I've heard this talked about a few times when comedians are interviewed and on posts here but what is your voice? And why does it take so long to find?
Comedy Voice
In this sense "voice" means "style" as in your own particular, unique style of comedy, a slant on everything which is distinctly you and no-one else.
The reason it takes so long to find is that, like most things in life, it takes a long time to become proficient at performing and writing comedy and until you have some proficiency you can't discover your own style. It's like being a musician, everyone has to be taught exactly the same scales to begin with before they can become a virtuoso.
ok, thanks, I supposethat's cleared it up. 
This is kind of related to something I was just about to come on and write about. I've always wanted to write comedy, and have had a burning desire to try stand-up, just once to see if I can hack it. I have no problem being in front of people, I've got stage experience, but I was always held back because I'm just not funny. I've tried, but I really can't tell jokes. Or at least I couldn't until about a year ago. I'm a reasonable mimic and found that I could do the voice of a local crusty, and when I tell stories using his voice, he somehow manages to make them far funnier than I could ever make them. He has a different turn of phrase, has a different worldview, habits and ideas that have a lot of comedy potential. Writing as him is much easier than it has ever been, and using him as a vehicle also gives me a slight chance of getting away with one night of stand up. As me I know I would die a death on stage, as him I know it would work.
What had previously prevented me from writing regularly was that I had no target comic, neither me nor anyone else. I was just hoping to write and be funny without an idea of the kind of timing and character that the performer using my material would have. It meant I was ignoring an inherent aspect of the comedy itself and it made me write 'jokes' rather than material that would make the performer funny and endearing.
Maybe, just as an experiment, you try writing for a fictional character and see what happens? There's nothing clever about it, I simply stand in the kitchen(our cat is quite entertained at least) do his voice, and imagine that I'm on stage talking to an audience. Sometimes I'm surprised by what he comes out with and it makes me laugh too, I don't know where he gets it from...and have often wished I could be as funny as him...they WILL take me away in the end...
Steve
