Since many people consider getting involved in stand-up comedy because they have the noticeable ability to cause others to laugh in everyday conversations with relative ease…
I have some specific questions that you may want to review regarding the comedy talent you have right now.
Let’s get started:
Are you intending to use the comedy talent you have already developed or are you planning to develop some sort of new or different comedy talent for stand-up comedy?
The reason I ask this question is because if you are under the impression that you can develop comedy talent that you don’t already have, then you should also be able to take a class on how to grow back adult teeth that are missing.
Your sense of humor and the way you express your sense of humor was developed as a result of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of personal interactions and conversations with other people over years from the time you started talking as a child — with family, friends, classmates, acquaintances, neighbors, associates, coworkers, etc.
In order to develop a different or better sense of humor and a different way of expressing that sense of humor, you would need erase your past experiences and countless conversations that you have had that ultimately resulted in the comedy talent you have now and start over with a different family, friends, classmates, acquaintances, coworkers, etc. over years.
There is a Special Report that you don’t want to miss that specifically covers the differences between causing others to laugh off stage and causing a stand-up audience to laugh. Spoiler alert: The differences are few and not what you would probably think they are.
So short of brain transplant surgery or some sort of futuristic means to “download” a much more effective sense of humor for stand-up comedy, you have all the comedy talent that you are ever going to have.
Subsequently it seems most prudent for a person wanting to take a shot at stand-up comedy to use and apply ALL of the natural comedy talent they have which is already developed, just like they do when they are talking with others in everyday life.
Which brings me to the next question I have…
Did you develop the comedy talent you have by passing notes or other written materials to people you encountered in life over the years?
No, you say? Well, if that’s not the way you developed your existing comedy talent, then how come most people believe a stand-up comedy routine is written like a letter or a book report?
Is that because they believe writing and talking are the same form of communication and are completely interchangeable? Or did they just assume a stand-up comedy routine is “written” in a literal sense from watching interviews of comedians on TV?
The reason I ask that is because you can use any search engine, type in the term “differences between writing and talking” (no quotation marks) and literally find tens of millions of pages that detail the significant differences between writing and talking.
Now as far as stand-up comedy goes, if you want to see what happens when a new comedian tries to use a “written word” approach instead of a “spoken word” approach when it comes to stand-up comedy material, simply sit through ANY comedy open mic anywhere on the planet.
You will experience many really talented people flopping at the maximum extent possible.
The bottom line:
You either have ample comedy talent to do well as a comedian or you don’t. Most people plenty of comedy talent, some people don’t. But either way, you can’t learn to have comedy talent you don’t already have.
What makes you a funny person in everyday life involves much more than just words alone, whether you choose to believe that or not.
Ideally, you should want to use ALL of the comedy talent you have developed in the most concentrated way possible when it comes to developing a stand-up comedy act — considering you need to be able to generate 4-6 solid audience laughs each minute you are on stage to get anywhere as a comedian.
Hint: You may not be aware of this but when you cause others to laugh in everyday life you are already using “stand-up comedy techniques” that are particular to you, your sense of humor and how you express your sense of humor.
Should you determine that the “written word” and the “spoken word” are the same and it’s only the words and sentences alone that cause laughter to happen (like most people do)…
Just don’t be surprised when you can’t seem to generate the laughs you want when you step on stage with jokes crafted from thin air that seem to “read” funny.
Hint: Audiences don’t “read” stand-up comedy material, just like the people you make laugh in everyday life don’t “read” your stories, statements, comebacks, opinions, etc. when you are talking with them.
If you can grasp what I have presented in this article, I have a free Stand-up Comedy Fundamentals Course on this blog that you will want to take a close look at, especially if you are looking to take your comedy talent to a professional level and not take years to do it.
After that if you still believe that writing and talking are the exact same form of communication and can be used interchangeably at will without any further consideration, remember this:
You NEVER seem to hear about someone experiencing talker’s block. Odd huh?