I don't think promoters are that worried if you go over or under by one minute. Personally I talk really fast and have had to make myself slow down. Try the new stuff out if it's only a minute's worth, but try not to use it at the beginning or end if you can (use your safest material there). You'll be fine!
Quote: Dolly Dagger @ March 16 2010, 2:07 PM GMTI don't think promoters are that worried if you go over or under by one minute. Personally I talk really fast and have had to make myself slow down. Try the new stuff out if it's only a minute's worth, but try not to use it at the beginning or end if you can (use your safest material there). You'll be fine!
Thank you, Dolly. This is really helpful. Not used to this stand-up lark and I am perpetually afraid!
As Dolly has said better to do a good 8-9 minutes rather than pad it out and have a minute or so of new stuff that might not work as well.
Perhaps have the new stuff ready to use in the middle of the set if things are going really well and you feel confident.
Promoters are generally more worried about people overrunning rather than finishing a bit before time as the extra minute or two is easily swallowed up by an interval or the MC (or other acts overrunning!).
When you do get a chance to try the new stuff though, 10% is about the right percentage to try. If you try too much new stuff in one go there's the danger that if it's not going well then you'll lose confidence in it all and none of it will get a fair chance to work.
If you put the new stuff in amongst tried-and-trusted material then even if a new bit doesn't work you've got the confidence of a banker coming up.
Quote: Tony Cowards @ March 17 2010, 9:38 AM GMTAs Dolly has said better to do a good 8-9 minutes rather than pad it out and have a minute or so of new stuff that might not work as well.
Perhaps have the new stuff ready to use in the middle of the set if things are going really well and you feel confident.
Promoters are generally more worried about people overrunning rather than finishing a bit before time as the extra minute or two is easily swallowed up by an interval or the MC (or other acts overrunning!).
When you do get a chance to try the new stuff though, 10% is about the right percentage to try. If you try too much new stuff in one go there's the danger that if it's not going well then you'll lose confidence in it all and none of it will get a fair chance to work.
If you put the new stuff in amongst tried-and-trusted material then even if a new bit doesn't work you've got the confidence of a banker coming up.
Thanks Tony that's great.
Ended up dropping new material at last minute on the night, out of fear more than anything.
Think I heard the promoter wrong over the phone anyway, was sure he said "paid" but may have said "unpaid" after all (or he got me mixed-up with someone else). That clears up my confusion! Thought it would be very, very weird for someone to give me money for this at this stage! So it was less scary than I thought (less pressure).
Twas a great night in the end, anyway. Michael Legge was headlining and I was really keen to see his stuff. He did not disappoint.
Thanks to all for all the fantastic advice.
Who's been gigging lately then? Been going well?
Might do a gig on Tuesday. But have to spend a bit of time throwing out some of the groan inducing one liners and a) talking to people a bit b) trying a longer routine to see how I am dealing with it c) making everything a little more coherent.
i run and compere a comedy club and am always on look out for strong acts. Having said that we are booked up until august....!
Hi Freddie, where is your gig? I'm always looking for new places to spin my comedy web... or just tell jokes, which ever suits.
I'm actually doing a little research into stand-up, wondered if the stand-ups could do me the favour of completing the poll on my blog about why they do stand-up? http://stuchopslaws.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/why/
Quote: Chopz @ April 9 2010, 12:15 AM BSTI'm actually doing a little research into stand-up, wondered if the stand-ups could do me the favour of completing the poll on my blog about why they do stand-up? http://stuchopslaws.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/why/
I just voted the shit out of your poll!
Thanks Bussell, I think I can predict why you do it - ladies
Quote: Chopz @ April 9 2010, 2:39 PM BSTThanks Bussell, I think I can predict why you do it - ladies
Ladies. Boys. Ladyboys. Every hole's a goal to Bussell.
Well I did stand-up for the very first time last night and absolutely loved it! I've wanted to give it a go for about 2 years now but lacked the confidence. I'm glad I waited though, 2 years ago my material would have been utter pants. Last night I had three sets to choose from all of which I've written in the last couple of months although they all incorporate jokes and ideas that I have developed over the last couple of years.
I decided which set I would perform about a week before the gig and then practiced a bit using a dictaphone. I had initially asked the organiser if I could do five minutes but then I added to my material a bit and it became about 7 or 8 minutes long. I didn't time myself on the night but I'm guessing I was on for about 10 minutes as I threw in an extra joke at the start about bank holidays that I thought of just before the gig.
I took a prompt card with me on stage which I thought was acceptable for a first timer. It didn't have much written on it, just the themes of each little section (I've noticed professional comedians who write this on the back of their hand but I had to go to work today and I might have got some strange looks). I don't think I looked at it much but maybe I felt more relaxed knowing that I could check it to see what was supposed to come next. The reaction I got was really positive, it was a pretty small crowd mostly made up of students (arty ones not the beer swilling type). I got quite a few laughs, all my punchlines worked although the ones that I thought were the funiest didn't always get the biggest laughs. I also got laughs in places where I wasn't really expecting them which was interesting. At the end I announced that it was my first ever gig and got a massive cheer and round of applause which felt fantastic although I won't be able to say that again!
One thing that I realised is that my microphone technique was dreadful. I'm not sure how it looked to the audience but I could have done with lowering the stand but I didn't know how it worked and I didn't want to knock it over or something so I just angled the mike down and at various points rocked it backward on it's base towards me. I think next time I'll just take the mike out of the stand and move about a bit more.
I'm not a particularly outgoing person although I was desperate to try stand-up. I've been writing for a while, sitcom scripts mainly and have had some moderate success in being shortlisted for the best script prize in a short film competition. Therefore I knew I had the ability to write funny material but wasn't sure that I'd be a very good performer. I made sure that my set included quite a few 'proper jokes' with punchlines so that it wasn't totally reliant on delivery.
At one time I was seriously considering going on a stand-up course but most of them are quite expensive and if you have already written the material then I reccommend just going along to an open mic night like I did. Just from the reaction I got I was able to work out how to tweak my material to make it funnier. I suppose a course would teach you quite a bit about mic technique which could be useful but I guess I'll work it out sooner or later.
Well that was quite a long post but hopefully I have provided a useful insight. I'll definitely be doing stand-up again.
I'm going to try out my first character on stage this week. Does anyone who's tried their hand at a character have any tips? Do's and don'ts, that sort of thing?
you have to be it not act it