Does This Sound Rehearsed?
March 27, 2008 · Print This Article
After being stood up by three different guys like a whore on prom night, Brian is alone behind the mic today and he’s as bitter - as a whore on prom night.
Topics on the day include rehearsing material - know when to say when, music vs. comedy - The senior circuit, is organizing the jokes in your act overrated, why hacks are so fucking funny, and why comics shouldn’t take requests. Pardon me, can you dump your boyfriend, it’s messing up my unrealistic fantasies. Thanks!
Email: brianmcomedy@gmail.com and give us a call on 206-203-4692
Hey… I got to hear my joke on the show!!!
— Dennis doin’ his victory dance
So this has been on my mind a lot recently and I’m not sure about the answer, so I thought I’d ask the comedians on the site.
Do you think it’s better to get a lot of stage time in your own hometown before trying to break into the scenes in NY/LA or is it better to just start out in one of those cities right off the bat?
I live in the Washington DC area, and I’m lucky enough to have an open mike available almost every night of the week, but I know eventually I’m going to have to get noticed by club owners in NY or LA anyway once I move there. Basically I’m asking if it’s more important to get a lot of stage time first or to build a good reputation in one of the big cities first? Thanks.
P.S. I have about a year and 15 good minutes under my belt, but I figure it doesn’t hurt to think ahead.
Good question. I’ll probably use this as a future topic for the show, but a short answer, I was almost 3 years in and had been working the road for 2 before I moved to NY and it wasn’t nearly enough. Even when you’re good in NY/LA it doesn’t matter, you have to be consistently great. You’ll still get shit on, but at least if you get your shot it’s more likely that you’ll cash in.
I’m no expert but I think you could compare a comedy career to other things. A high school kid jumping to the NBA, a super genius going to college at 13…ect…You certainly can do it, and others have before you…but its probably not the best route for everyone.
I think if you have open mics in DC ( a huge city compared to most in the US) I would start their. If you are truly great, you will be noticed right away no matter what city you are in. When you do make the jump to NY and LA you will be ready and confident about your ability, and not second guessing your decisions. Best of luck.
Hey, I just downloaded the Paul F. Tompkins CD. It is one of the funniest CDs I have ever heard in my life. Tears are streaming down my face. You should all get it. Tompkins has, in less than an hour, rocketed toward the top of my Favorite Comics of All-Time list.
Brian, Mike, and whoever else cares
I had Gallagher as my number 1 so I thought id got to his defense as well.
As we all know and agree on, he was successful. Yes, some of his stuff became “hacky” after a while but as we have said before, the public as a whole, likes “hacky”, until they realize it’s “hacky”. This is the case with Gallagher, and is becoming the case with Dane cook.
No one understands that this guy was genuinely funny. As you have noticed and said several times, he had a hook, which ultimately lead to his downfall. As far as what was said about him on tv, I wouldn’t know, I haven’t been watching T.V. lately.
But I do know this, at the peek of his career; he was successful, funny, and very rich. As far as I’m concerned, keeping in mind the audience he appealed to most, that is well worth a place in any top 10 list.
–John–
It’s not just that smashing shit became hacky. Did you actually hear the one joke he managed to get out in the clip I played last week? It was about kids needing to pull their pants up. That was hack when I was a kid and used to sag my pants. I don’t even think kids do that anymore. If you have strong nostalgia for him I guess I can understand that, but he’s completely unraveled. I don’t see many people with Dice on the top of their list in ‘08.
I used to *love* Gallagher..back in the day. I haven’t seen anything of him since his twin brother took over the act
…but the material that he was doing at the time was smart and funny - forget the Sledge-o-matic finales.
I remember things like his promises when running for President and the origin of the alphabet.
But, oh yeah, about this show…
I think whether or not some comedians admit it, they rehearse - at least to some degree. Whether or not they stand in front of a mirror, friends, the family pet…is a different story, but I don’t see how you wouldn’t work out the phrasing/timing in your head repeatedly until you found what works the best.
George Carlin is a perfect example of someone who memorizes their entire set and just goes through it like a monologue - but that’s his style; and he’s one of (if not, “the”) best at what he does. He tours around with his material and refines it to his perfect set depending on the audience reactions, so when you finally see that HBO special, that’s the finished product of his act at that time.
