Let’s assume that there are two comedians performing five minute sets at a comedy club.
The first comedian averages 18 seconds of laughter each performing minute.
The second comedian averages 5 seconds of laughter each performing minute.
Which comedian is funnier?
Let me give you a hint of just how much funnier one is over the other…
A comedian who can only generate 5 seconds of laughter per minute is bombing (which should be called audience abuse or publicly humiliating oneself).
Any comedian who is generating an average of 18+ seconds of laughter per minute is performing at headliner level.
While the scenario I have presented and the question that I ask may seem painfully obvious…
There are folks that can’t seem to grasp Comedy Evaluator Pro and how powerful it really is for establishing performance benchmarks and for performance improvement — on a minute-by-minute basis.
Now let me ask a more important question:
Let’s assume that you are a new comedian. Which level of laughter would you rather have when you step on the stand-up comedy stage — 5 seconds of laughter each minute or 18 seconds of laughter each minute?
Seems to me a prudent comedy artist would want to know which minutes of their act aren’t generating 18 or more seconds of laughter each minute.
And while there may be a number of considerations when it comes to evaluating a comedian, the most important consideration is — and will always be…
Could that comedian kill the audience?
I think there are a number of less-than-funny comedians who are willing to aggressively grasp at anything ELSE besides laughter generation that they want to believe matters equally if not more.
But if the butts in the seats aren’t laughing their rear ends off…
It doesn’t matter how great a comedian’s “character” is.
It doesn’t matter how deep and moving the “message” a comedian may have to offer.
It doesn’t matter if the comedian’s material is “cutting edge”.
If the audience isn’t laughing or laughing little, the comedian is bombing. End of story.
As I have said over and over…
Simply use Comedy Evaluator Pro to measure the seconds of laughter per minute of generated by ANY popular or “household name” comedian. I already know that they will generate an average of 18+ seconds of laughter for each stand-up comedy performing minute — without fail.
And a new comedian CAN work at headliner level very quickly — just check out these Success Stories.
For more information about Steve Roye, author of this blog and the Killer Stand-up Comedy System, click here.
One of the most basic ways that a comedian can review their stand-up comedy act for performance improvement is to simply count the number of laughs generated each minute they are on stage.