Be A Comedian

There are probably about hundreds of resumes a week that cross a recruiting agent’s desk. If you can make your resume quickly get the attention of your readers and stand out then you may have a better chance to get the job.

Even for comedians, writing a good resume is very important. They can only get an interview and give a demonstration of their routines once they have passed the first step which is to be able to submit a qualified and competitive resume. The resume is an extension of an applicant’s business card or identification card.

Writing a comedian’s resume is much the same as making any resume. The clear goal is to be able to give the recruiter a background of the comedian’s work experience and gauge his or her qualifications for the job available. The comedian must promote himself or herself when making a resume.

The resume contains general information about the comedian like address and contact numbers and personal profile. It also contains the performances that he or she has done in the past and should state the venues or maybe the television or radio programs where he or she appeared; organizations he or she is a member of, and of course, the awards or recognitions that he or she was able to receive from award giving bodies. Equally important is the comedian’s references whom the recruiting department could call.

Let me give you a good example of how a comedian should write his resume.

Jefferson “The Joker” Price

Contact Information:
Jefferson Price
P.O. Box 5565, FDR Station, New York, NY 10150
Phone: 718 552- 1167

Profile: Charismatic, hilarious, creative and contagious

Personal Information:
Birthdate: 10/5/80
Hair: Blond
Eyes: Blue
Height: 5’ 10’’
Weight: 180 lbs.
Sex: Male

Highlights:
Opening Act for Comedy Relief for the Aged (2005)
Emceed at the Madness Arts Festival (2005)
Contributor to the AllExperts.com (2004)
Gave workshops to the Stand-up Comedy Summer Festival (2003)
Performer at numerous parties, weddings, etc. (1990-Present)

Appearances:
Writer for The Comical, a comedy industry newspaper (2005)
Featured in Whos’ Funny Magazine (2005)
A Performer at The Aaron Braunstein Show (2004)
Wrote, directed, starred in The One Act Kidding (2003)
Guested in the The Gag Night (2002)

Clubs:
Just Laughing Club (2005-2006)
Real Comedy Corps. (2004-2006)
Corps. of Comedians (2003-2005)
Comic Relief Service Club (2000-2002)

Awards:
Funniest One-man Stage Act, 2001 Comedy Awards
Record Holder, “Comedian with the Longest Time of Audience Applause”, 2000 Book of Comedians

If you’re planning to apply as a comedian, make sure that your resume should be able to effectively sell your talents and skills.

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The entertainment industry has its share of importance in society. People love the feeling of happiness. They enjoy laughing. In this really busy world, people look for time to relax and entertain themselves to be able to stay sane and human.

People who can make other people laugh, such as comedians equally get the attention and time of all types of audiences. The popularity and necessity of comedy in the lives of the people actually make the entertainment industry a much sought after career.

Just where can we find comedians? What are the venues and opportunities available for them? Where can comedians find the jobs good for them?

They’d probably make a living in bars and restaurants. Night life is already part of human culture and urban living. Every night, thousands of people go to bars. They can fill all the bars especially on weekends. Comedy bars are popular for bar hoppers. Bar hoppers look for good music, pure entertainment and a few chuckles.

Comedian jobs are also available in variety shows and television programs. Much of the programs being aired in t.v. are gag shows, romantic comedies and comedic t.v. series. There are even reality shows that feature funny home videos, deceptions and practical jokes. Comedians may directly apply in t.v. networks’ talent centers which would screen them.

For free lance comedy performers, parks can also be the place. There are many people who visit parks everyday. And on weekends, parks can be filled with thousands of people. One of these audiences may be capable of launching a comedian’s career.

If you are a comedy writer, you can compile your works and submit these to the local community papers or offer these to t.v. networks. You may also apply as a comedy writer. Mounting and sustaining comedy shows would need new writers with new creative and funny ideas.

As a comedian, you have a variety of options for job applications if you look into the classified ads of community newspapers. You may also surf the internet. There are many advertisements on the internet wherein you can pass your resume online.