Great show!
unfortunitly, i tend toi stick by the comics i liked first. not to mention my mom hates him, so i like him even more.
So, after listening to this week’s show and reading some of the comments, this seems like the time to post about my recent trip to New York, and specifically, some unscientific research I decided to do for my comedy class while I was there.
I remembered from a show a while back Brian talking about how wanna-be stand-up comedians have to pay their dues by standing on the street corners hawking shows and drawing people in to the clubs in order to get to perform themselves. So, I sought some of them out to interview and take information back to my students. Some of what they told me may answer some of the questions I’ve seen above.
I talked to 10 comics (or comic-wanna-bes) in all. Only one of them was a native New Yorker. The other nine had moved there within the past four years to pursue their dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian, with half of them having moved there in the past year. Needless to say, none of their dreams have come through. Two are on the verge of quitting and going home to look for real jobs. But I digress.
The first question I asked was what advice do you have for a budding young comic who is about to take the stage for the first time. They all said their first experience was a complete disaster, but they would still do it again because it was such a learning experience. Some said practice your routine a million times; one said he felt comfortable winging it. He’s also been hawking shows on the sidewalk for four years, so take his advice for what it’s worth.
One thing all of the out-of-towners agreed on, however, was they wish they had spent more time in small towns before coming to New York. One guy came after he won an open-mic contest, taking that as verification he was ready for the big-time. He admitted he was no where near ready, and he wished he had spent at least another year or more honing his craft. He called New York “cut-throat.”
Most of them said they were working two or three jobs to support their “comedy habit,” plus standing on the street corners. It didn’t sound to pleasant. One of the poor pathetic souls has to wear a Elmo suit three times a week for another job he had. However, he said that job had provided him some comedy gold for his act.
I tried to repay all 10 of them. I took their fliers, and went to seven of the shows they were hawking with their discount fliers. The three shows I couldn’t attend I pushed the fliers off on students looking for something to do, so at least I helped their numbers a bit.
More than one pro comic has told me that - unless you’re 19 and can put up with anything - a good rule of thumb is to not move to NY or LA until you’re invited (I don’t mean by the majority of the NYC population, I mean you have some kind of halfway decent contact).
I’ve also heard that, in LA at least, no one in the “industry” who’s out scouting around clubs for talent has the desire to nurture a promising comic over time. You’re either good or they put a line through your name on their little clip board. And if you want/need to improve as a comic ahead of being in a Verizon ad, why be in LA in the first place? You can do that in Indy.
I did two open mic’s in LA a couple years ago when I went to visit my brother, one at The Comedy Store and one at The Ha Ha. The Store show was hands down the worst open mic I have ever been a part of. Three quarters of the comics were certifiable lunatics and just awful. None of them were very friendly to me or each other, and they whispered criticism about whoever was on stage. The few who were obviously working comics were all identical, TV-friendly pretty-boys. One guy opened with this: “Actually, I’m not a comic, I’m an actor.” My first thought was, “Great, act like you’re funny.”
The Ha Ha was a better show. The owner was friendly, as were a couple of the 27 comics on the list, but the vast majority of them stood outside before and after their own sets. That is something I absolutely FUCKING hate. I’ll take a stroll to the lobby now and then when someone is just up there screwing off, but I watch the show, clap, order a drink or two, tip the wait staff (especially the hot ones), you know, the things a club owner/manager might appreciate from the people using his or her stage.
I have officially digressed. Where was I? Oh yeah, fuck LA.
Actually, I’m not a comic, I’m a message board whore.
RE: sounding rehearsed:
I saw Doug Stanhope last night in Indy, and for a lesson in the illusion of spontaneity, it’s hard to do better than Doug. It’s also a great lesson in developing a work ethic. I did a couple guest spots with him in April ‘07 while he was warming up to “No Refunds,” and the fucker already has a new hour.
Fuck.
On top of that, he’s one of those guys that will often hang out after the show and meet fans, drink beers, and swap hooker stories. He’d probably sign your dick. Go see him.
I got a question. A bunch of people are talking about places not to get started if new into comedy- namely New York and LA. But where are places with a good open mic system in place, where it is possible to get a lot of stage time, without the cut throatness of the aforementioned places? Because Hawaii is a crappy place to get started- one comedy club with an open mic on island, with requirements for very clean sets. So I was wondering where are good towns/cities to start off? This would be helpful because when I’m looking towards applying for college, so I’m curious which areas might help support my habit, without having to work two/three jobs to live in NY/LA.
