Be A Comedian

What do people like Joe Black, Adam Sandler, Conan O Brien and those other celebrities that viewers love to see on talk shows and movies have in common? All of these individuals had to pass through open mic comedy shows to be seen by talent managers before making it into the celebrity spotlight.

But what is open mic night? This is an event that is usually held in a club where musicians, poets and comedians do an act on stage in the hopes this could be a starting in point in one’s career.

Singers are allowed to play three songs on stage. Poets and comedians get to say something or perform for not more than 5 minutes on stage. The time may seem short but this isn’t how the performers feel with the spotlight pointed on the individual and more than thirty or forty people in the audience.

Aside from the talent managers, there are times some professionals also attend such events. These individuals don’t only watch but also perform especially when new and untested material has been made.

The belief is if that should the audience love the act and laugh, the same thing will follow in a bigger event. Adjustments will have to be made should things go the other way.

Are there a maximum number of times that a comedian can sign up to participate in open mic night? The good news is no. This means those who have failed the first few times can do it again with hopefully better material than before.

While waiting for the next event, you should take classes in comedy or learn from other people the craft to be able to come up with the same approach or figure out a better technique.

It would also be a good idea to practice the material in front of a mirror to know how the program will go. Then you should call on some family members and friends to see if there is an improvement and if everything is good, then it is time to sign up again for open mic comedy night to hopefully win the crowd over better than the previous performance.

Making it to the top won’t be easy since it is quite hard to let a talent manager listen to a CD. The best bet for anyone will be to participate in open mic comedy night and hope for the best.

Sometimes, it takes a little push or some talent to make it to the big leagues. Such success stories are heard in education, sports, and politics and even as one acts as a comedian.

Here are some examples of some celebrities that people love to see on stage or in the movies.

One example is Rhod Gilbert who would tell a good joke among friends. After his girlfriend noticed he could make money from the act, it didn’t take long before the comedian won an award now making people from different countries want to watch the performance.

This year, talent managers have already signed a world tour for him to perform in Brussels, Canada, Dubai, Paris and the United States.

Andrew Lawrence had a different beginning compared to the last one. This former librarian As an outlet from the hectic work, he participated in open mic comedy night events held regularly until it was time to go for something higher such as the New Talent, which is a competition this comedian won two years ago.

After winning, talent managers have booked shows for him in and out of the United Kingdom.

Across the Atlantic back in the United States, Jeremy Valdez who worked as an engineer made it big as a comedian after letting it out on open mic night at a New York City club. After the audience was amazed the performance, talent managers have booked him for tours all across the country.

One of the most unforgettable people on film is Adam Sandler. The talent for becoming a comedian was probably developed in school where he was just an average student.

After looking up to fellow comedians such as Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi, he found the right formula, which the audience loved on open mic comedy night, and the rest was history.

The success stories of all of these individuals happened after working on an act and performing on open mic comedy nights before the ball started rolling. This means those who aspire to be just as good as these professionals or even better have to work hard and think of something that will capture the audience.

It would be a good idea to practice this first in front of a mirror or with friends and family so that the comedian won’t be crushed should things go bad. Anyone who wants to make it has to perform here and there to be seen by a talent manager to get bookings not only in the United States but also abroad.

Successful stand-up comedians, who have lived through by making other people happy, seriously handle their kind of profession. Much of their success can be attributed to their natural sense of humor and their patience and creativity in making their comedian routines.

Aspiring comedians should learn to make outstanding comedian routines and be able to get the laughs out of his audience. A comedian routine is a comedian’s performance on stage.

So how do comedians prepare for their stand-up? Comedians actually prepare a write-up of their routines both in paper and in their minds before facing their audience.

For the first timer, here are some tips from other comedians so you can create your own jokes, put up your own stand-up and make your audience laugh.

First thing is to develop confidence. Doing stand-up isn’t easy. You may feel nervous in front of many people. Fear of the audience is the first thing that aspiring comedians should resolve within themselves.

The next thing you should do is to compile your materials or your jokes which you think can be performed on stage. You may use a small notebook or a tape recorder which you will carry with you at all times. Decide which of these two is more convenient or helpful to you in compiling your jokes. Other comedians would prefer the tape recorder since it is more useful even while doing other things like driving and walking wherein it is impossible to write an idea on a piece of paper.

If you made a funny remark to your friend, do not forget to record this single experience. Whenever you are in an event, a casual meeting or a family gathering, carefully observe the people around you and record all the things that somehow made other people laugh.

