Are there any exercises I can do on my own to better my comedy before going to improv classes?
Getting started in stand-up
Just write everything down! Check out the Stand Up Comedy: Creating Your First Five thread in performance discussion. Loads of really really helpful stuff in there.
Oh, and good luck!
Watch some top comedians and write down some of the things that get big laughs, then ask yourself why the big laugh came.
1) Was what they said intrinsically very funny?
2) Was it funny because of the way they said it?
3) Was it funny because of the context?
4) Was it funny because of their personality?
5) Were the audience enjoying the act so much they'd have laughed big at almost anything at that stage?
6) More than one of the above?
Unless you're a 'natural' (e.g. Billy Connolly), you'll only ever succeed in comedy by understanding how and why it works.
There's a book on Improvisation which I bought years ago and never got round to reading called "Truth in Comedy". I know a lot of people who do improv and it's pretty much their bible from what I can gather.
I've never done Improv but I had a really long car journey with another comic the other week who teaches it. From what I learnt on the trip the books and courses teach you the rules and the lingo, the classes are where you practice and learn it.
Most jokes are feeder line, punchline.
Think of questions and come up with answers. Think of punchlines and add a feeder line.
Try and do 5 for each question or punchline.
Then try and rewrite them as engaging little vingiettes, ideally personalised.
Do it enough and you'll get used to it and after a while it'll get to be second nature.
See if you can link some of them together.
If you have material then don't think that that is all because as important as material is the deliver of it is even more important. If you have a mirror practice your material. Look at how your jokes are give out, also you might find as you practice it (one way to do it is record it and watch it back) and you might find you will change bits or maybe just the way you deliver it.
Hope this helped.