Ever since Joe Rogan outed Carlos Mencia as a joke thief, the internet has been looking for their next victim. I am an outspoken critic of comedians (and civilians) who steal intellectual property and pass it off as their own. However, while joke thieves do exist and need to be dealt with accordingly (Like JoshRead more
Anyone on twitter has seen comedians play hashtag games. Many come from @Midnight, others come from promotional companies, and some are spontaneous. But all of them can help you as a comedian. Hashtag games help you sharpen your skills and get exposure, and I recommend you play them at least once a week, if notRead 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
Not everyone is going to like everything you say. If you like a sunny day, someone else likes the rain. If you like puppies, some one else is a cat person. When you take a stand, someone will disagree with it, always. And that’s okay. But let’s talk about you taking the RIGHT stand. ThisRead 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
Everyone writes differently. Some people sit down and force themselves to write, while others only write by riffing on stage. Most of us are somewhere in between. However you write, we’ve all had a desire to come up with something new, only to draw a complete blank. Here are a few methods I have heardRead more