As someone who just went through applying for college, Mike, whether or not the college is near a town that has open mics should _not_ be part of your decision. Colleges themselves are havens for open mics, though you may need to be the one to start it. You don’t need to put any extra thought into it.
As far as rehearsing, I try to get my act down so I can say it once, without stopping, without thinking. For me, it needs to just roll off the tongue so I can think about it if I want to, but I don’t have to.
I want that base of knowing my act, so in my mind, I can notice different things in the audience (that guy is bald, that woman laughs weird). Things I can make improv lines out of if I need to.
But I try not to do more than that. But I never do less–not anymore. It’s scary to be on stage and blank. More so than a heckler–much more so.
For my money, that may be the best series of posts we’ve ever had. Nice job everyone. Keep bringing the quality.
Some tips to get rid of the fear of going blank:
- Prepare some lines
- Admit that you have forgotten everything you’ve ever known…
- Take some improvisation lessons
- Reframe the experience: You’re not going blank, your mind just offers you an opportunity to rehearse your newly acquired improskills .
- Try stuff like Tapping (EFT), NLP, Hypnosis, anything which might help.
- Take some Public Speeching lessons
And now for something completely different:
Hello everyone,
my name is Jan and I’m a listener to this show for quite a long time, but have never been active on the message board, except for obviously reading it.
Just you know English isn’t my first language and if something I’ve written isn’t understandable, read it again, cause I certainly won’t rewrite it. I had a hard time writing it the first time so it will be even more satisfying if you have an even harder time to read it.
- Insert mean laughter here -
My background: I’m from Switzerland, about 20 years old, an improvisation player and a huge comedy fan. If you call now, we will be happy to ship him for free and even include a “I’m always desperately trying to be funny!” - Shirt to the package. Call NOW!
Now I have something special for you:
A german comedian doing a set in a New York Comedy Club.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZYJis5kK-Y
Funny, not funny?
first up ; Mike, i gotta agree with charles, open mike systes dont really go with college. take me for example. the town i go to school in has one open mic i know about. unfourtanetly its more of a folk/hipster coffee house venue. but god bless em they give me stage time. also most colleges to my knowledge have a comedy club/troupe. im in the midst of trying to start one but it wont be going untill next year.
and lastly: I found this on the web, and please i urge you to look at it.
http://thecomicscomic.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/03/29/unfunniestcomic.jpg
im not going to say anything about it, im just going to say some of the names confused me. ill be back in a few days to see what some of you thought.
Seems like a who’s who of “it” comics to hate.
First of all, I think those brackets are horrible. Who was seeding this?
Second, I’m jumping on the bandwagon of calling comics from the blue collar tour/ dane cook hacky, hacky. (I want to learn how to speak like Jan *insert annoying emotican* jk)
Third, I happen to really like Titus, so I’m biased against the list.
Additionally, I think comedy is subjective, and its stupid to think that any of these comedians are really THAT unfunny. The really unfunny guys don’t get paid. A painfully obvious observation, but I think it deserves to be said. These guys all made their money, because they were able to make the audience laugh. I’m not saying they all used their own material, all the time, but they did make their mark, by appealing to certain crowds. Not everyone is funny to everyone in the audience, its part of the gig. This is me trying to be mature, and sound intelligent.
But how can you even compare Fallon to Jay Leno? And do people really think Christopher Titus is a hack? This is the second time I’ve seen him on a hack list and he’s one of my favorite comics.
The bracket was made by Toucher and Rich, two radio djs from WBCN-FM in Boston. So, I’m going to venture to say that this was made, in Microsoft Paint, by two guys who don’t know much, if anything about comedy, other than what the bandwagon thinks.
It’s not like this is George Carlin’s Definitive List on Hackery. This is the list from two douchebags in Massachusetts trying to be edgy radio djs.
On an unrelated comic, I liked the German comic, Michael Mettermeier.
Well, glad you liked him. He made comedy big here in the German speaking part of Europe. Probably the best known nowadays…
Sadly, all the other comedians have only German
clips on the internet, but if anyone is interested in German comedy, which is surprisingly no contradiction, feel free to ask.
