is still settling in and barely laughing for jokes that usually pop – not everyone stays calm when this happens.)

5) They have some TV credits

6) We trust them to show up on time and be easygoing / act relatively sane 

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Producing a Show: Running The Show

Congratulations! You’ve got a venue, you’ve booked comics and there’s lots of people in the audience. Now the real headache begins! One hundred things can and will go wrong every time you run a show.

Before getting into all the details, if you remember nothing else about running a show, remember to:

Be flexible and don’t panic!

With that said, here’s what to do when you’re running a stand-up comedy show.
(Note: Some of these steps aren’t necessary depending on the venue.)

  • Set up and test the equipment, rearrange furniture if needed
  • Work the box office selling tickets (if you’re charging cover) and check-in people who pre-purchased tickets
  • Seat people (towards the front first!)
  • Make pre-show announcements (turn off pagers, any drink minimums, etc)
  • Introduce and bring up the MC
  • Decide the order of comics and how much time each comic is doing and tell them
  • Keep track of how much time each comic is doing
  • Light the comic when they have one minute remaining
  • Let the waitresses know when to drop the checks (if applicable)
  • Make an announcement to clear the room after the show ends (if applicable)
  • Put the room back how you found it

Here’s some common problems and possible solutions:

The line up needs to be changed

You should have a lineup in advance that lists the order of the comics and how long each comic is doing. However, unless you’re producing a MC – Feature – Headliner format, the lineup almost always changes at the last minute. Treat your original lineup as a starting hypothesis and not like the Ten Commandments. When making line up changes the most important thing to keep in mind is if there’s a hard stop time that the show must be over by. If so, work backwards from there. And don’t forget to add 30 to 60 seconds between comics for the MC to have time to bring up the next comedian.

The show has to end earlier than scheduled

All your comics are on time and don’t run the light, but suddenly management decides you only have 70 minutes instead of 100. The most important thing to do, is not get pissy at management. Asking them if they can do anything about giving the show more time is okay, just don’t get into a yelling match with them or anything. When this happens, be ready to cut everyone’s time. Most comics will be understanding about this. You might also consider taking yourself off of the show to save time.

Comics go longer than you want

Comics run the light way too often. If you’re a comic reading this, you’ve probably run the light a few times yourself. If the show is running late, make sure to remind comics not to run the light. If you stress how tight the show is, they’re less likely to do it (although it’s not guaranteed). Be ready to keep waving the light until they come off stage.

A comic doesn’t show up or cancels at the last minute

This is a bigger deal if you have only 3 or 4 comics on the show and two of them have already gone up. There’s a minimum amount of time most places will want a show to run, and you don’t want to give someone more time than they can handle, especially if they’re already on stage. One way to solve this is to have comics check-in by a certain time, and if they’re not there, take them off the show so you can split the remaining time fairly from the beginning. Another solution is to always book one comic that you know can do a lot of time if needed, and don’t put that comic on until the other comics have shown up or told you they’re not gonna make it.

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Producing Your Own Show: The Audience

Producing a show is one of the best ways to get stage time before you’re “passed” at a club or booking consistent road work. When you produce your own show you need to be able to manage four equally important parts: the venue, the comics, people showing up to watch the show (this post) and then running the actual show. This post focuses on the audience and getting them to come to the show.

So you’ve booked a venue and have funny comedians performing on your show? Now you have to worry about the hardest part: getting an audience. Comedy isn’t any fun without people in the seats. While part of how you promote your show depends on the venue it’s at, most of it depends on you and your willingness to market the show (even if it’s a free show).

Here are some common methods to let people know your show exists and that they should come to it:

Flyers

Design a square and vertical flyer that states the date, time, location and description of the show. Photos of the comics also help. As does white space. Canva is your friend.

Timing: Design the fliers as soon as your comics are booked. Post fliers around town 3-5 days before the show. Consider having someone pass out fliers near the venue for an hour before the show to get last-minute “impulse” customers.

Posters At The Venue

This is the best way to get people who already know and like the venue to consider returning for your show. Put up flyers/posters in the bathroom stalls, on tables or in the window. If you can splurge, get a big A-Frame with a 24×36″ poster that can be placed outside the venue. (Make sure to get the venues approval before putting anything up!)

Instagram and Facebook Ads

Meta is a multi-billion dollar company because targeted ads work. After you make a nice flyer, put some money into advertising the show in a small radius for interests that match.

Timing: You generally get early birds buying tickets about 3 weeks out. Then some people buy week of, and half of ticket buyers decide within 48 hours of show time. So spend half your budget the last 96 hours before the show, and half your budget for the 2-3 weeks before that.

Local Event Websites

If you’re in a smaller town (aka not NYC or LA), chances are good that there are multiple websites dedicated to covering events in your area. Most of them accept submissions because they need the content. Patch is one such website. Do a little Googling and you’ll find other.

Timing: As soon as you have a flyer.

Email

If someone has attended a previous show of yours, collect their email address and add them to your mailing list. Then send an email to your list promoting your show. Make sure you don’t do this too often, lest your emails get marked as spam.

Timing: No more than one email per week, and limit to 3 emails per month.

Phone Calls

The good old human touch is most effective and most time consuming. Call your friends and anyone else who was dumb enough to give you their phone number and let them know about the show. That will drastically increase the chances that they show up or never answer your calls again.

Timing: Call people a week or two before the show and just mention the show in conversation. Then call the day before the show to remind them. This is a huge time investment, but if you have the patience, this can be very worthwhile (or at the very least, provide for new material when people start giving you crazy excuses for why they can’t make it).

Have Comics Bring People

You can tell some of the comics that they need to bring x number of people in order to perform. But keep in mind that more established comedians do not do “bringer shows” so this will be more effective with newer comics, which might bring down the quality of the show. (But having no audience also brings down the quality of the show.)

For the professional comedians, just tag them in your social media posts and hope that they repost it.

Timing: Tell the comics when you book them about their bringer requirement so that they have time to invite people and to decide if they still want to do your show. Then the night of the show, keep track of how many people each comic has brought.

Constant Pimping

Whenever you talk to someone, mention your show at some point during the conversation. Hopefully you have some social tact and this isn’t the first or last thing that you discuss with them.

Timing: Always, that’s why it’s called “constant pimping.