Comedy Crash Course

You signed up for your first open mic, a friend gave you a spot on a show, or you’ve been asked to do a humorous speech by a family member or a colleague? Your heart is beating as you imagine yourself getting up in front of your audience for the first time. Will they laugh at your jokes, will they like you? Or will you have to feel embarrassment of getting up and perform to silence? Imagining how your first gig is going to go can be so nerve wracking, that some people never do it at all.

Here are some tips to help you make a positive experience out of your first time on stage.

1) Set realistic expectations

It’s great to want to succeed and you might be tempted to want to be an amazing performer when you’re given your first shot. The truth is, comedy is a skill that develops with years of practice, so it’s unrealistic to pressure yourself to “kill” on stage like your favourite stand up star on Netflix. Of course, you want to do the best job you possibly can, but setting high very high expectations can give you stress or pressure, and be counterproductive. Have the self-love to set realistic expectations. The first time you go on stage, more realistic goals could be: actually making it to the stage, making your various points, pausing and enjoying yourself.

2) Prepare your performance

The best strategy when going up on stage to tell jokes is to prepare. Professional comedians make it look like they’re spontaneously coming up with the material they’re saying, as if we would follow their train of thought live. This is just an illusion of show business. Professional comedians have actually written and rehearse their acts many times. Don’t think that you will just be able to wing it with just a vague idea of what you want to say up there. You want to have allowed sufficient time to write and rehearse the performance you will be giving.

3) Set up a camera and film yourself

Filming yourself as you do your first performance will not only ensure you keep a memory of your first time on stage, it will also give you precious information to increase the quality of your future performances. When you have a recording, you will be able to have real answers to the following questions: how much was the audience actually laughing and where? what can you improve in your delivery? How can you improve the way you hold yourself on stage and move?

4) Give your story to the audience

The pressure to do well in comedy can also make you focus on getting the laughs from the audience. This is a selfish mindset, and instead, it’s better to focus on what you are giving to the audience, which is mainly a story (or several). Once you focus on what the journey of your story is and make sure you deliver it to the audience, you can really create emotional responses within your audience that will eventually lead them to laughter. On the contrary, if the audience feels that you want something from them, love and laughter, it will stress them and make them enjoy your performance less. This is why it’s very important to go with the mindset to give.

5) Focus on your friends in the audience

In your first performances, it can be daunting to worry about strangers, so it’s much easier to put your attention to your friends in the audience. They can carry you through your first performance. If you can, ask a friend to come along and see you at your first performance. If you do not have anyone, try to spot the friendliest audience member before you go on stage, or the person who seems the most open to you while you are on stage. Focus on communicating to these people first. 

How well you do or don’t at your first gig will not be an indication of whether you make it as a comedian. So even though your first time on stage is something you will always remember, it actually will have little consequences on your future as a professional communicator. This is why you can relax and enjoy it as much as you can. If you want full on lessons on writing, rehearsing, choosing topics for jokes, and many other skills of comedy, check out the Comedy Crash Course.