Category: Stand-up comedy tips

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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.

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Don’t Steal Jokes

Ironically, I stole this image from a Google image search
Ironically, we borrowed this photo from a Google image search

Imagine you’re waiting your turn to go up on a stand-up comedy show and suddenly you hear a bit that sounds really familiar. You’ve never seen this comic before but you know the next three punch lines. Hell you don’t just know ‘em, you wrote ‘em. “Hey, I’ve been doing that joke for weeks. What the hell?”

Many comedians fear having their material stolen. And while this happens occasionally, it is not as often as people may think.

The most ridiculous statements we’ve ever heard are: “I don’t do open mics because they steal my jokes” and “LA open mic comics go on youtube, watch NYC open mic comics and take their material.”

Both statements are excuses. The first is to excuse a comic’s laziness or lack of motivation to get on stage as much as possible. (Although open mics do become less useful after you’ve been on stage a few hundred times.) The second quote is an excuse usually said by someone who doesn’t have a good video of them performing to post. It’s much easier to say, “I’d post a video but I don’t want my material being stolen” instead of saying “I don’t have a video where the audience is laughing for five straight minutes, I need to get funnier.”

Which of course begs the question, why are you worried about your unfunny material being stolen? If you’re afraid of getting your jokes stolen, you should put ALL of your videos online. What could make for more convincing evidence that you did a bit first than the upload date?

If you often find your jokes are being “stolen” something else might actually be happening: You’re writing hacky material or are being too topical. There’s only so many ways to do a marijuana joke and every comedian and their mother has written a Kim Kardashian joke. Your Tiger Woods punch line about “eighteen holes” or “a hole in one” wasn’t stolen, it was just so obvious that five other comics thought of a very similar joke.

In Lisa Lampenelli’s book, she mentions how at the Comedy Central Roasts she’d have a pen with her to cross out the jokes on her set list that the other comedians had already done about the guest of honor. Did all those professionals steal each other’s jokes? No! There’s just only so many Tom Brady deflated balls punch lines one can think up.

So how do you solve this joke overlap? Make your material more personal. For example, very few comedians can do material about being an immigrant from Russia because it would be inauthentic and make no sense to their stage persona. So focus on your life and find the funny in it. Hint: It usually involves pain. As the saying goes, “comedy = pain + time.” So focus on your unique life situation and figure out how to get the audience to connect with it.

Should you still write pop culture jokes? Yes, because that’s still working on writing a joke, and if you end up writing for a late night TV show, you’ll need to be able to generate topical jokes daily. Just don’t be surprised when you hear three very similar jokes from comics you’ve never met.

Ok, let’s say your jokes are personal and they’re actually being stolen. In a messed up way, it’s an honor to get your jokes stolen, that means you’re getting funny! A comedian may have had your joke go into his subconscious and come out months later as a similar joke. Talk to them first and figure out who’s been doing it first. Comedians don’t want to be known as joke thieves because once they have that reputation, everyone avoids them and 95% of your gigs are through other comics.

Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert deliver ten minutes of new jokes every night (sure they have a whole writing staff, but that’s not the point). So if you’re trying to be around the comedy business for a long time you’re going to need write hours and hours of good material. Having one bit stolen here or there won’t make a huge difference.

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Different Types of Comedy Audiences

You always wanna get big laughs from the audience. But “the audience” can vary drastically, even in the same place – and what one audience type responds to, another may not care for as much. Below is a list of audience types. Choose who you play to at your own peril.

audience_laughing

1) The Actual Audience

These are the people who have paid money and are buying drinks to watch the show. In NYC, there are a bunch of sub-types of actual audience. In an ideal world, you’ll learn how to adjust to all of them:

  • Times Square Tourists – usually from the Midwest or a foreign country and bought comedy tickets on the street as a spur of the moment activity. They tend to respond to safer jokes about subjects like family and relationships, especially bits that involve big character act outs and lots of movement. They are less likely to love political humor, word play and bits that require a lot of thinking.

  • Greater NYC locals (NJ, CT, etc) – in addition to the above topics, they are generally good with edgier material and some local references.

