Aim to Make People Laugh when You Learn Standup Comedy

Standup comedy could be punishing. You should make sure your audience is having a fun time even if you are not actually feeling good. Whether you are sick or healthy, happy or sad, or lively or sleepy, it would be your ultimate job to make people laughing. The crowd in every performance could be equally punishing. You may be facing a hostile crowd, who would aim to make you lose face by making you feel you are not actually liked. As you learn standup comedy and intend to make a career in staging standup comedy acts, you should remain focused.

Many new standup comedians fail because of lack of necessary focus. Instead of aiming to make people laugh, they just intend to keep people in company and mostly, to earn money. Yes, standup comedians need money above all. But seasoned and committed performers prioritize making people laugh over earning a decent and hefty living. Not all standup comedy performers would remain standing for that commitment.

They say it is harder to make people laugh than to make them cry. There is truth to it. Humor is relative and it varies from one person to another. You may seem funny to some people but not to others. Thus, it is just amazing how many standup comedians are able to make most, if not all, of people in a crowd laugh. Doing so may look easy. But as you hold the microphone and stand up there for your ‘show,’ you would certainly realize that you have nothing but the mic and your racing heartbeats.

It is just normal for any standup comedian to feel nervous. This is not unique to beginners. Even seasoned comedians feel nervous in every performance. However, good standup comedians are able to make use of this nervousness to their advantage. They usually attest that the best way to overcome pounding heartbeats is to make people laugh. As you learn standup comedy, strive to make people laugh. You would be surprised how your nervousness and jitters would effectively subside when you see the audience laughing.

You could use your natural sense of humor in making people choke in laughter. It is a must for every standup comedian to possess a natural sense of humor. It could be further developed. If you have that gift, you would be able to make every unlikely remark from the audience turn to become a part of your antic. For instance, if a man suddenly screams to you “You look pathetic,” you may turn to him and respond, “Yes, since birth.” Look at how the rest of the audience would react. Such a reaction would surely bring the house down in laughter.

Lastly, to make people laugh, strive to be yourself. You may have a hard time assuming a different personality. You could not be anybody. But you could always capitalize in making yourself funny and interesting. Pay attention to this factor when you learn standup comedy.

Ways to Boost Confidence to Learn Standup Comedy

One of the most important things that you need to take care of if you want to learn standup comedy is your confidence. This is the only way that you can face the audience to deliver your act as effortlessly as possible. If you think that you are funny and that you can create humorous lines in a jiffy, do not let your shyness get in the way for you to dream of becoming a comedian. To get you started, here are some tips that you can follow in order to overcome the shadow of what’s stopping you to let it all out.

1. You have to learn how to express to people who you really are. People will watch you because they believe that you have the talent and that you will be worthy of the price that they have to pay to see you perform. They would want to see a real person at the stage who is telling their views about certain people, things and happenings through their own humorous version. They will easily get bored if after they have seen you for some minutes or so, they still cannot get who you are. It will be hard to tell them jokes or make them laugh if they don’t have a clue as to whom these are coming from.

For example, if you are going to relay some funny incidents about gay couples, some people might get offended, if you won’t explain that you are in the same situation or you have experienced how it’s like or you have friends who relayed to you such story. You need to constantly inject insights about yourself to be able to continuously form a connection with those who are watching you perform.

2. If you still haven’t experienced how it’s like to perform in front of an audience who do not know anything about you, it is high time that you step out of your comfort zone. It’s a good training experience to try out some jokes to your family and friends every once in a while, but if you really want to know how it feels like to be on stage, you have to go a bit farther. You can start by frequenting open mike sessions at various bars. Before you go to the place, prepare a skit and practice how you want to tell it to an audience. Once you are there and you have the mike, give it your best and make the performance something that you will be proud about. You never know, but there are many standup comedians that were discovered at these venues.

In any kinds of jobs or challenges that you will choose to face in life, it is not enough that you are witty or you know a lot about what you are doing, or in this case, you are naturally funny. To learn standup comedy, you have to develop your personality and learn ways to boost your confidence , so that you can give your best whenever you’re asked to perform.

