Comedy is not a race.
Most comics when they first go on the stage go through their material as fast as possible. I was one of them. But what beginners learn as they continue to work on their material is when to pause.
What is a Pause?
A pause is when a comedian stops talking in the middle of their set. It is silence for the comedian and possibly laughter for the audience.
When Does a Comedian Pause?
A majority of the time, a comedian pauses so that the crowd has time to laugh. Sometimes, they pause in the middle of their set or bit.
Why Is Pausing so Important?
It is important to pause so you don’t lose the effect of your joke.
If you fail to pause while the audience is laughing, your next funny statements are going to get drowned out. Your audience will be too busy laughing to hear your next line. And for the audience members who weren’t laughing, but started to because of your new line, their laughing creates confusion amongst the audience, and your comedic effect gets toned down.
Sometimes, you plan a pause in your set to really let the joke set in. You may ask a dumb question like:
“Do you think they set up the Halloween decorations early at Home Depot to scare of the terrorists from doing 9/11 again?”
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No, you dumb fuck. The answer is no.
But for this to be even more effective, stopping your speech for a couple of seconds after the answer, and really letting your audience comprehend one of the world’s stupidest statements can increase your the volume of the laughter.
Who Pauses?
You bitch. You do.
How do I Pause?
You close your lips and stop talking/making noise. Don’t stop breathing though. You may become light-headed because you ran out of breath.
Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if you ran out of breath on stage and fainted? It wouldn’t be funny. I’ve seen people faint on stage and nobody is laughing. People run out the back of the bar as soon as 9-1-1 is called.
So don’t faint, because you’ll ruin the night for everyone.