  • “In The Know Tourists” – did some online research and decided on a club or specific comedian to see, they are closer to a NYC local than a real tourist

  • “Comedy Nerds” – these are fans of comedy that listen to podcasts and comedy albums and can name more than the top five most famous comedians. They’ll give you more leeway but usually avoid “tourist clubs.”

  • College Crowd – doesn’t want to hear about your wife and kids issues for too long

  • High School Kids / Prom Shows – responds to jokes about your parents, dating and school , but might get tight about sexual material. Unless they’re the “cool kids” in school, in which case that’s probably all they’ll respond to.

  • Hip Locals – aka “below 14th st” – aka “alt scene audience” – are down for dark humor and obscure pop culture references, more accepting of rambling, long setups and less punchy material. Some overlap with comedy nerds.

  • Urban Rooms – a predominantly African American audience. Similar to hip locals but some material may work better/worse depending on what you look like.

  • Friends of newer comedians – sometimes hate comedy, or are skeptical about the show, but were dragged out by their friend who’s attempting comedy, tend to think they paid too much for cover and drinks and sometimes are under the mistaken impression they should only laugh at their friend’s jokes to make that friend look better at the expense of everyone else.

2) Club Bookers

Want you to get big, consistent laughs with any type of audience listed above. Also they want to make sure audience members don’t complain about your act. Some care about originality too, some less so.

3) Club Managers  

Their primary concern is if you’re already approved to be performing at their venue. And that nobody complains.

4) Club Owners

Does your name help get people in the door and sell drinks? Are you doing something unique that may pay off for them later down the line? Do you seem loyal – aka will them giving you stage time now, before you’re famous, ensure you keep dropping by their club later in your career?

5) TV Industry / Networks / Producers

Audience response matters less than whether you have a castable look and whether they find your material funny or think their network’s target demographics will relate to your material.

6) Talent Agents and Talent Managers

Do you have “talent” – whatever that means? Do they see you generating millions of dollars? What’s your look? Can you write for better looking people? Do you seem “not insane” and easy to work with?

7) Wait Staff

Are you funny and different? Do we want to watch your jokes night after night? Are you pleasant and not annoying off-stage?

8) Other Comedians

This is usually the toughest audience of all, but also the audience who will get you most of your work

  • Headliners – Are you funny enough and easy to hang out with for long car rides?

  • Next level comics – Do you run a show?

  • Same level comics – Are you funny and do you run a show?

  • Independent producers that are comedians – Do you run your own show and are you funny?

  • Newer comics – Are you funny and approachable?
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How To MC A Stand-Up Comedy Show

If you’re starting out in comedy and trying to get paid to perform as a stand-up comedian, the most likely way you’ll be able to break in will be as a host or emcee. This means you go up first on the show to a cold audience. It’s the hardest spot on the show.

But emceeing sharpens your comedy skills because you have to talk to the crowd. This makes you funnier on your feet, more comfortable handling hecklers and you’ll even sound more conversational. Which are all skills you should acquire before you can feature or headline.

Here’s our MCing tips based on our personal experiences and numerous conversations with other professional comedians.

  1. Come in with high energy. You want to get the audience’s energy as high as possible. Don’t come in sounding all depressed and woe is me. Even if that’s your “natural” stage presence, if you’re hosting, you gotta pep it up.

  2. Start by saying something along the lines of, “Hey everyone, we have a great show for you tonight.” Make sure you’re smiling and that you sound genuine.

  3. Within twenty seconds of starting, get the audience to clap, and then clap again. Say something like “Clap it up for yourselves” or  “Who’s happy it’s a Friday night?” – whatever gets them to make noise. Then, unless you get an amazing response, say “You can do better, let’s try that again.” It (subconsciously) communicates to the audience that you’re in total control.

  4. Go into crowd work. Start by asking some standard questions like “Where are you from?”, “What do you do for work”, “How long have you been dating?” etc. Even better, come up with more interesting questions (in advance) – especially ones that can transition into your existing material. This way even if the audience’s answer is lame, you can take it somewhere funny. Try to make jokes about their answers, or joke about the fact that their answers are boring. Don’t panic if some of your improvised joke attempts miss. The key here is high positive energy.

