Category: Stand-up comedy tips

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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.

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Producing Your Own Show: Choosing The Comedians

Producing a show is a proven way to get extended 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 (this post), the audience and running the actual show. This post focuses on the comics.

Congratulations! You’re doing a show at a specific venue on a specific date and time. But unless you’re years and years in, it’s very hard to have a great show without other comedians. Even the most famous comics work with one or two opening acts – often called a feature and an MC. Here’s what to keep in mind when booking comics:

What show structure do you plan on doing? How many comedians do you want on your show?

Do you want to have a standard road show of “MC – Feature – Headliner”? Or do you want to have “showcase” with 5 or 6 comics doing 12-15 minutes each? Or perhaps you want to do a speed comedy show where 12-15 comedians do 5 minutes each?

In New York City, where hundreds of amazing comedians live, we find it’s usually best to have 6-8 comics on your show. Having more comedians on the show leads to you establishing or maintaining more relationships, which if you’re a comedian who’s producing shows, is one of the reasons to start producing because most of the bookings you get will be through other comedians, and they’re more likely to help you if you’ve already helped them. (Just don’t expect them to help you.)

Who will be the host?

Everyone wants to be the headliner, but the MC can make or break the show. Get a high energy host you trust, or if you’re trying to build your MCing skills, do it yourself. But I don’t recommend running and hosting the show all at once – especially when just starting out.

How many minutes will your show run?

The ideal show runs 80-90 minutes. I find that once a show hits the 100 minute mark audiences start to get impatient and figure out if they can leave. Even if every performer is hysterical, there is only so much comedy one can watch before needing a break. But you don’t want to make the show too short: the audience may feel they “didn’t get their money’s worth” and the wait staff might not have enough time to sell drinks.

Which Comedians Do You Want?

Selecting comedians can be very difficult and highly politicized. Some key criteria to consider:

  • Do they have TV credits? Right or wrong, TV credits usually add legitimacy to a show and make it easier to convince the audience to show up.
  • Are they funny? This is pretty important but sometimes overlooked or purposefully ignored. Hopefully all your performers are hysterical but sometimes the other criteria in this list may override the “funny” factor.
  • Are they your friend? If you’re friends with someone, you might need or want to put them on the show instead of someone who’s funnier but who you don’t know.
  • Do they run their own show (or have a lot of connections)? The best way to get onto another show is to give that producer stage time at your show. This doesn’t mean they’ll put you on their show, but it certainly increases the chances.
  • Are they “normal”? Normal is a relative term in comedy. But you generally want to avoid hilarious performers who are unreliable, tend to show up late and/or create problems with the wait staff, other comedians and audience.
  • What kind of audience are you expecting? If your audience is super young, perhaps a younger comedian will go over better than someone in their 70s.
  • Can you afford them? The same comic has different rates depending on the night and the show. Some will work for free. Other comics will do free spots on weeknights but not on Fridays and Saturdays. “Big names” can cost thousands of dollars per appearance but appear for free if your proceeds are going to a charity. Figure out how much money you can spend on comics before asking them to be on your show.

Are the comics you want available on the date of your show?

You’ve figured out who you want on the show, what you’re paying them and how much time they’re doing, but the comic might already be booked! Do you have an alternate plan, or are you going to change the date just to accommodate one comedian? Most comics that work at comedy clubs set up their gigs (“give their avails”) right before the start of a week or of a month. I recommend giving comics at least two weeks notice if you’re going to book them. Four to six weeks is better.

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Producing Your Own Show: The Venue

Producing a show is a proven way to get extended 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 (this post), the comics, the audience and running the actual show. This post focuses on the venue.

When producing, the venue is the first step. If you don’t have a venue, with a date and time, you can’t do the rest of the work. There’s usually three main types of venues:

A Comedy Club or Blackbox Theater

Most comedy clubs have off-peak nights or smaller, secondary rooms where an outside producer (that’s you!) can “rent” the space to produce a show.

Financials: Revenue comes from how much tickets are sold for and the two drink minimum. Certain venues let you keep all of the ticket sales. Other clubs charge a room rental fee. Others take a percentage of your ticket sales. Sometimes it’s a rental fee plus a percentage of ticket sales. However, nearly all clubs keep all the drink money as the business model of a comedy club is mostly focused on selling drinks.

Pros: You get to perform at a comedy club and have a video of it. When booking better comedians, it’s easier to get them to perform at “The Comedy Club” than at “Moe’s Diner.”