The careers of the famous comedians of all time started from small and humble steps. Their popularity was built by their perseverance and dedication to their kind of profession. Just like in succeeding in other professions, one needs a great deal of hope, courage and confidence. For comedians, you’ll have to add another virtue, a natural sense of humor.

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A comedian ventriloquist is a stage performer who can entertain his or her viewers through ventriloquism. It is a way of deception wherein the person performing the act manipulates his or her voice and makes it appear that the voice is coming from elsewhere. A comedian ventriloquist generally uses a dummy during performances wile he moves his lips only slightly to make it appear like he isn’t the one talking.

Ventriloquism can be rooted in the ancient times of necromancy. Before Christianity, ancient priests in Italy would hide in pipelines and speak loudly wherein their voices can be heard clearly in almost all parts of the sanctuary. This would deceive the workers who would believe that it is their god speaking. In China more than a hundred years ago, a stone image that stood on a platform inside a shrine was believed by the people to be speaking. It was found out that there was a tube connected to the statue.

This style of performing comedy is a development in the late 1800s. During that time by switching voices, the comedians may have multiple figures performed at variety shows. Today, comedian ventriloquists commonly use only one figure during theirs acts. The first to do this in history was the Englishman Fred Russell who had a dummy named Coster Joe. The most famous, however, was The Great Lester which paved the way for the one-ventriloquist-one-figure act to success.

It was Edgar Bergen who popularized the use of ventriloquism in comedy acts. Together with his buddy named Charlie McCarthy, he hosted a radio show which ran for over a decade. Today, there is a quite significant number of comedian ventriloquists who perform live at nightclubs and television shows.

This style of performing comedy requires a skill not every comedian has. It is a very challenging act wherein the performer must correctly manipulate his or her voice and let his or her dummy talk. At the same time he or she must ensure that his or her performances can make the audience laugh and be amazed at the same time.

Comedian ventriloquists during their acts also face the challenge of being heard clearly by the audience with their lips only slightly opening, if not closed totally. They would usually replace certain bilabial sounds and spoke quickly so the difference in the sound does not get noticed.

So you still think you’ve got what it takes to be a ventriloquist?

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Life without any sense of humor is dull. In almost all parts of the world, people amuse themselves with jokes inspired by their own experiences and copied from “best-selling jokes” by comedians. For entertainment’s sake, comedians create, rehearse and perform their routines.

Comedians have their own expertise. They make use of different genres of joking depending on their characters. One type of comedians is the toilet joke comedian. They entertain people with their self-made and improved toilet jokes.

Toilet humor is a kind of comedy or hilarity associated with defecation, urination or other bodily functions. Some people may find this kind of joking offensive. There are also cultures that prohibit the use of this kind of humor.

While some are disgusted with this kind of joking, toilet joke comedians can put laughs to other people by telling a story of someone being caught with his pants down. Some girl’s skirt blown up is another example of a toilet joke commonly used by this kind of comedians. Other sources of humor are constipation or loose bowel movement which may be accompanied by the usual sound effects.

Toilet joke comedians also mix this type of joking with sexual humor, basically because of certain toilet functions of the sexes. Comedians of this kind would make people laugh at a story of a person who is naked or is only with his or her undergarments. They may also find humor on kids or adults urinating or doing bowel movements with their pants on.

The idea of toilet humor comedians is to make the disgusting and yucky activities of defecation and urination laughable to other people. The added sound effects made by toilet joke comedians make their deliveries funnier. The idea of being seen naked, with pants down or releasing bodily wastes is embarrassing, but for these comedians they want the audience to see it in a funny and light way.

In the movies, books and television programs, comedians use toilet humor in entertaining the viewers. One example is the Dumb and Dumber movie which featured a lengthy toilet scene with actor Jeff Daniels making the laughs out of the audience. The cartoonist Tom Winkler of Doodie.com made several cartoons with jokes talking about feces. Its hero named Doodieman is also inspired by this kind of humor. The all-time favorite The Simpsons flashed a scene of Bart flushing down the toilet a bomb that would go through the girls’ toilet.