  5. Don’t talk to more than 3 tables in a row, or people will get bored and/or hate you.

  6. Do a couple of your jokes.

  7. Repeat steps 4 through 6 until they’re constantly laughing at your jokes, at which point no need to continue doing crowd work.

    No matter the response you’re getting, only do material for the final two to five minutes of your set. You want to get the audience used to the rhythm of jokes. Even if your material isn’t getting as big of laughs as the crowd work you just did, your job is to get the crowd ready for the next comedian to be able to just do their jokes.

  8. Alternately, you can open with a quick joke or two (not longer than a minute) and then go into crowd work. Or if the material is killing right away, you can skip crowd work altogether. The best is if you have crowd-work questions that will lead into your material. Example: “Anybody married in here? Oh yeah, how long? I’ve actually been married for twenty years, so I’m winning, for now.” (Then go into your actual marriage jokes.)

  9. After your last joke, give the ground rules and get loud applause going for the next comic. Example: “We have an awesome show. Your waiters will be coming around with drinks. Please keep talking to a minimum. And let’s have fun. Are you ready for your next comedian?” DON’T ask “Who’s ready to get this show started?” or “Are you ready for your first comedian?” The show has already been in progress since you got up there and you are their first comedian.

  10. Make sure the comedian’s name is the last part of their introduction. You want to say “This next comedian has been on Comedy Central please put your hands together for John Doe.” Do not say “Your next comedian is John Doe, he’s been on Comedy Central.”

  11. Run the logistics. Make sure to get the proper pronunciation of each comedian’s name and their credits. Are you timing the performers and giving them the light or is someone else doing it? If it’s on you, make sure you have a stopwatch/phone to time them. And know where the red light is and how it turns on/off. If there’s no red light, tell comedians you’re lighting comedians with your phone. And ask comedians if they want a 1 or 2 minute light or what.

  12. When you come on stage between each comic, make sure to maintain a high level of energy to keep the audience in their seats and excited about the next comic. First say, “How about another round of applause for [previous comic’s name].” Then either go into a joke or two, or just introduce the next comedian. If there are more than 3 comedians on the show, I don’t recommend doing time between the first and second comedian, so that the audience doesn’t think you’ll be slowing down the show after each performer.

    BONUS: If you can come up with a quick one or two line joke based on the previous act’s closing bit, that’s a great way to keep the show feeling connected and as one. Example: If the last comic said something like “Then I passed out in an alley, and woke up without a wallet,” you can come up there and say “So I was in an alley last night, going through Joe’s wallet…”

  13. Most important, the emcee has to be a person.You can’t talk at people, you have to talk to them. (This applies to regular stand-up spots as well, but especially if you’re the host.) If you don’t get many laughs as a host, but your energy is positive and you’re smiling the whole time, the audience is relaxed and engaged and the first comedian does well, you did your job (even if you don’t feel great about it).
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5 Types Of Beginner Comedy Shows

Are you a new comedian trying to figure out how to get more stage time in New York City? Here are the five main ways most comedians start performing more regularly.

Bringer shows

What is it: In order to perform, you as the new comedian have to bring X number of people (between 2 and 15 at most places) who are willing to pay a cover charge and two drinks to watch (usually between 10 to 15) different comedians do shorter sets.

Pros: You get a real live audience. And you meet lots of different comedians, including (usually) some professionals, which can be good for networking. And since part of the audience knows you, they’re more likely to laugh at your jokes, which may help the people who don’t know you to start laughing as well, that whole laughter is contagious thing. People that work at the comedy club might notice you and you end up performing on regular shows without having to bring anyone.

Cons: Unless you’re super popular, you can run out of people to invite to shows really quick, the audience can be too supportive to the point that you don’t learn what’s truly funny, and you end up stressing about all your people showing up instead of concentrating on your act. You also have very little control over the quality of the other comedians. Some might be great, others might be more questionable.