Cons: Until the owner or manager gets to know you, or until you have a consistent reputation for drawing a good-sized crowd, most clubs will not give you a prime-time slot (Fridays and Saturdays between 7 and 10pm), which makes it harder to sell tickets. Clubs are also less likely to give you multiple shots at building up a larger audience. For example, if your first show has 6 audience members, you likely won’t be allowed to produce another show at the same club for a long while.

A Bar or Restaurant

Many bars have slow nights (Sunday to Thursday) and/or slow hours (after the happy hour but before the party crowd) and would be happy to get someone else to bring people into the bar or keep their existing customers amused and drinking. Ideally, you would be in a private room of a bar, so only people that want to watch the show will go back there.

Financials: Most bar shows are free. This is because some city/states require a cabaret license for live ticketed performances. It’s also because bars don’t want to turn away customers that don’t care about the comedy. However, you can try to negotiate a cut of the drink sales or at least get free drinks for comedians.

Pros: It’s easier to have a weekly show while slowly growing the show’s following. There are times when the bar is completely empty and many mangers would prefer 3 patrons to no patrons.

Cons: Bars can get loud. Not everyone that’s at the bar is there for the comedy show, and unless you’re renting out the whole bar, they’re paying customers too so you can’t tell them to shut up. Also, if you’re trying to make money on charging at the door, this might be harder as bars won’t want to turn away other patrons.

Conference Rooms, Hotels, etc

Description: Any room with chairs can be turned into a comedy show. A hotel conference room, a library’s meeting room, a yoga studio, a laundromat, even your own basement.

Financials: There may be a room rental fee. Or the venue might just be happy to have people learning that it exists. Up to you if you want to charge a ticket fee or make it free.

Pros: You often have full control of how to run the event.

Cons: Lack of credibility. It’s harder to convince audience members and comedians to come to “12 Dark Alley Street” than to “The Comedy Club” or “Moe’s Bar and Grill.”

If not at a comedy club or theater, keep these additional questions in mind:

  • Will you need your own mic, amp and/or mic stand or does the venue have one?
  • Is there a stage? If not, will you bring one or just do it on the floor?
  • What is the stage lighting situation? Do other lights in that room turn off?
  • Is the venue easily accessible by car and/or public transit? Is parking plentiful?

-> Next Up -> Choosing The Comedians

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Types of Stand-Up Comedy Spots

Every stand-up show has multiple performers. Even the most popular stand-ups that play 25,000 seat arenas almost always have at least one comedian perform before them to warm up the crowd. But some spots are more prestigious (and higher paying) than others.

Here’s the most common types of spots, split into the two most common types of shows:

Showcase Show Spots:

In NYC and LA, most shows are called “showcase shows” where you have anywhere between 5 and 15 comedians each doing shorter sets.

Emcee: Your host for the night, who usually does a mix of crowd work and material to warm up the crowd for 10-15 minutes at the start of a show, and then comes on-stage between each act to introduce the next comedian. The MC keeps the show running on schedule by timing every comedian and letting them know when to wrap up. Once the show is off and running, the emcee usually keeps the show moving without making more jokes between comedians, unless a comic does poorly, then the emcee will do a short joke to bring the audience back. The host also makes all end-of-show announcements.

Opening: The first comic that the emcee introduces. This is also called “the bullet spot.” The opener continues to warm up the crowd. Note: There are certain jokes that do great later in a show but will do terribly if you’re hosting or opening.

Guest Spot: A spot in the middle of the show that’s usually between 5 and 10 minutes long that is unpaid. “Guest spot” is a fancy way of saying “unpaid spot.”

Paid Spot: A spot on the show that is paid. Usually between 10 and 15 minutes. If you’re unsure whether your spot is a guest or paid spot, that usually means it’s a guest spot.

Check Spot: Considered the hardest spot. This is towards the end of the show when all the tables in the crowd are given their checks to pay. Most people momentarily stop paying attention to the show and examine the bill, get out their wallet, and figure out who owes how much. Some talking occurs. And since not everyone is able to receives their check at the same time, constant talking is heard throughout the check spot. Making it even harder to pull focus.

Closing: A “closer” or “final comedian” or closing spot is different than a headliner spot in that it’s shorter. Because the crowd has seen more comedians by this point, the final comedian will usually do between 10 and 20 minutes. Ideally this comedian is the strongest on the show.

Standard Show Spots:

In most other areas of the country, you get a “standard” comedy show with 3 comedians.

Emcee: Same job as for a showcase show, but easier in that they only have to remember the names of a couple of comedians. Sometimes in the “standard show” the MC will do 10-15 minutes up front and then another 5 minutes before the headliner in order to give audiences a chance to order more drinks or use the bathroom, etc.