What to Do to Learn Standup Comedy

You think that you have talent in making people laugh, so why don’t you use this to your advantage and learn standup comedy? Aside from taking this a step higher by becoming a professional, you can utilize what you have learned on personal events or parties that you have organized.

Now that you are set about what you want to achieve, what do you need to do to learn the act? Here are some tips that you can adapt to help you in the process.

1. It is a good thing if you also have the skills in writing comedic skits and script, but you must not stop there. Try to read the lines that you have written, which you think are very funny. You can record yourself while doing this or say it out loud in front of an audience. You will realize that when you voice out what you have written, it won't sound as funny as it seemed to be while you were still reading it. The reason for this is that the manner that you talk is very much different from how you write dialogues and scenes.

This doesn't mean that you cannot use the material on a standup act. You just have to learn how to verbalize the jokes through the use of proper body language, tone impact and voice inflection. These factors play a great role in making the whole act effective and funny that could help you generate laughter from those who are watching you perform.

2. It will help to watch your favorite performers and learn from how they do their acts. You may realize that the pros use certain techniques to make their performances effective and funny. They may exaggerate a lot, use double entendre, distort their faces and do many other things to hook their audience to what they are saying.

You can also try to use these techniques in doing your performances, but you must not solely rely into these. As you practice the act and how you intend to perform, you will also develop your own techniques that will help you become better with what you are doing. When you are still starting out, it will be best if you are going to practice how to deliver your jokes in your most natural way. Do not focus yet on what techniques would you like to apply on your jokes because if that would happen, it will appear as if you are trying too hard. Instead, you should learn how to relay your messages with the audience as if they are your friends and your main goal is to make them laugh.

While you are still trying to learn standup comedy, you should experience life to the fullest. Learn various things, go places and see the sights. Try to observe how other people react to things and be always updated about the news around you and all over the globe. All these will help you produce better, funnier and relevant jokes.

Vital Pointers When You Want to Learn Standup Comedy

There are many resources that you will find once you begin your search about how to learn standup comedy. It doesn't mean that after reading all these, you will be able to hone the craft immediately. It takes time and lots of practice before you can even try doing this in front of a big audience. It will help a lot if you really have the talent and you are naturally funny. If this is the case, these pointers will help you in starting out with what you want to become.

1. You should always be updated about news around the globe. Most of the time, comedians get their materials from famous personalities, like politicians or actors, even ordinary people who are making it into the headlines. You can either imitate them and inject humors to what they are going through or you can try to tell your version of the story in, of course, funny way.

2. Help yourself to remember things. There are many incidences and experiences that you will witness everyday, which you can use on your comedic acts. If there is anything that strikes you as funny and memorable, make sure that you write it down while you can still remember what happened and what made you laugh. To achieve this, it is very advisable that you bring notebook or any paper and pen with you wherever you go. You never know when you will see something that is worthy to include on your list, so you have to be always prepared with something where you are going to collect all these funny incidents.

3. You should help boost your own confidence to prepare for what you want to become in the future. To start with, you can be more sociable with people. This way, you will learn how to mingle with different kinds of attitudes and you will also know more about the various personalities and how they react differently to the same things.

Another great tip that can help you give your confidence its needed boost is by going on open mic gatherings. You can prepare your skit, which you can finish in a few minutes. Once you are standing in front of an audience and you already have the floor and the mic, give your best performance. You can do this more frequently once you get the hang of it until you are ready to take this to a different level, to a larger group or to a bigger venue.

4.  You should be very considerate about the jokes that you use on your performances. As much as possible, do not touch certain topics, like religion or customs in various countries or how certain races look like. You only want to make people laugh and the least thing that you would want to happen is to get in trouble for being insensitive.

As you learn standup comedy, you should also be aware of the responsibilities that come with it. Always give your best, but make sure that you don't let anything get out of hand to the point that you are already hurting other people's feelings.