Barking

What is it: You stand outside of the comedy club or bar, usually on a busy foot traffic corner, trying to hand out fliers to passerbys while convincing them they have nothing better to do right now than to come watch a stand-up comedy show. You usually stand outside and “bark” for 1-3 hours in exchange for 5-10 minutes of stage time.

Pros: You don’t have to stress about bringing friends. Most clubs will pay you a couple of bucks for each person you successfully convince to come to the show – so you’re technically getting paid to do comedy! Also, the audience doesn’t know you, so the laughter can be trusted. And you practice cold-selling and rejection, which are useful life skills.

Cons: You have to stand outside for 2-3 hours – this can be brutal especially in NYC winters. You get rejected almost all of the time. And if the comedy club has more than one show that night, you’re outside for almost the entire time except for when you perform. Meaning you can’t watch and learn from other comedians performing.

Open Mics

What is it: You pay $5 for five minutes of stage time. (Sometimes it’s totally free, other times it’s “buy a drink”.) Actual open-mic stage time ranges from 3 minutes to 8 minutes depending on the venue.

Pros: Anyone can get stage time. If you plan out your evening, you can do 2-3 mics a night nearly every night (in NYC at least). You often make your best comedy friends at open mics because they are also starting out.

Cons: Anyone can get stage time. You know those comedians that weren’t funny at the bringer show? Well, they’re better than many of the people at the open mics who are as likely to rant without purpose as they are to have punchlines. Also, in New York, the only people that come to watch open mics are other comedians. And they barely pay attention and just think about their set instead. This is not very helpful when you’re trying to learn what a real audience will find funny.

Comedy Class

What is it: You pay to sign up for a comedy class with other aspiring comedians. An instructor explains the basic comedy techniques and then gives you writing prompts and then feedback on your joke ideas and performance. (Related: How to choose a comedy class.)

Pros: You have weekly deadlines and structure to keep you accountable. You interact with the same students over the course of the class and build camaraderie. It feels safer and more controlled than a random open mic.

Cons: A comedy class is more expensive than doing a random open mic. Eventually, you’ll most likely have to write jokes on your own. While it’s a great learning environment, if this is the only type of comedy you practice – you might not build the polish and confidence to handle any crowd.

Run Your Own Show

What is it: You get a local bar with a back room or a comedy club on a slow night to let you run your own show. This can be once a month, weekly or a one-off.

Pros: You’re in charge of everything! Depending on the venue this might even mean bringing your own lights and sound. You book the Emcee/host. You book all the comedians that can perform. You decide who gets paid how much. You decide how long every comedian does, including yourself. Sometimes you can book other comedians who run their own shows and they’ll put you on their show in exchange, thereby increasing your stage time.

Cons: You’re in charge of everything! You’re in charge of the marketing and getting audience to show up. If a comedian cancels at the last second for another gig, you’re in charge of finding their replacement.

Conclusion

If you’re serious about improving as a comedian and becoming a paid, working professional, you should be getting on stage as much as possible. We would recommend AT LEAST five nights per week. Aka treat it like a job before it becomes a job. If this is your goal, you should be doing a combination of all five types of shows above.

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What To Do When Nobody Laughs

Whether it’s your first time ever on a comedy stage or you’re a stand-up veteran, there’s gonna be an occasional punchline or entire set where the audience barely laughs, doesn’t laugh at all – or it at least feels like they’re not laughing.

So what should you do when the audience doesn’t laugh – besides die a little on the inside? Welcome to the art of bombing gracefully!

DOs:

1. Pause longer.
Keep your face engaged in the joke, but don’t talk. Give the audience an extra second or two to get the joke.

You should only do this if you’ve done the joke dozens of times before and are pretty certain it almost always gets a laugh. if it’s a drunken late-night show, or a very tourist/foreign crowd, this may be enough to get the laugh back. This is easier said than done and requires practice because not talking for one second when nobody is laughing will feel like ten minutes.

2. Admit that a joke missed.
A save line like “Cool I’m never saying that one again,” or “You’re right, that wasn’t funny,” will often get the audience to laugh and let you move on to your next joke gracefully.  