I learned a great deal about English by listening to Eddie Izzard or Brian Regan, so widen your market through learning German…
Jan can I ask you a question:
Is stand-up comedy big in Germany? Because it started in America, then migrated to Australia and England.
I thought I heard rumors of stand-up popping up in the Netherlands, which I _think_ (and correct me if I’m wrong) is a bilingual country speaking English and Dutch. So, comedy switched over to the Dutch language as well.
You’re saying it’s migrated to Germany as well?
For those interested in stand-ups with English not as their first language, here is a guy from Finland, Ismo Leikola, who has performed here a lot. Very funny, and a difficult act to follow!
http://www.ismoleikola.com/media.htm
stand ups also becoming big in china and japan from what i hear.
back to my original post: alot of these comics were basically bandwagon hated comics but two names really surprised me. George Wallace and Christopher Titus . now i think Brians mentoined Wallace before since hes a vegas based comic, and the little i know of him hes one of the most well respected old schoolers around. a freind of mine once said that he was a” black jay leno whos still really funny and relevant”. that was my freind talking, not me. my only opinion is it seemed odd. and then theres christopher titus? now alot of you already know this but im a huge titus fan. his sitcom is one of the first things to get me into comedy and his album is probably in my personal top 3. but what struck me as odd is although titus is a headliner he is not nearly as well astablished as the others on the list. and whys he a hack? becuase he can joke about his horrible laife and current events? isnt that the sign of a good stand up, being able to joke about unconventional things.
also, most radio hosts know jack shit about stand up, the exceptions being Opie and Anthony and Bob and Tom and maybe Stern, maybe. I live in an area that has gone through so many shitty alt rock jocks that think theyre funny, but theyre not. why wont they stop? well all that i gotta say…for now
I disagree with the whole “wait before you move to New York and LA thing.” I think a big part of the decision is financial. If you only have 5-10 strong minutes and you’re living paycheck to paycheck off 3 jobs, then yeah of course wait before you make the big time comedy move. There’s no point in making yourself suffer when you dont have to.
But if you have a stable income or savings, then I dont see a big problem with moving. I got a stable job in New York so I’m able to hit the stage at night throughout the week with ease.
There are hundreds of places to get stage time here. Sure, I’ll wait a while to work on my sets before I perform for the big name comedy clubs and industry execs, but nothings wrong with working your craft at the much smaller venues where it wont screw you over forever if someone sees you bomb.
oh also i saw Steve Byrne’s Happy hour the other night. which means its time for more HALF ASS’ED reviews. HOORAY
ok, first off i really like steve byrne. the fact hat he’s half irish and therefore a brother in arms doesnt hurt him. but all that aside his special was one of the funnier ones i have seen in a long time. alot of his stuff is very physical but this is not to say his material relies on it. he is random, to say the least but it works for him and his delivery just clicked with me for some reason. his material was ranged which i liked, his heritage, family, cell phones, male/female strippers, rock band stereotypes, girls…there was alot about girls, and his old closer…doggy style. my personal favorite joke of the whole thing was near the end where he tells the audiance how a women hes with will never forget him(which requires the use of an acoustic guitar and two roman candles). In his own words He’s “a silly goose” and thats just the way he should be.
oh, forgot to mention this but byrne did go into a few hacky topics, but not enough to be a problem.
With regards to when is the best time to move to the ‘big markets’ like NY, Los Angeles, or London this side of the pond, there is a school of thought that says a comic is never more than a first impression amongst major talent scouts. There is a school of thought that says that comics from smaller markets have an advantage as they do all their working out he kinks in the act and finding their voice away from the prying eyes of the guys with the cheque book. Then when they have nailed it, they can come up to the big smoke as the finished act, and make a great first impression on the talent scouts. Whereas the local acts will always be remembered as that kid who dies on his arse with that hack bit about airline food. So I recon that a few years in a smaller market may be more beneficial in the long term.
With regards to a good town for comedy, I have performed in Boston (as in Mass. not Lincolnshire) a couple of times and found it a very manageable sized comedy market. A few nice smaller clubs with oppertunities for new acts and friendly bookers, and then some bigger clubs to graduate to. Plus you got the Red Sox on your doorstep so it’s all good.
