One thing I know about stand-up comedy beyond a shadow of a doubt is this:
Individuals who actually have comedy talent tend to struggle needlessly because of their own false perceptions when it comes to developing and delivering stand-up comedy material that actually works on stage.
Let me show you how to spot a stand-up comedy rookie in a heartbeat — someone who has probably never even been on a stand-up comedy stage, but seems to know definitively how the stand-up comedy “writing” process works.
Below is a comment submitted on this blog. If you subscribe to what this individual perceives as accurate or factual as it relates to “writing” comedy material that is delivered to LIVE stand-up comedy audiences…
Then you too are probably destined to take the most difficult path possible (like most others) when it comes to generating big laughs on the stand-up comedy stage (and I explain exactly why in my comments that follow):
Stand-up Comedy Rookie Comment
I think there definitely is room to study “how to write a punchline” not that I disagree with you because I thought your interactive writing guide freebee was great.
It’s just that I read the IWG then I read “how to write and sell your sense of humor” by Gene Perret (two very different approaches to comedy writing) and the latter has really has allowed me to be able to write jokes (from my natural sense of humor) out of thin air – funny ones.
What you’re doing here is great but I don’t think you should dismiss all other methods. A comedian that is unable to write a joke out of thin air (the correct way – and there is a correct way to do it) is missing out on a large aspect of their comedy writing exploration. I have applied your method AND ‘gag writing’ methods and use them both to great effects.
I understand you are trying to sell a product and I appreciate that. Just saying…
Whether someone buys what I have to offer doesn’t change the issues at hand or the RESULTS comedians want to get on stage. Subsequently…
I will continue to categorically dismiss ALL so-called “conventional” methods when it comes to developing stand-up comedy material intended to be PERFORMED and not merely READ from a piece of paper.
Related Video Update: Do You Know This Secret About Stand-up Comedy Material?
Now if you really want to know the brutal truth about why the person who made that ill informed comment above is a totally lost stand-up comedy rookie…
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For more information about Steve Roye, author of this blog and the Killer Stand-up Comedy System, click here.
One of the very first things that I notice about new and prospective comedians is that they are driven to “write jokes” (in the literal sense) in order to try to command the big laughs on stage.