Learn Standup Comedy: Starting Out

Do you intend to learn standup comedy? You may not need to enroll in formal classes anymore. All you need to do is to further develop your sense of humor and improve your performance or presentation skills. Practice makes perfect. If you aim to do well at it, be ready to encounter many challenges and failures along the way. The audience may not instantly like you, but you should always try to impress and make them laugh.

The hardest part when learning standup comedy and starting out a career at it is beginning into the journey. You need to jumpstart your entry. After some time that you have improved your humor and your comedy skills, you need to conquer your nervousness and learn how to perform in a big crowd. Here are some ideas that could help you learn standup comedy and at the same time jumpstart a lucrative career in it.

Start through open mics

Numerous bars, cafés, and nightclubs mount open microphone nights. Such events are opportunities where new and aspiring standup comedians could initially perform. Anyone could get the rare chance to be on stage instantly during an open mic. If you intend to showcase your talent initially, being called in an open mic could be an opportunity you should not miss.

The experience may be memorable or embarrassing at the same time. What is important is that you should take note of your performance and use it as a gauge so you would know if audience would possibly welcome you. If you receive good and positive feedback from your performance, you could be sure you are set for stardom. If not, you could continue working to improve your craft.

Hit the comedy club

After mastering the open mic, be ready to conquer comedy clubs. You would be ripe for ‘bigger’ standup comedy shows, where you could expect to face a huge crowd. You might consider putting up ‘bringer’ shows, wherein you could bring in a number of your friends as paying customers and audience of your show.

Prepare and deliver your jokes and antics very well. It is important that you make sure you are well prepared before facing an audience. Remember that you would always be judged based on your most recent performance so make every act your best. If you do otherwise, your show could be your very last.

Prevent amateur mistakes

You know how bad standup comedians fare. They are booed and are disliked by the audience. It could be because they have a horrible sense of humor to begin with or just that they are not really cut for the entertainment industry. You could avoid amateur mistakes so you would be able to always make your performance work well.

Do not bad mouth other comedians, like what many standup comedians do. Doing so could be surely funny at times, but they could do more harm than good. There could also be ethics integrated as you learn standup comedy. It is also a usual amateur mistake to blame a bad show to the audience. You perform in the act, not the audience. You are on stage to make them laugh, not to expect and solicit their cooperation.