You must once in a while review your notes and hear your tape. You can think of punch lines which will suddenly come out once your experiences with other people are recalled. In due time, you will surely develop a natural sense of humor. Try exploring different types of jokes or tricks so you could determine which ones you can do the best.

Next is to build up a sequence. Before going on stage, think how you can put all your jokes together and form a single act for your performance. Try to write them on a piece of paper.

Lastly, practice what you have written. You may rehearse it facing a mirror. Learn how to memorize and deliver your lines. Express yourself. Make facial expressions. Learn to make correct gestures. When you’re on stage, just act naturally and enjoy your own performance.

Some people do well working a nine to five job in a big office. Others love to be in the field or flying an airplane. All these careers are fulfilling as long as the person enjoys it and the same thing can be done for someone who performs on stage as a comedian.

What does it take to become big as a comedian? Is it the outfit similar to how a clown performs in a circus or does it have to do with what comes out of the person’s mouth? Surveys show that this has a little to do with both.

Comedy itself isn’t just about retelling an old joke to a group of friends or a group of people. You must also write stuff that will be enjoyed by all.

The first step in becoming a comedian is to learn how other people do it. Some look up to Jim Carrey or Adam Sandler as idols and try to follow the same technique or make it better so they will be received by the audience.

After getting the flow of things, this is the time you should write a few jokes down and practice this in front of a mirror or with some family members. Another test of course is doing the same work over a group of trusted friends who may be honest or just laugh to avoid hurting one’s feelings.

When practice isn’t enough and the crowds aren’t that receptive, perhaps it is time to enroll in a comedy class. There are different forms of comedy and if you don’t succeed as a stand up comedian, the program can offer a different outlet making it possible for people to laugh when done in a sitcom.

The one who conducts such classes are professional comedians. Hopefully the feedback given by the instructor and by peers can push you in the right direction should the decision be to continue working to become a big time comedian.

The moment of truth is probably signing up during open mic night. There are many comedy bars that offer this opportunity to would be comedians and it wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot.

You may fail or succeed but no one will ever know unless you get up on that stage and do everything possible to entertain and make the audience laugh.

An actor must have his stage, just as a comedian must have his improve comedy theater. There, the stand-up comedian will have an easier time delivering his lines, changing up his routine night after night and entertaining his guests, all because he is in his territory.

If the stand-up comic is just starting with his craft, he can go to “open mic” contests, usually held at cafes or bars, depending whether the audience is open to the idea of a comedian in front of the night.

For improve comedy groups (comedians who do tours and perform altogether, like the crew in “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”), they can apply at countless bars and cafes who schedule regular performances from comedians. They are paid per show.

Actually, you can practice comedy anywhere. Just as long as the audience is open to it. The good thing about stand-up comedy as a performance is that there is no fourth wall involved. It means that there is an actual interaction between the comedian and his audience.

So even if it be in the middle of the street or the subway, a comic can make his living entertaining people. Although, those two places mentioned can’t ensure as much salary as opposed to having a scheduled booking in cafes and restaurants.

Turning the tables around, if you are an onlooker wanting to have a laugh, there are countless cafes, bars and restaurants that indulge stand-up comedies. There is a listing of the comedians who will be performing on that day. In fact, some of them have regular comedians and there are customers who go to those cafes and restaurants just for the entertainment.

There are also cities with theaters that have popular improv comedy theaters. These stages are already reserved for that entertainment – improve comedy. Improv comedy is pretty much like stand-up comedy so they also allow stand-up comedians to perform.

Improv comedy entertains lots of people. You can do it in a café and have coffee drinkers laughing at your jokes. Everybody needs a laugh because it brightens their days, therefore the need and demand for more improv comedy places is rampant – in fact every state has one, even in their own locale.

To make it easier for you, you can log online and do a quick search in your locale. Chances are a long list will be popping in the search results.

Perfectly true in all occasions is to know how other successful people do their things before you start professionally in such a craft. People learn by actually imitating others of and modify them and incorporate them to their existing interest and aptitude.

This learning-by-doing activity is especially important and useful if you have to engage in learning comedy and acts that are funny. Below are just some of the things that need to be considered when you are using videos to learn comedy tricks and funny things that can be shared with your general audience.

• Learn the Funniest. While watching comedy videos, you will surely come across certain punchlines that are really funny. Since not all people get to visit all comedy bars and shows, they will surely have no idea about some laugh line statements that you are going to say and will surely be appropriated to you by your audience, thus, making them happy.

