I think it is important for comedians to know how stand-up comedy videos are considered by organizations or talent professionals who are looking to book or hire stand-up comedy talent.
And it doesn’t matter if a comedian’s videos are online or in a DVD format.
But before you read what is in this article, it would be most prudent to review this related article first:
Related Article: You Kill On Stage And You Got The Video! Then This Happens…
With that said, here are some important factors every comedian should understand about stand-up comedy video recordings:
1. A video recording is a “snapshot” of a comedian’s ability to generate laughter for the live audience present at the time of the recording.
2. Laughter from the recorded live audience does not carry over during individual viewership, no matter how hard or often the laughter occurs in the video itself (see above related article for details).
3. Because of #2 above, how “funny” a comedian is or is not will usually be determined on an individual viewership basis by how closely an individual relates to the stand-up comedy material (content) being presented — not the level of laughter generated in a live performance setting.
In other words…
The recorded live audience could be laughing hysterically, while an individual viewer could be less than amused.
Stand-up comedy professionals — comedy club managers, talent agencies and booking entities understand this phenomenon.
Subsequently, they ask and answer two major performance related questions (among others) when reviewing unedited stand-up comedy videos with the intent to hire:
1. How much laughter can the comedian consistently generate in a live performing environment?
2. Will this stand-up comedy act (content, style, etc.) appeal to the audience that I am booking for?
Think of it this way — if comedy club managers, talent agencies and booking entities only hired/recommended acts that they personally liked from individual viewership of a stand-up comedy video…
Most these folks (and a lot of funny comedians) would be out of business.
A person can literally use their smartphone right now if they have a performance video to review to easily determine their comedic strength (laughter generation ability) in the live performing environment (recorded). No special skills or any kind of expense is needed — all you need is the information provided in this free report:
But knowing how strong your stand-up comedy routine is in a live audience setting cannot answer this question:
Will this stand-up comedy act (content, style, etc.) appeal to the audience that I am booking for?
That aspect of hiring a comedian will always be determined by the booking professional who is hiring/recommending for an act for a show — knowing from experience what their target audience will appreciate when it comes to stand-up comedy material (content, style, etc.).
HUGE HINT: As a comedian, I would NEVER send/submit a stand-up comedy video to any booking entity that didn’t show me delivering at least 18 seconds of laughter each minute (average) — in any unedited, continuous clip.
Related article: Setting Standards For Stand-up Comedians
As the saying goes — you don’t get a second chance at a first impression. 🙂
