Long read

Jung at heart: developing your stand-up comedy persona

When I help comedians (and all kinds of speakers) develop their persona, I work with Jungian archetypes. By using these archetypes as a starting point, stand-up comedians can gain a better understanding of themselves and their comedic potential, ultimately leading to a stronger and more engaging stage persona.

Archetypes provide a framework for you, the stand-up comedian or speaker, to explore different aspects of your personality and see which resonate most strongly with audiences. Once you identify with an archetype you embody, you can exaggerate certain traits of yourself to create a more distinct and memorable persona. You can also add contrasting archetypes to add complexity to your act. (For more on combining archetypes, see below.)

Let's look at the Jungian archetypes and think about them in terms of stand-up comedy. These archetypes were developed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. These archetypes represent fundamental human experiences and motivations. By understanding these different Jungian archetypes, comedians can create more complex and relatable personas that resonate with audiences, and they can inspire topics for jokes and stories.

Here are the main Jungian archetypes and how they can inform your comedy:

The Innocent: This archetype represents someone who is pure, optimistic, and trusting. They often see the world in black and white and can be naive or gullible. If you're a comedian who embodies this archetype, try writing jokes and stories about your own naïveté or lack of experience in the world.

The Orphan: This archetype represents someone who has been abandoned or orphaned, either literally or metaphorically. If you're a comedian who embodies this archetype, try writing jokes and stories about feeling lost or alone, or about struggling to find your place in the world.

The Hero: This archetype represents someone who is brave, courageous, and selfless. They are often driven by a desire to help others and make the world a better place. If you're a comedian who embodies this archetype, try writing jokes and stories about overcoming challenges or standing up for what you believe in. You could also be a failed-hero and the comedy comes from this drive to make a difference, but how in reality you fail and make things worse.

The Caregiver: This archetype represents someone who is nurturing, compassionate, and supportive. They are often driven by a desire to care for others and make them feel safe and loved. If you're a comedian who embodies this archetype, you might write jokes and stories about being nurturing or supportive, or about the challenges of caring for others. This can also be about failed care where it's taken to a dysfunctional degree or where it went wrong.

The Seeker: This archetype represents someone who is curious, adventurous, and independent. They are often driven by a desire to explore the world and find their own path. If you're a comedian who embodies this archetype, you might write jokes and stories about your own curiosity or sense of adventure, or about your desire to explore the world.

The Lover: This archetype represents someone who is passionate, romantic, and sensual. They are often driven by a desire for love, intimacy, and connection. If you're a comedian who embodies this archetype you might write jokes and stories about love, relationships, or sexuality.

The Creator: This archetype represents someone who is innovative, creative, and imaginative. They are often driven by a desire to express themselves and make something new. If you're a comedian who embodies this archetype, you might write jokes and stories about your own creative process or about the challenges of being an artist. Or you might bring something new to the stand-up form itself!

The Ruler: This archetype represents someone who is powerful, authoritative, and responsible. They are often driven by a desire to lead and control others. If you're a comedian who embodies this archetype, you might write jokes and stories about taking authority, or responsibility, or where you are the sharpest and smartest person. You will also be high-status and will be in charge of the room.

The Sage: This archetype represents someone who is wise, knowledgeable, and insightful. They are often driven by a desire to learn and understand the world around them. If you're a comedian who embodies this archetype you might write jokes and stories that embody wisdom in some way, or that have a philosophical point.

The Jester: This archetype represents someone who is playful, mischievous, and humorous. They are often driven by a desire to make others laugh and have fun. If you're a comedian who embodies this archetype you could well be a one-liner comic, or a practical joker. Perhaps you tell stories about situations where you were playful or mischievous.

The Magician: This archetype represents someone who is transformative, charismatic, and persuasive. If you're a comedian who embodies this archetype you might write jokes and stories that are a transformative, taking everyday situations and making the impossible or incredible happen. You could also of course be a comedy magician!

The Rebel: This archetype represents someone who is independent, unconventional, and rebellious. They are often driven by a desire to challenge the status quo and make their own rules. If you're a comedian who embodies this archetype you might write jokes and stories that are unconventional, or rebellious. You might also break the rules of stand-up or disrupt the performance context and conventions.

You can use archetypes to explore different aspects of your own personality and comedic style. Of course, you combine different archetypes to create even more complex and interesting personas. For example, a comedian might be both a Jester and a Rebel, using comedy to challenge the status quo. Or how about a Creator-Lover or an Orphan-Seeker?

Ultimately, the goal is to use Jungian archetypes to create a stand-up comedy persona that is both relatable and unique. By understanding the different archetypes, comedians can tap into universal human experiences and create characters that resonate with audiences on a deeper level.

How do you identify your own archetypes? The best way is to sit down with other comedians (or, ahem, a comedy coach/director), have the list of archetypes to hand and ask them to reflect back to you which you embody on stage.

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Sign up for Chris Head's upcoming Zoom course on Writing Stand-up Comedy. There will be persona work on the course.


And here are all the ways Chris can help with your stand-up