• Get The Floor Management Idea. Understand how the audience is arranged in the comedy bar in the comedy video you are watching. Are they arranged so that your audience are accessible for the stand up comedian in the floor? Is it arranged so that they will be able to involve themselves in funny activities hosted by the comedian? Are the jokes delivered stir disgusts among audience or have some people cause to have a lung-breaking laugh? Issues that should be given attention.

• Understand Audience’s Diversity. Try to look at the type of audience the comedian is handling. How did he consider each and everybody’s profile and character? This very same thing should be considered in all types of programs you will have in an actual setting. Try to manage your audience and keep them interested when sharing those laugh lines in videos you have watched but be careful in using everything you have watched for it will no longer look as if its coming from you and will be seen as if scripted.

• Watch Contemporary and Old Comedy Shows. Old and new comedy videos offers ideas that will help you deliver those old and new funny punch lines and help you in providing a good environment for people to have a good time. There is a very thin line that separates old and contemporary videos but delivery is the key! If you know when and how to deliver jokes that are copied, you will have no problems with them.

If you think it’s easy to be like those comedians in “Last Comic Standing”, you’re wrong. It’s actually nerve wracking standing in front of a crowd and coming up with those jokes. If your audience doesn’t laugh, not only will they think you’re stupid, you will also feel stupid.

A stand-up comedian is a comic who performs comedy in a spontaneous and informal way. He talks to the audience and eradicates the fourth wall. He usually has a microphone with him and one performance is entirely different from the previous ones.

These are done in comedy clubs, theaters, colleges and alternative venues such as cafes – depending where the audience is and as long as they are open to a stand up comic act.

To learn stand up comedy, you must be aware that the jokes and comments are recited fast and as a quick succession like that of telling jokes, amusing stories, one-liners or even monologues. Some comic acts even have props, music and magic tricks instilled in their routine.

As a stand up comedian, you must learn how to hold your own because it is like a one-man show. The only difference is that it is your task to make the audience laugh. You are like a court jester whose job is to not only entertain but to make onlookers snicker.

If you want to get your career started, there are tons of “open mic” events where amateur comedians can actually take on the stage and perform in front of a live audience. This can actually hone your craft and let you learn new skills. The more times you do this, the more possibility for you to learn the integral element of your act.

The secret to stand-up comedy is getting to read your audience. Just as your routine changes everyday, so does your audience. In fact, people watching you determine what kind of routine you will have for that particular show. An adept stand-up comic must be sensitive to the mood and tastes of his audience. He must adjust his piece suitable to them.

Stand-ups concentrates on getting and receiving laughs from the people who are watching. Stand-up comics must have diverse skills, specifically those that allow him to adjust quickly and act spontaneously depending on what happens throughout the entire routine.

A stand-up comedian must know how to entertain the rest of the crowd, especially those who aren’t reacting well with his jokes. He must either win them over or handle their criticism and non-reaction.

Famous stand-up comedians are Will Ferrell, Jim Carrey, Woody Allen, Jerry Seinfeld and Eddie Murphy. Look where they are now.

It is harder to make people laugh than to make them cry. An actor can easily recite a monologue and have the audience’s tears rolling down their cheeks but it takes more to tickle their funny bones.

If you watch shows like “Whose Line is it Anyway” “FRIENDS” Will and Grace”, they are shot in a live audience, therefore you hear the people laughing. These actors are comedians because they are able to make onlookers laugh, either with their one-liners, snaps, quirks or antics.

Comedic timing is a talent most comedians have. Without this, they can say or do something that may not be funny at a usual time, but when delivered at an appropriate time is absolutely hilarious.

It is the use of tempo and rhythm so that comedy and humor is enhanced. The delivery of a joke has more impact, depending on its comic effect.

There is a beat when delivering jokes, therefore the purpose of comedic timing is to let the audience have time to recognize the joke, then to react, therefore increasing the suspense more before actually delivering the punch line.

Those who aren’t familiar with the comedy business think that there really is a set period of silence to depict the suspense. These comedic pauses are actually intended to heighten the pitch of the joke – or to create tension. The pauses are the clues that direct as to the subtext or the unconscious content of the joke.

Popular comedians who have a great sense of comedic timing are George Carlin and Rowan Atkinson.

George Carlin is famous for his “Seven Words You Can’t Say On Television”. The humor is obtained from the sudden delivery of seven curse words “shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits”. Of course, these are vulgar words and really can’t be said on television, therefore getting them an R rating. The rest of the show includes an satirical analysis of they these words are just words and aren’t as taboo as how a majority of people in the world think.