Caution – only do this once. An audience does not want to hear ten versions of “that didn’t work either, huh.”

3. Shift topics.
If an audience doesn’t laugh at a few jokes in a row that are all on the same theme, and you want the rest of the set to go well, be ready to change gears. If you did five jokes in a row about “dating is hard” and they’re not feeling it, try talking about your childhood instead or a completely unrelated topic. For whatever reason, certain audiences will not wanna hear certain topics. Have more material in your head than time you’re alotted on stage so you can shift gears as needed.

4. Shift to crowd work.
If you keep changing topics and still get nothing, perhaps the audience doesn’t want to hear about you. So make it about them for a minute or two. Then slowly bring it back to you.

5. Do your best to close strong.
No matter how awkward most of the set goes, as long as you’re able to close with a few big laughs, people will mostly only remember that. So save your best, most consistent joke for last, that way you’ll keep your confidence even when other material isn’t hitting as hard as you’d like.

DONTs:

1. Don’t get mad at the audience.
It’s not their fault they’re not laughing. (I mean, it is, but it’s also not.) Save the “I hate them” until you’re off stage. Your goal is to amuse them, so keep the internal negativity to a minimum.

2. Don’t have a panic attack.
Even during the best of sets, a punchline or two can miss and the only person who’ll really notice is you. If you keep talking without dwelling on a line or two, you can still have a great set. Even if you have a slow minute or two, as long as you keep talking and smiling without hyperventilating, the odds are you’ll still land your set successfully.

3. Don’t speed up and start talking faster.
Talking super fast is a sign of nervousness and will subconsciously dig a deeper hole with the audience.

4. Don’t keep doing the same joke the same way.
If a joke doesn’t work with a few different audiences, it’s time to cut or rework the joke. The larger an audience is, the more useful their response. It’s a lot harder to get 3 people to laugh (especially if they’re comics) than it is to get 30 or 300 people to laugh. So the better the crowd, the more you should trust them not laughing at a specific line.

Wanna try stand-up comedy yourself? Take our NYC Comedy Class or book a private one-on-one comedy coaching session (in person or via Zoom)

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Proper Comedy Mic Technique

It seems simple to “just go up there and talk into the mic.” But properly talking into the mic is more complex than you might think.

Here are the main factors to keep in mind to look and sound smooth during your stand-up comedy performance:

Entering the stage

  • Smile and make eye contact with the audience while approaching the stage.
    As soon as the emcee says your name, people start looking at you and making judgements. So if you’re stone-faced and focused on getting to the microphone instead of taking in the audience, they will feel shut out.
  • Start talking right away.
    You want to start talking as the applause is dying down but before the room goes silent. That will feel awkward. So don’t wait until you’ve pulled the mic out, put it behind you and then made eye contact. Ideally talk for 5-20 seconds first, get a laugh, then pull the mic out of the stand (if that’s what you’re gonna do).

Decide if you’re keeping the microphone in the mic stand

There’s no “correct” answer – it’s a matter of preference, but be deliberate about it.

If keeping it in the mic stand

  • Remember righty tighty, lefty loosey.
    Adjust the mic stand to your height, don’t contort your body into weird shapes to fit the existing mic stand’s height.
  • Use both hands for emphasis, and minimize the amount of time you’re holding the mic stand.

If taking the microphone out of the mic stand

  • Look at the audience while taking the mic out of the mic stand. You don’t have to stare at the stand. Believe in yourself that you know how to take out a mic. Or better yet – practice it in advance.
  • Pick up the mic stand by the middle.
    You want your hand where it’s thicker and the two pieces connect. Do not hold it higher, as that’s how mic stands tend to fall apart.
  • Make sure to move the mic stand behind you.
    Don’t leave it in front of you as that creates a psychological barrier with the audience