People may not all be pleased and entertained by toilet humor but surely, the comedians have only one thing in their minds. It is to make people laugh.

Before you deliver your jokes, and be laughed at because they’re not funny enough, better test them.

Test #1: Are you amused with your own joke?
If you want to make a joke and solicit a few laughs from other people, you wouldn’t deliver a joke that’s not funny even to you. It is impossible to crack a joke that the comedian himself or herself doesn’t find funny.

The idea of joking is that the comedian knows a funny idea, laughs at it himself or herself and wants to share it with other people. If you create your own joke and have passed this first test then you may reveal and test your joke to others.

If you want to re-echo a joke, you would prefer a really funny joke. You wouldn’t want to share it in the first place you were not able to appreciate when it was delivered to you.

Test #2: Can you make a person laugh at your joke?
You may get the help from your friend or co-worker or family. When you deliver a joke and your single viewer had a genuine laugh at it, you may say that your joke was funny. At least it worked initially for this person.

Much of a successful joke’s story is delivery. You may have a really funny material but you weren’t able to bring out the punch line properly. Either you were a little slow in stating your joke or your joke wasn’t funny at all.

One important thing to consider also is relation. Can your viewer in the first place relate to your joke? Did he or she understand what you were saying? If not then he or she would really miss out your joke. Sometimes you would end up explaining your joke.

If this happens, it isn’t entirely the fault of the person if he or she wasn’t able to pick up on your joke. Try another instead.

Test #3: Did it work for a group too?
Testing your joke to a group is challenging. The reaction that you got from your friend or family may not be the reaction that you can get from a collective body of people. If your bigger audience laughed at your joke then your joke is a sure hit!

There may be some who would really go wild laughing their stomachs sore. This would help you since laughing is contagious. Others may laugh not exactly at your joke but at the reaction of their seatmates or the people in front of them. This is still a good thing.

If you wish to have an unlimited supply of resources for your material or dialogue, the one thing you should do is purchase a tape recorder then make it your best friend. As there are various designs of tape recorders currently sold on the market, just choose one that’s most comfortable for you to use.

How and When to Use Your Tape Recorder

Everytime something occurs to you, wherever you are, record your thoughts immediately. If you’re serious about your career, you need to make most of what you have. Don’t rely on your memory to recall all the humorous things you’ve encountered. Why leave things to fate when you don’t have to?

Always have extra batteries with you. Clip the tape recorder or whatever recording device you’re using to your shirt or belt strap so that you won’t accidentally leave it behind or misplace it.

When you’re not doing anything, take out your tape recorder and just let your thoughts take form while speaking them out loud. You’ll be surprised at the amount and variety of data you’ll get from these recordings! Observe your surroundings and make random comments. You need not be humorous now, but it’s important that you take note of anything which is potentially funny. Formulation of punchlines can be accomplished later and when you’re in the comfort of your home.

People are always fascinating subjects to use for stand up comedy material. Since the range of emotions that people express are infinite, you’ll definitely always have something new to take notice of or observe when you’re studying the same person over and over.

If you think you don’t have anything left to observe then maybe it’s time to allow other people to make their own observations on the same subjects. Doing that will allow you to have insights to how other minds think and this can be a great basis for your next performance! Of course, make sure that you get their permission first before you start recording.

The biggest problem that stand-up comedians face when using tape recorders is the reaction of the people around them. It does look weird after all when you see someone talking to themselves. If you don’t think you can handle your new crazy image, the best solution to your problem is purchasing a mobile phone with recording capabilities. That way, you can pretend using your phone while recording your thoughts!

There’s a saying that clowns are the saddest people in the world. Similarly, fun and laughter doesn’t always figure in a stand-up comedian’s life. If you’re determined to have a stand-up comedian career, prepare yourself for lots of challenges ahead!

