As I think the kids say now…POY
post of the year. I laughed HARD at this line.

And now, with a flourish, is my latest bit:
I was not really a “rugged” kid. You know the ones I mean. Those kids that couldn’t WAIT at recess or gym class for those games where they would just come smashing as hard as they could into the pile of other children like Laurence Taylor just as hard as they could possibly could, three or four other kids, now they gotta go see the nurse.…man, I hated those kids. Too fucking rugged.

I definitely think there’s a difference between US and UK stand-up that would allow a reality show like Comedy Boot Camp to be made in Britain.
(Not to say we haven’t imported too many of our own crappy reality shows to the rest of the world)

The stand-up scene seems much more competitive and hard-edged in the States, whereas British stand-ups seems more relaxed and whimsical in comparison, so I don’t think the gung-ho approach would work over here in Blighty.

(What I’m trying to say is I can’t picture Eddie Izzard in army fatigues presenting Comedy Territorial Army on the BBC anytime soon – though nothing suprises me anymore)

I’ve just started doing stand-up and did a one day course before getting on stage because I didn’t feel confident enough to just get on stage. I found the course useful because I wasn’t expecting it to teach me how to be funny. I met some great people who were in the same position as me and we all got to do the same gig together the following week. I’m so glad that was my first gig, otherwise I’d have probably gone straight on at a gong show, stuttered my way through till I was put out of my misery, and never done stand-up again. Of course, that happened as soon as I did a gong show but I’ve got the positive first experience to fall back on.

My course was in England though, and the guy was acutely embarrassed at being a stand-up teacher. I don’t imagine anyone teaching comedy in the states would be so apologetic about it.

Although I’ve been tempted to sign up for a stand up class, I’ve never actually taken one. I’ve done a lot of reading about the comics I look up to like Patton Oswalt, Carlin and Seinfeld said they were a waste of time, money and talent so I never took one.
It occurred to me pretty early on in the writing process, that writing a joke is taking something that you do naturally every day at random times and artificially harnessing that funny part of you to write a joke. I don’t really know how to do that yet, and I’m pretty damn sure that there’s not one person on the planet that can teach me that. When it comes right down to it, if you want to succeed at stand up (or anything really) you have to learn to discipline yourself to carry something out to your full potential.
The whole standup comedy class reminded me about a documentary I saw on CBC awhile back called “Cracking Up” about a social worker that teaches standup comedy as a form of therapy for the mentally ill.
There are people that want to try standup not because they want to make a career out of it, but because they might have their own personal reasons for wanting to give it a shot. I think for those that want this casual standup experience, a class might be a good way to go. However, if you want to pursue a career/hobby in standup the only way to do it is to get your ass to work, put your nuts on and go onstage.

Stage time is the best workshop imaginable.

And so much goes into it besides just the material. How you dress, how you present yourself, how you use the stage, the mike, all that. How can that be taught?

I will say this about writing… I know comics who have been at it a while, and are funny guys, who struggle to develop much new material because of one elementary hang-up: whenever they sit down to write, they want a finished bit on draft #1.

It doesn’t matter if you write comedy, screenplays, novels, or assignments for freshman comp (which I teach as my day job), the approach is essentially the same: write a lot and don’t worry about the final product at first. Most of us end up tossing – or at least completely rethinking – more than half of what we put to paper or try on stage, especially during the first few years. If you only write when you think you have a workable idea and give up when it doesn’t shape up into comedy gold right away, that’s a slow hard road.

Personally, I try to write every day about whatever subject interests me at the moment, and I don’t worry too much if I don’t find the funny immediately. I’d rather toss 90% of a hundred-page notebook than 90% of a few lines I jot down only when I’m “inspired.”

Inspiration is for kids who write shitty emo/goth poetry.