One of the very first things a prospective comedian should do is to find out where every possible performing opportunity is in their area.

While a comedian can do much off stage to prepare for success on stage…

It is on the stage where a comedian grows and develops as an entertainer.

How fast that happens depends on two primary things, beyond having the knowledge to develop stand-up comedy material.

Do you know what those two things are?

Let’s cover that now if you are serious about taking a serious shot at stand-up comedy…

1. The number of performances a comedian accumulate and…

2. The speed at which a comedian can make intelligent adjustments to their act for maximum laughter generation in the shortest time possible

I have said for years that the speed at which a comedian can progress is directly related to the number of performances that they accumulate and learn from.

The availability of stage time (ie: comedy open mics) varies for every different demographic area. In some areas, there may be 3 or more performing opportunities each week.

In other areas, it may be difficult to get stage time twice a month without extensive travel.

Note: Comedians who can deliver a corporate clean or family friendly act have MANY more performing opportunities in ANY demographic area because they are not restricted to just performing at comedy club open mic nights.

No matter what, keep this in mind:

As a comedian you are tasked in the beginning to develop a comedy entertainment product that generates a minimum of 18 seconds of laughter (average) for each performing minute (PAR Score 30).

That entertainment product is you, your skill and your stand-up comedy act.

Performing for as many audiences as possible is top priority in order to develop your comedy product quickly.

But getting stage time is almost worthless if a comedian is simply using a “hit or miss” approach to magically discover what works well and what does not.

Let me cut right to the chase — comedians who want to progress quickly MUST know how to evaluate their act for:

  • Tightening and shortening set-ups
  • Adding punchlines
  • Discarding material that doesn’t generate enough laughs
  • Rearranging material for maximum impact
  • Identifying seconds of laughter generated each minute
  • Correcting unnatural or misaligned body language when delivering material

And the list goes on and on…

Otherwise, the time it takes to develop as a comedian who can generate 18+ seconds of laughter each minute (headliner level) will be greatly increased no matter how many performances that comedian can quickly rack up.

Let me say this — there is no better performance evaluation tool than Comedy Evaluator Pro.

Click here to read an email I got from a customer who delivered a headliner level performance on his very first time on stage (he provided a minute-by-minute breakdown of his performance using Comedy Evaluator Pro).

Stand-up comedy is like most anything in life…

There’s a hard way and an easy way to do things. I’ll let you decide what’s best for you because…

As a professional comedian, you are an independent operator — the true king or queen of a one person show business domain — offering a comedy entertainment product that is as unique as a fingerprint.

You are the writer, producer, director and star of your own stand-up comedy show.

Subsequently…

The only person you can blame for lack of progress as a comedian is the person in the mirror.

For more information about Steve Roye, author of this blog and the Killer Stand-up Online Course, click here.

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