Does it matter if a comedian uses both one liners and longer monologues, when I perform now I use both and sometimes I feel like the audience is trying to workout what I'm doing, also most TV comics tend to either be one liner guys or story tellers you tend not to see someone doing both, is there a reason for this?
I don't think the audience would be bothered.
Unless it ruined the flow of what you were doing overall.
Or wasn't funny.
Quote: Whatever @ August 15 2012, 12:04 AM BSTIs there a reason for this?
Tempo.
Is there a way to transition smoothly between the two or should I just not bother and only do one type?
In actual fact if you watch most one-liner comics for longer than 20 minutes they all do something else, whether it's Tim Vine's songs, Jimmy Carr's audience interaction, Milton Jones's characters, they all do something to break up the flow of joke, joke, joke, which can get exhausting for the audience.
Personally, I do exactly what you are talking about, I do one-liners until I feel the audience can't take any more and then I do some slightly longer, more story based bits of material.
By changing the pace a little you keep the audience on their toes, if they expect every 2nd line to be a punchline then it all becomes a bit formulaic and no matter how great the jokes are, the audience will start to get bored.