Feature: Usually does 20-30 minutes after the MC.

Headliner: At major comedy clubs and theaters, this person’s name is the reason you decided to come. Or if not, they are a seasoned professional who knows how to get consistent laughs. At this point, about 40 minutes into the show, the crowd is nice and liquored up, and ready to rock. The headliner brings the show home for 40 to 60 minutes.

Occasionally at a standard show, there will also be a guest spot doing 5-7 minutes before the feature. Other times, it will just be a host and then the headliner. The main thing this affects is how much time everyone is doing.

Also usually during a standard show, the headliner gets checks dropped on them during the middle of their set.

Related: 5 Types of Beginner Comedy Shows

Related: How To Emcee A Stand-Up Comedy Show

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How To Do A Check Spot

If you’re a newer comedian (or sometimes just new to a specific comedy club) and trying to get on regular shows (especially in NYC), you’ll likely end up starting with check spots.

A check spot is the place on the show (usually second or third to last) where a comedian is performing while the wait staff gives the audience their bills/checks, runs credit cards and brings the audience their change. Aka it’s the hardest spot of the show because the audience is distracted by math, waiters talking and they just saw how much their drinks have set them back, so you better be extra funny.

So how do you increase your odds of doing well during check spots* when it’s the hardest spot on the show and you’re most likely the least experienced comedian on the line up?!

  1. Start with material that gets a quick laugh.
    In the best cast scenario, you’ll get to perform for a minute or two before the staff drops checks. In this case, do your best quick jokes first, to improve the odds people will continue listening to you.
    In the toughest scenario, all checks get dropped before the host even introduces you, at which point most people don’t even bother clapping when the host says your name.
  2. Once it’s clear most people have stopped listening, acknowledge the checks are being dropped, ask for a round of applause for the wait staff. Applause makes people pay attention again and even if they don’t, you’re trying to “run out the clock” when the chaos is at its highest and not “waste” jokes during the height of barely anyone listening.
  3. Have a joke about the situation. Say something funny about the checks. But don’t make jokes about the drinks being too expensive. Skip this if the specific club has a policy to not mention checks being dropped at all. (This isn’t usually the case, but if it is, be respectful of it.)
  4. Be ready to jump out of a bit early. If someone says something so loud that you have to acknowledge it or it’s a longer joke and people weren’t paying attention at the beginning and that information is needed for the end, just change topics!
  5. Stay present. The more you’re open to improvising during a check spot, the better it’ll go. Talk to a table up front if it makes sense. (But remember to repeat everything they say into the microphone so everyone else can hear it!) You want the audience to see that you’re present and in the room, or else they’ll ignore you and start checking their email.
  6. Don’t get mad at the audience for paying their bill.
    Make jokes, and if some table is taking forever, tease them, but never yell at them to shut up or seem actually mad. At practically any other point of a comedy show, the audience is either laughing, listening or quickly responding to your question. If random talking breaks out instead, you want to control the situation. But during checks, there’s gonna be some talking, and if it’s only a murmur, you can ignore it.
  7. Try to do shorter bits.
    Even in the best case scenario, people will look at their check for thirty seconds, pay the bill and go back to paying attention to the show. If you have a five-minute bit that requires hearing the first minute for the next four to be funny, don’t do it during checks.
  8. Focus in on the people that are laughing (or at least paying attention). Once a few people start laughing, other people tend to stop talking and focus because they think they’re missing something.
  9. Be aware of staggered checks, and play to people who didn’t get their checks yet, then switch.
    If the right side of the room is getting checks first, talk and do material to the left side, then once you see the waiter going to the left side, start talking to the right side, who, ideally, have finished looking at checks by now. This advice only works when there aren’t five waiters who all drop at the exact same time. In which case, good luck!
  10. Save a quick, strong joke for the end.
    While you may not feel great about your set, if you get off on a good laugh, the audience will remember you as funny. So save a good 20-40 second joke for after you get the light.
  11. Know that the first five minutes of a check drop tend to be the roughest.
    You can get no laughs for the first five minutes and still bring the audience back once people start paying attention again. The key is to not panic.
  12. Set your expectations low and have a short memory.
    The other comedians and staff (should) know that the odds are stacked against you during a check spot, so don’t compare the responses you get during checks with how other comedians have done on the show up to there or after.

*If you’re MCing or headlining and they drop checks on you, this advice isn’t as applicable because the audience already knows (and usually) likes you, so they pay better attention.