Sometimes things don’t go as planned.
And that is alright, especially as a new comedian, it’s a big learning experience. But sometimes, things don’t go as planned in a good way.
One of the things I’ve learned in a year of stand-up is that jokes come from a lot of inspiration and experience. Sometimes you have a set planned out, but when you get to the mic, something new hits you.
Sometimes some dumb fuck did their first set and were dressed weirdly, so you egg them in to joke around. Now no hate to any new comedian, but if you are wearing a headband, I’m probably going to joke around because that is what comics do.
And I hope you joke about how I dress too. My mom was ready to rise from the grave when I wore two flannels to an open mic.
However, one of the most important things while doing stand-up is to think while you are on the stage.
Don’t go blank while you perform
Firstly, if your mind goes empty while performing, you will forget the rest of your routine.
And then if that happens you will panic.
When that happens, you will pull out a previous joke that you have used. But for first-time comedians, you don’t have jokes from previous experiences.
I would recommend at this point, you go silent. And that sounds weird and feels wrong, but trust me. I’ve watched comedians do open mics with 7 years of experience use some time to remember the jokes they prepped.
If you have taken an Oral Communication class, it’s better to have a silent pause then some random ass “Uhhhh”.
And if you can’t remember a joke, it’s better to walk off stage to be quiet up there.
There is no shame in walking off the stage early, infact, comedians will praise you. It is more embarrassing to be silent on stage for too long than to walk off.
Also, you if go blank on stage, you can’t hear the crowd, and sometimes they have something good to say.
The crowd will help you set
And that’s not because of laughter. Some people in the crowd will make comments or have a reaction that stands out. A good comedian will recognize this and may use this opportunity to expand the joke.
Getting a crowd member involved with a joke is called crowd-work. And even if you take 10 seconds to say, “Yeah you like that?” it’s crowd work.
No matter how small, people will enjoy it. Sometimes it gets a bigger reaction than your initial joke, and now you have a highlight.
But if you are lucky, your crowd member will keep responding. And then you got gold. You can almost have a back-and-forth conversation, and that will be funny.
I’ve had a set where a one-minute joke became the whole set with crowdwork.
Now the short below isn’t that. But I was only trying to segway into my final bit and I noticed something. So I took this opportunity to crack a small joke, and it got loud, which I didn’t expect