There are many schools of thought on what is appropriate to wear on stage – and the answer really depends on your act. Dave Chappelle should not dress the same as David Letterman because their acts are so different. But whatever your act is, you should be aware that your clothing makes a huge impressionRead more
More and more, I’ve been hearing comics crowing about how they get up every night of the week. In cities like New York and LA, it’s common to hear talk about doing 15-20 sets in a week. And my question is, so what? Don’t misunderstand – there is no substitute for stage time. You needRead more
If you’re a comedian, you will be heckled. The vast majority of the time, heckling isn’t “You suck!” or something like that. I define heckling as anything that obviously interrupts the show. Even someone accidentally stepping on a punch line by yelling “we love you!” still steps on the punch line, which prevents aRead more
There are very few indisputable rules in comedy. One of them is that your voice has to be honest throughout your set. Whether your voice is really you, a heightened version of you, or a completely different character, it needs to be honest. As soon as one joke contradicts another, you become less believable toRead more
There are two basic types of open-mics: ones with “civilians” in attendance, and ones that only have other comedians. For the purposes of this post, I’m just speaking about the ones with other comedians, as there isn’t much difference between an open mic with civilians and a regular show. The purpose of an open-mic isRead more
1) If you’re going to steal a joke, start with a bit that wasn’t on the front page of reddit 2) Don’t recite the bit word for word. Throw in the occasional “Am I right?” and “I’m telling you!” so it sounds as hacky as the rest of your material. Be true to your voice.Read more
I know it seems obvious. Most comics know that this is the most obvious thing in comedy. But those that do not, well, they REALLY do not. The light tells you when your shift is over, and you NEED to respect that. Running the light is the quickest way to never get booked again. SomeRead more
Today’s “be the best comic you can be” business tip is about etiquette. There are lots of unwritten rules when you’re a comic. Here’s a few of em: 1) Any feature that doesn’t ask the headliner if its okay to sell merch is a dick. Any headliner that says no is a bigger dick. Also,Read more