Couple of Stand Up questions

Never done any before and thinking of trying...couple of q's though:

As a 36 year old family man with a business my thinking was - lots of funny (one hopes) stories to tell and no pressure. But....is the "newbie" scene full of kids and I'll be an oddity or are there other "older" first timers? Also...if I like it can you do it as a hobby, gig a week and fit it in with your normal life? I'm under no illusion that the proper money is a one in a million chance so I'm not stopping work or anything for this.

Also - does GOOD material translate at all to the page? In other words, can you read (in critique) stuff that, with the right delivery, should be funny and equally see stuff that's tosh? Just curious if posting a few ideas in there is of any value...I realise the real test is in front of people - but that leap would be easier with some feed back that it (should) work....obviously if the feedback is "this sucks, don't bother" I'd probably have a re-think!

Hmmmm... See I have a business to run, 4 kids, couple of dogs, wifey - I hoped to do it for a fun way to get stuff of my chest and see love and admiartion from people I havent had to buy food and housing for.

Are there any comics who just "play" at it or are they all trying to gig their way to the stardom?

Personally I gave up doing stand-up because I didn't have the time to commit to it and didn't really enjoy doing it thast much, but I'd always say it's something everybody should try at some point.

Best thing to do is book in an open spot somewhere (which could be months in the future as there is a massive supply and demand problem for spots for acts at the moment, especially newer ones) and give it a go.

If you enjoy it, then like any addiction, that's when the problems start!

In answer to your question about material, yes good material on the page translates PROVIDING you have the skill to deliver it.

In the beginning stagecraft and confidence are almost more important than good material, a confident comic can get away with fairly bog standard material but a nervous comic with great material will invariably struggle.

Make sure you know your set inside and out, find ways to make yourself feel confident on stage and enjoy yourself, half of successful stand up comedy is fronting it out, if the audience believe you belong up there and you look as if you are enjoying yourself and truly believe that you are funny then they'll laugh.

Good luck!

Oh and lastly, plenty of successful comics have started in their 30's, Rhod Gilbert and Frank Skinner being two of the most successful.

Cool....i'll stick some stuff in critique and see if I'm on the right track.

Stage wise - my job entails presenting seminars on taxation and investments which is basically a 2hr scripted talk with the odd question handled during it. So, different subject matter...but hopefully transferable skills to some extent. If I can recall every word of a seminar on that twaddle without notes I should be able to bumble through a 5 minute set

Quote: Tony Cowards @ January 21 2010, 2:29 PM GMT

Best thing to do is book in an open spot somewhere (which could be months in the future as there is a massive supply and demand problem for spots for acts at the moment, especially newer ones).

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Can't say I disagree with anything else you say except that there are a tonne of opportunities for open spots (assuming you live in a city).

London ones I can think of off the top of my head:

Party Piece
5 Minutes of Fame
What am I Funny, Huh?
Desperately Seeking Stagetime
Monkey Business
Mama Jongs
Comedy at the Round
Make 'em Laugh

I'm near Reading so london is easy enough.

Tis moi. Combination of lost passwords/old email accounts and irrational banning have led to an additional "r" in my user name.

Looking through the critique section...do lots of the wannabe writers try stand up? It seems with so many people trying to write and meeting an inevitable brick wall of rejection (statiscally) that the lure of seeing your words "out there" (even if you have to project them yourself!) must be huge? Not to mention the potential for success seems higher? There must be lots of stunning scripts satin pending piles all over the place...at least stand ups are being heard...or am I missing an obvious pitfall?

Quote: David Bussell @ January 21 2010, 2:46 PM GMT

Can't say I disagree with anything else you say except that there are a tonne of opportunities for open spots (assuming you live in a city).

London ones I can think of off the top of my head:

Party Piece
5 Minutes of Fame
What am I Funny, Huh?
Desperately Seeking Stagetime
Monkey Business
Mama Jongs
Comedy at the Round
Make 'em Laugh

View original

Well I stand (up) corrected!

I've not lived in London for nearly a year now so I've lost touch a little bit, but what I would say is that there's a big difference between doing an open spot at a club specifically for open spots and doing an open spot at a "normal" club.

By all means get stagetime wherever you can but also make sure you book in gigs like Downstairs at the Kings Head, The Comedy Cafe and any other established, big venues where you can get a spot.

But surely those who write because they "like" to still wish to see their work performed? I don't mean success in the sense that it needs to be prime time BBC1, just that its no longer words on a page?

My frustration with sitcom writing has been that I have created some funny stuff yet it has been seen by a tiny number of people and the likelihood of that changing seems slim indeed.

I just thought it may be a situation a number of writers faced....producing work designed for an audience and finding it without one....thus was stops them from seeking other outlets? (I know theres YouTube etc...but stand up seemed? a simple route to get to the point of trying it out)

Perhaps you are right and the pleasure of writing (and the glimmer of hope) is enough? For me, the best part of writing is when I make myself laugh....I can only guess, but I assume the pleasure is far greater when others laugh too

Quote: Griff @ January 21 2010, 3:56 PM GMT

stand-up and YouTube and so on. Stand-up is great, by the way, it's good fun.

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Assuming you have done it...having found it fun what stopped you from taking that further? Given that its an industry where the guy getting non-paid 5 mins is (potentially) on an identical (and short) ladder to the guy on TV...does the urge to see where it goes not take over?

And I don't mean that in a "the only success that matters is TV and wealth and hookers"....I just mean, you step on that ladder and it holds your weight...not interested in climbing it a little?

That makes sense.....I need to hear from one of the writers who's work gets seen by him, the odd mate and a Writers Room reject shredder to get an opinion my aligned to my own situation

No, only because the stuff I was happy with was being looked at by people.

To be fair I think it's dawned on me that if I'm writing sitcom I want it to be on TV (normal TV...not interyoutubemyface) yet if I was doing stand up I'd want to be at a comedy club. (dont ask me why! after all these years my perception of "doing" those things is that that is where they need to be at)

The number of writers who come from no-where to get on TV are minute (may as well be none) yet the number of standups are huge....so I'm playing a numbers game -not for wealth or fame but for personal satisfaction with what I'm dabbling in.

Dont worry...once I make sure people laugh I'll sort the self promotion

Stand-up is good to try out material/style of comedy but no one's going to see you doing a comedy night at a pub and say "hey you were great, can you write us a sitcom for BBC 1 please." And it takes years of gigging and/or really regularly gigging to make a name for yourself on the circuit and get gigs at the big clubs (usually).

Have you thought about Edinburgh?

What sort of comedy writing is it that you do want to write for TV?