IT’S NOT EASY TO MAKE OTHER PEOPLE LAUGH
You scare people by posing a threat to them – it may be physical, emotional, or take any other form. You make other people cry by making them either sympathize or empathize with your plight. The most difficult reaction to wring out from your audience is laughter. People have different kinds of funny bones, and you need to know how to quickly and accurately identify what those funny bones represent.

MEMORIZED OR IMPROVISED
If you’re as successful as Jay Leno or Conan O’Brien, then yes, you have the right to use cue cards. Since you’re not them you only have two choices when it comes to perfecting and delivering your material: do you want it memorized or improvised?

Memorizing dialogues is easy to do but the danger lies in delivering it as you might end up sounding mechanical. With memorized dialogues, your mind might be too caught up with recalling what you have to say that you don’t have any mind space left to consider the best way to deliver your punchline.

When it comes to improvised speeches, delivering a punchline is usually a breeze but your biggest problem is if you have enough material to last you four to ten minutes on the stage without getting booed out.

Other Tips on How to Have a Successful Stand-Up Comedian Career

Have a good sense of humor and don’t take yourself seriously. If you’re able to laugh at yourself, you’ll have in your possession the best material for your career: yourself!

Basketball players learn from the techniques used by other basketball players. Do the same and watch shows of other stand-up comedians like yourself. Learn, learn, and learn some more if you don’t want to run out of ways of making other people laugh.

Never copy or steal another stand-up comedian’s career. Besides being grossly unethical, this can also ultimately make you lose your natural ability to make other people laugh. When you keep on relying on other people’s material, you might gradually lose your ability to create jokes by yourself due to seldom use.

Lastly, be professional in all your dealings with your manager, producer or bar owner, and your audience. Stand-up comedy is still a job after all so you need to act professional!

Although a stand-up comedian’s primary goal is to obtain a natural and positive reaction from the audience – a chuckle, smile, or best of all, a laugh – the process of obtaining that goal is methodical and meticulous and involving carefully orchestrated sequences and frequent rehearsals.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
Although many people believe that delivering punchlines is a natural talent, this isn’t true in all cases. And even if it is, people who are naturally able to make others laugh still acknowledge the necessity of practicing their material. Indeed, practice still makes perfect in delivering punchlines.

THE FORMULA FOR PERFECTLY DELIVERED PUNCHLINES
The punchline formula is simply based on common sense but spelling it out will prevent you from getting tempted to messing the whole thing up and deluding yourself into thinking that you could create something new in the world of stand-up comedy.

The formula: set-up before punchline.
A set-up provides the premise for your joke. The punchline must always come after the set-up and never before. Keep in mind that the briefer the set-up, the more impact the punchline will be able to create.

TYPES OF SET-UPS
There are various ways for you to prepare the audience for a punchline. A number of examples are provided below:

A Contest of Outrageous Claims – Remember how kids boast to each other about their respective possessions? “My mother is so great…”, “My mother is greater…” and the punchline will always be provided by the last kid, “Well, my mother is the greatest…”
Listing – Provide a list of any type but make sure that the last item on the list will supply the punchline.
Comparing – There are many people, things, places, and events in this world that are opposite. Popular topics on which you can easily create punchlines are America vs. France, America vs. England, America vs. Japan (are you getting the drift here?), men and women, degree holders and the uneducated, rich vs. wealthy, and so forth.
Irony – Life, love, and wealth are one of the most common topics in which you can point out ironic details.
Exaggerated Imitations – Think of common and typical qualities of various types of people and then imitate them in an exaggerated sense. Wives, for instance, are usually described as nagging, husbands are characterized as philanderers, and so forth.

Last but not least is the type of punchline delivery. You can make it into a climactic moment or deliver it with a deadpan expression. What’s important is that you do it so effectively and in the way that’s most comfortable for you!

If it’s your dream to become a professional stand up comedian, you should know that there are a thousand more jobs that are easier than your chosen career. If you’re not discouraged by that then good, because passion is one of the most important critical success factors of becoming a man who earns a living from making people laugh. Passion’s the first…but it’s definitely not the last.