The right (and wrong) way to talk into the mic

  • The microphone should be at a forty-five-degree angle to you. Don’t put it directly below your chin on a ninety-degree angle or horizontally on a hundred-eighty-degree angle.
  • Make sure you hear yourself amplified loud, but not so loud that it hurts the audience’s ears.
  • Move mic closer when whispering, pull mic all the way away when screaming.
  • Don’t cup the top of the microphone like a rapper, it will create bad vocal distortion.
  • Don’t play with the wire at the bottom of the microphone, bad things will happen.
  • Don’t nod too much, makes you seem nervous.
  • Don’t play with the mic cord, it’s distracting and makes you seem nervous.
  • Talk slower than you think you should

Where To Look

  • If you’re doing crowd work to someone specific, look at them. Otherwise:
  • You should look 2/3rds of the way into the audience. So if the venue goes 10 rows back, look into the eyes of the people in the 7th row.
  • Don’t look all the way to the left or all the way to the right of the audience, as this makes the people on the other end feel left out. Only look 2/3rds of the way to the left or right. So if the room is 20 seats wide, ignore the last 4 seats in each direction.

Exiting the stage

  • If you’ve taken the mic out of the mic stand, put it back in as you’re starting your last joke.
  • Don’t wait after saying, “thank you, good night,” to turn around, find the mic stand and start putting it back in as the emcee is approaching the stage. This looks awkward.
  • If you’ve forgotten to put the mic back in the mic stand, just hand the microphone to the host and let them reset the mic stand.
  • Smile and take in your applause. Wait in the center of the stage until the emcee has returned and shaken your hand. Then leave. Don’t run off stage until the emcee is on stage.
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What To Do If I Get Heckled?

You’re performing your prepared jokes, when all of a sudden, someone in the audience yells something out. What do you?!? Oh, and you have one second to decide, no pressure!

First, make sure the comment isn’t just someone muttering in the front row that nobody else heard but you, as you can often ignore such minor interruptions.

Next, repeat what they said into the microphone. This gives your brain an extra second or two to assess the situation and makes sure everyone in the audience heard what was said, which increases the odds that your response will get a big room laugh.

Next, quickly figure out what kind of “audience member yelling things out” interruption it is you’re dealing with, then respond accordingly.

Heckler Identification 101 – Types of interruptions

  1. Someone responds to your jokes by saying something out loud that they think is helpful to the joke (but almost always isn’t)
    Acknowledge their suggestion and either riff off of it, say something witty or show how it’s unfunny and sarcastically thank them
  2. Someone doesn’t realize your statement or question was rhetorical and that they weren’t supposed to actually answer it
    This is similar to #1. After you acknowledge the comment, start taking shorter pauses than usual between setup lines so they don’t jump in again. Some audiences are more A.D.D. than others and can’t handle any silence, especially if it’s right after a fake question.
  3. Someone says something along the lines of “Jesus Christ” or “Oh God” when you do an edgier joke
    You can either smile and laugh extra without really addressing it. Or you can say something along the lines of “it’s gonna get worse.” Or admit  “You’re right, that’s a rough one” and then make your next joke even edgier. Showing the audience you understand you’re crossing the line, and then crossing it even more can cause a bigger laugh because going further after apologizing isn’t expected.
  4. Someone is drunk and just yelling out sounds or words that don’t make any sense
    Admit to being genuinely confused about the sound, maybe even mimic the sound, but don’t give them time to respond. If they do respond, it’s usually so nonsensical you can just laugh or stare at them and then move on without another response. You can always make a comment about them needing another drink too. The key here is to get back to your material ASAP. The audience tends to tolerate these kinds of heckles less than any other, so you can ignore it after the first time and talk over them.
  5. Someone yells out, “You suck”, “I’m funnier than you”, etc.
    This is what most people think of when you mention hecklers. These are also the least common ones. In this case, it matters if the rest of the audience has been laughing and is with you, or if they’ve all turned on you. Assuming the rest of the audience likes you, try to agree with the heckler while one-upping them. Don’t resort to insulting them unless they’ve yelled out more than once.

More Heckling Factors

  • Don’t get too mean, too quick
    If you acknowledge the situation and respond with something that isn’t too mean the first time, they’ll usually stop. A lot of times the person (and rest of the audience) thinks they’re just being helpful (situations #1 and #2 above) so they don’t understand why you went from likeable to jerk.