Rowan Atkinson is “Mr. Bean”. He never says much, his antics and facial expressions are hilarious. The closest he does to speaking is his slurred speech – which are also funny. He uses comedic timing, meaning he pauses in between, to create suspense for the audience. As opposed to him racing through the list. If he did, it would only spoil the whole outcome and effect of the entire bit.

Watching these comedians in their element is a way of learning comedic timing.

Becoming a comedian is one of the most challenging jobs ever, especially if you are going to do is called stand ups.

Stand up comedian comedy shows have been a commonplace program in many bars and restaurants. They attract a great number of guests and keep people interested all throughout the day.

Perhaps, the reason why stand up comedy shows are starting to create a name in the world of entertainment is because of the fact that they catch the audience’s attention in a variety of ways.

They crack laughter like no one else does and gets the laughing spot of everybody and relates them to what is actually happening in the real world.

Steps to Action

Comedians involved in such programs are more of updated in a sense that they know the latest coined language of the locals. They are deeply updated with the latest happenings in the society and used them as a laughingstock for everybody’s entertainment.

Below are just some of the most important points to becoming successful in comedy show and keep people interested in what you are doing in the floor while on the show.

• Involve Audience – There is no other way to keep people interested but to involve them in the actual show. Come out of your comfort zone (stage) and let your audience get involved in what you are doing on the floor. Keep them interested in what you say and do by engaging them in funny activities that they will surely enjoy.

• Prepare on Stage – If you are in a show, your posture and overall getup is definitely being looked into. Since you are in the spotlight and the star of the show, you should be properly dressed for the program otherwise you will have a small impact on the overall performance of the program and people getting disinterested to the entire program in the end.

• Laugh – This portion should be done cautiously, you can’t afford to be laugh at yourself because your joke isn’t very funny. Try to figure out if the joke causes everybody to erupt in laughter and from there, you will be able to continue.

• Listen to the Audience. You should know your audience as they say. Imagine them laughing and imagine them not laughing on the jokes that you are going to say. If the general audience isn’t responding to a certain statement, stop, otherwise, you are just ruining people’s interrupted interest on the program. Overall, you should laugh at your own joke and should think of funny things that will make your audience happy.

The ventriloquist that we popularly know today is an image of a performer sitting on a stool with a dummy on his lap. Nowadays, they are no longer just confined in performing comedic acts at nightclubs. We also see them in our favorite sitcoms and other television programs. Like magicians and their magic tricks, it is interesting to know how one becomes a ventriloquist and how he masters the art and skill of manipulating his voice.

Here are some of the basic rules on how to become a comic ventriloquist.

· Speak without facial expression. Remain passive. Create an illusion that the dummy is speaking and not you. Coordinate how the mouth of the dummy opens and shuts as it corresponds to the words used. This is a very crucial ability because, if done properly, this illusion generates the amusement and entertainment of the audience.

· Speak with still lips. In connection to the first rule, it is as important to speak without lip movement. A good ventriloquist must study how to pronounce the alphabet especially certain letters like b,f,m,p,v,w,y with control because these letters require muscles of lips and cheek to move to produce sound. Since, it is almost impossible to speak these letters distinctly without any lip or facial movement, it is imperative to find for alternatives.

· Learn to throw your voice. The performer must rouse the interest of the last man standing at the end of the theater with his voice following the rules above. His voice must not sound like it is only coming from the performer but from the dummy too.

· Do breathing exercises. In order to carry out the previous rules, one vital aspect of becoming a good ventriloquist is doing proper breathing exercises. This is preferably done every day, early in the morning in open spaces. While standing straight, chest forward, shoulders relaxed, arms hanging loosely on the side, close the mouth and take a deep breath holding the air for a few seconds. This will help the ventriloquist sustain his breath in doing conversations that last a few seconds more than a minute.

· Use a dynamic dummy and dialogue. The dummy usually represents a humorous bizarre character and its appearance corresponds to the voice produced by the performer. Although the dialogue calls for humor and some tolerable mischief, any vulgarity must be weeded out from the script. And to give a good show, the performer must know the script and how he will use the figure to work for him by heart.

Although I haven’t tried learning the trade, I’m pretty sure that to be a ventriloquist requires a great amount of practice and discipline to switch from one voice to another in order deceive and leave the audience in amazement.