Choosing Your Material
Although anything under the sun can be used for stand-up comedy material, you need to choose material based on the type of audience you have. If you don’t know what type of audience you’d have, you need to seek humor in safe topics and the safest of all is talking about yourself. Rather, the safest topic is talking NEGATIVELY about yourself.

Using yourself as the main topic of your material is easier than other topics because you’re naturally the expert on the matter at hand. Secondly, self-revolving issues are also safe because none of the audience will get angry or sensitive about your remarks. Why should they when you’re talking about yourself?

Learning from the Great Masters
Thoroughly studying the techniques used by great comic masters will make it easier for you to spot any flaws in your material. Learning from the masters will also teach you new techniques and approaches to making other people laugh. Never tire of learning from others! When you do, that’s when your material will stop becoming humorous to your audience.

Practicing on Private Sessions
Your comic debut must in front of people whom you love, understands your sense of humor, and are willing to subtly turn the cheek and laugh all the same even if one of your jokes remain flat. The keyword there is SUBTLY of course because outright hypocrisy will only make you feel worse about yourself.

It’s important that your first few public performances are unquestionably successful as this will give you the confidence you need to perform in front an indifferent audience.

Sending Samples to Agents
Record your best performances or materials on tape. Review these tapes then have others listen to it as well for further evaluation. It’s better if you can find listeners who are willing and able to provide unbiased comments about your material.

When you’ve received enough positive feedback to last you a lifetime, it’s time to send your demo tapes to agents.

Performing Live
Once an agent books you into a club, choose the material depending on the type of audience you’ll be facing. Don’t use any new material! Last but not the least, have fun!

The best way for aspiring stand-up comedians to master their craft is by learning from the masters. It’s also easier for you to learn comedy techniques if you have a role model to look up to. The following names are just a few of the greatest comic masters in all time. Learn about them and try choosing one whom you wish to emulate the most.

JIM CARREY
Before he gained fame and fortune in The Mask, Jim Carrey – as everyone knew and as he was candid enough to admit – he was a cynical bitter stand-up comedian. Contrary to what you’d expect, however, instead of using his pessimistic view of life as the basis of his material, Jim Carrey chose to make people laugh with the unbelievable expressions that his elastic face was able to produce!

LESSON: Sometimes, the source of your humor and material is not what’s most obvious.

WOODY ALLEN
Unlike most comedians, Woody Allen’s approach to his live audience was unpolished and even slightly naïve. His very natural approach however took the audience by storm and enabled Woody Allen to become a star. Although Hollywood’s gain was stand-up comedy’s loss, Woody Allen’s albums are still being used by other comedians to supplement their material.

LESSON: Be yourself!

BILL COSBY
It’s very hard to think of a stand-up comedian as a lovable guy, but somehow, that’s exactly what the great Bill Cosby has been able to do. He can make people laugh without getting nasty and personal. Secondly, he rarely uses any props or improvised dialogue in his performances. Everything is carefully prepared but delivered like freshly baked bagels on morning! Simply irresistible!

LESSON: There are a lot of things you can learn from Bill Cosby, but the two most important lessons you’ll probably derive from his acts is that first, you don’t need to be cruel to be humorous; and secondly, cohesion and flow of dialogue is extremely critical when using prepared and memorized script.

CHRIS ROCK
Young comedians who may have a hard time being able to relate themselves with the classical masters may have more in common with Hollywood’s motor mouth Chris Rock. Everything about him screams of the uncompromising qualities of today’s generation in a caustic but humorous way.

LESSON: Chris Rock has thrown a lot of rocks – and gets hit back, mind you – in his career but he never goes beyond the line of irony. Be careful about this as well if you’re fond of including taunting remarks in your material.

It’s easier for anyone to make others cry than making them laugh so don’t feel depressed when all you can get from your audience is a stiff smile. If you’re good, that smile will sooner or later become a smile, a grin, and finally a full belly laugh!