stand up comedy – Page 2

Handheld Mics…

When I was first starting out performing in comedy clubs in the early 2000’s I had to use a wired handheld microphone. As I progress through my career, I switched to a wireless headset. I’m now playing with going back to being able to do my show with a wired handheld microphone. The main reason is that it’s logistically easy. I don’t need to travel with my own gear, and it also makes trying out new stuff and open mic’s much easier.

I’m performing all month doing three shows a day at a fair, and aside from working on some new material, I’m also trying to relearn to use a handheld microphone. My preshow right now is a stand up set of jokes, which runs about 7 minutes, and I’m now doing that all with the handheld mic. I’m still wearing my headset during this, but using the handheld.

I picked up Michael Kent’s video Microphone Management For Magicians and it’s a great resource! There’s a lot of good info on the video and totally worth the $49.95!

Right now my goal is every day to move the handheld one bit further into the show. Right now, I have my preshow stand up set, my two new “preshow” tricks and then first actual trick in the show all done with the handheld. The next routine is really three tricks in one routine. I was dreading figuring out how to add the handheld microphone to it as parts of it are pretty physical. Then it hit me, I need to look at it as three tricks, not one routine. Once I broke it down that way, it’s much easier to start figuring out how to do it with a handheld microphone.

I was chatting with the sound engineer at my stage about what microphone to get and he suggested the Shure SM58S. This is the version of the Shure SM58, but it has an on/off switch which is something I want. Right now if I’m jumping back and forth between the headset and the handheld, I need that switch so that I’m not being picked up by both mics.

If you’ve never used a handheld, I suggest you learn how, it’ll be helpful the one time your headset dies right before showtime.

-Louie

Learning Zoo…

Last week I helped out a friend out at a drive thru zoo. It’s a lot of fun, I end up writing a stand up comedy set for each animal that’s about 3 minutes. It also forces me to be creative and write jokes for something that I don’t normally do.

One day it hit me to treat it like a magic trick. I need to let them take in what they are seeing before I start talking. They see animal and I get them some time to process what they are seeing…then I start talking. It’s just like performing magic, you have to let the effect rattle around their brain for a little bit, then you can start talking.

Once I started giving people more time to experience the animal before I started telling them my dopy jokes, people laughed more as their brains weren’t torn between doing two things.

Confidence…

One thing that carries a lot of shows is the performer being confidant. Standing tall and doing what they do with authority, even if what they are doing isn’t very good. Recently I saw an act where the performer’s confidence carried the show. He told some jokes and did some singing: His character was a … Continue reading “Confidence…”

His character was a space alien. He delivered his lines like they were the best lines ever, and people seemed to pay attention. In my opinion what carried the act was him selling the material like it was amazing, also a very friendly audience really helped.

However had he done his material with any doubt that it wouldn’t hit, the act really would have been rough. So go out there and portray confidence in your material!

Be Conversational…

A friend of mine was headlining a local comedy club for the first time, and a bunch of us went out to see her. Her show was great. She came out and was instantly in charge of the audience, she smiled and her act was version conversational feel. I didn’t feel like she was doing lines.

Personally it’s always interesting to see the difference between the opener, feature and headliner. This difference shows how much experience and stage time really matters. It’s more than just the quality of a joke. It’s the pacing, it’s smiling, it’s reacting to the audience and their reaction to the joke.

While you are doing jokes and working off a script, you also need to be able to be in the moment. You need to react to how people react, and be in the moment. Magic works the same way, if you feel like you are doing lines, there’s a disconnect.

Road Work Ahead…

Later today I’m heading out to perform for a week in California. I’m using this week to get some work in on my show. In stand up comedy you go on the road to work on your act and less desirable venues so that you are good when you perform in good venues. Magicians seem … Continue reading “Road Work Ahead…”

Magicians seem to lack having “a place to be bad”. Well, these venues do exist, I think that most magician’s egos have a hard time letting them “be bad”. They are afraid to try new things, to push the envelope. Instead they do safe, hack tricks and that’s why magicians aren’t considered artists. It’s like they are a cover band of a cover band of a cover band.

My advice is to go out on the road, leave half of your A-show at home and bring some wacky ideas and force yourself to try them out. Out a few years ago I did a long tour in the midwest and my goal was to come up with a new 45 minute school assembly. By the end of the tour I had one and it was SOLID, but it took guts to leave my normal show at home and hit the road with a trunk full of ideas.