    If you don’t have a witty in-the-moment response something like “Thank you for your opinion sir, I can take it from here” or “Ok, no more alcohol for that one” usually works for the first interruption.

    Don’t get mean, call the audience member names or tell them to shut up until they interrupt for a third time. And make sure the rest of the audience is against them at that point.
  • Ignoring the problem makes it worse
    If you ignore the first comment, then they’ll almost certainly say something else. Plus the audience starts wondering why you haven’t responded to the comment and while they’re thinking about that, they stop listening to you and your next joke.

    If you respond to the interruption and the audience member says something again, try to not respond directly. Stare at them for a second or two and then say “annnnnd back to me” or just a “that’s nice.”
  • If the audience member or audience in general has already been chatty before you
    Some audiences are just talkative and want you to talk and interact with them instead of just listening to you do material. This isn’t really “heckling,” this is crowd work, even if you’re not the one who decided to start it. When you’re trying to work on new material having to spend time talking to the audience can get annoying but you just gotta go with it. It’s also important to make it seem like the interruptions are “fun” and don’t bother you.
  • If the comedians before you were doing so much crowd work that the audience thinks it’s supposed to be a back-and-forth
    Sometimes the comeidans before you talk to the crowd so much, the audience starts chatting with all performers, even those who just want to do material. In such an instance, you want to be extra nice when responding, as this is how they were trained and will be confused if you verbally attack them.
  • Use the improv rule of “yes and”
    Agree with whatever the audience member says and then add some additional information. This usually works because if you seem defensive, you’ve lost. Even something like, “You suck!” can be turned into “Yes, I do suck. And you can’t afford me. Why are you propositioning me anyway?”

In Conclusion

Heckling is just like with the rest of stand-up, you best learn by doing it. It still helps to read, ask questions and be prepared, but you need the actual game reps.

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Five Ways To Crush Stage Fright Like a Comedy Superstar

If you’ve ever been scared to speak in front of a crowd, don’t worry – you’re not alone. Even the pros started somewhere, and trust us, they’ve had their fair share of shaky hands and awkward pauses. Here are five tips to get rid of stage fright:

#1 Breathe Deep: Five minutes of deep breathing before showtime is your secret weapon. Picture your fantastic performance, hear those laughs, and feel the positive vibes. It’s like a comedy meditation that’ll calm the adrenaline and set the stage for your hilarious triumph.

#2 Skip The Booze: While alcohol, pot and other drugs might get you to relax, it often comes at a cost of slurring your words and not thinking as fast as the audience. We’ve found that while a comedian might have more fun on stage after a drink or two, the audience doesn’t. And if you want this to be your job, the job is for the audience to have fun.

#3 Turn Nervous Energy Into Comedy Magic: Being nervous in and of itself isn’t bad, it’s what you do with the nervousness.

Tina Fey said it best, “I tell myself I’m not nervous, I’m just excited. And sometimes, right before SNL goes on the air, I get so excited I want to pee my pants.” So reframe those nerves into excitement!

Or follow this ESPN article quoting Tiger Woods, “The day I’m not nervous is the day I quit… Of course, I’ll be nervous. That’s the greatest thing about it, just to feel that rush.” If the greatest golfer still gets nervous (and he doesn’t even have to speak!), it’s okay if you feel it too.

#4 The Inner Game of Comedy: Read “The Inner Game of Tennis.” This succinct yet brilliant book isn’t just about tennis; it’s a life-changer. Turn off that overthinking mind, trust your gut, and get into the zone. It’s your backstage pass to confidence, both on stage and off.

#5 Embrace the Reps: There’s no real shortcut, getting over stage fright all about practice. The more you hit the stage, the less nerves will bug you. Relish the silence and soon you’ll own that mic like a stand-up rockstar.

In conclusion, accept that you’re going to have some nerves. Breathe deep, skip the booze, remind yourself that it’s natural and that you’ve gotten through it before (unless it’s your first time on stage) and when that adrenaline hits, reframe it as excitement.