Ok, guys, Germany has had a comedy circuit for years, one of my comedy mates lived in Germany for a while, and Ross Noble talked about it in his documentary series “Ross Noble goes Global” which was about him doing a world tour of his stand up. Thing is, there is a bit more lisence to do sketch and caberet. The stuff that I have had access to is often really dry and or absurdist.
As for Japan, Japan’s actually done stuff similar to stand up and Stand Up double acts, for hundreds of years. Some parts of it formalised, but they make new material for it. As for “real stand up,” yeah, there are stand up places in Japan. And not just for the ex-pat gaijan. This is something I am grateful for as it looks as if I will be living in Japan in the next couple of years.
Word.
I think Brian touched on this before, but I’m curious to know whether comics/fans prefer comedy CD’s or DVD’s.
Personally, I like the former - I’m more prone to listen to a CD multiple times than to watch a DVD more than once. First, watching a DVD is something I can’t do while driving, and I don’t care to see cut-aways to some sorority chick in the audience burying her red face in her hands. Second, I don’t like prop comics or Dane Cook and don’t need to see every tick or facial expression. The only exception to that might be someone like Lewis Black, whose vein-popping does entertain me. Ditto Brian Regan. But in both cases very little is lost in not seeing it. Oh, and Stanhope’s “Deadbeat Hero” is unique in that it’s filmed in black and white and does no crowd shots at all, though there are a couple shots of some dude on the house phone in the middle of the show.
I guess I think of CD-vs-DVD in the same way as Book-vs-Movie. My imagination will fill in where necessary.
Apparently the guys at UC Berkeley are trying to make all you comics obsolete. http://eigentaste.berkeley.edu/user/index.php The site might be slashdotted. But if you can get in, give it a shot.
huh, well that site was certainly interesting, but a website, at least to me, will never take the place of a real comic. no matter how many students they get to work on that program
In response to Dan, I also like CDs a little better. And I think for the same reason. When I’m driving or walking to class, I like to listen to comedy sometimes, and it would be a little hard with a DVD.
The argument is really video vs audio. However, it’s a bit of a flawed argument since audio isn’t better than video. All audio needs to do is not be significantly worse than video, since it’s much more convenient. So, a pro-audio stance would be pointless. Rather, a not-minding-no-video stance is more appropriate.
But, I still agree with you. As a podcast addict, I don’t mind just audio. However, I still get the specials from Comedy Central off iTunes.
Actually, since I’ve been sick for the last two weeks, I got a bunch of comedy things, putting me on a bit of a kick. Here’s what I downloaded from iTunes:
Comedy Central Presents: Lewis Black, Vince Morris, Demetri Martin, Nick Swordson, Jimmy Carr, Patton Oswalt, Brian Regan, Frank Caliendo, Patrice O’Neal, Jeff Dunham, Louis CK, Doug Stanhope, and Carlos Alazraqui.
And the Comedy Central hour specials of Demetri Martin, Person. Brian Regan, Standing Up. The Amazing Johnathan, Wrong on Every Level. Chris Titus, 5th Annual End of the World Tour. and Patton Oswalt, No Reason to Complain.
I also got Lewis Black: Rules of Engagement. And Patton Oswalt, Feelin’ Kinda Patton.
Wow, I didn’t know how behind I was on the whole comedy scene, I’m ashamed. First of all, I noticed Patton Oswalt is really good. Brian, I completely agree with you, he’s _really_ talented. I don’t know why I’m noticing it just now…
Also, Frank Caliendo and Carlos Alazraqui. Eh. Impressionists aren’t funny to me. Maybe it’s the monologist snob in me, maybe I’m bitter because an impressionist beat me in a comedy contest. Regardless, I feel like it’s not really comedy. It’s just the skill of mimicking. Sure, I’ve laughed at it, but I can never really respect an impressionist. I feel like they all do the same impressions, and it gets hacky by default. And if you try to do an “out there” impression, it’s touching the realm of exlusionary comedy.
Hm.
**I apologize for the books I’m writing, everyone. I’m realizing that I’m less of a comedy fan and more of a comedy dork.
**nothin to be ashamed of charles. oh also and i dont want to nerd out, but ive noticed that alot of people are spelling Ninck Swardson as swordson. obviously an easy mistake, and i dont want to come of as a perfectionist punk ass but i thought id just point that out.
again, NOT being a punk ass, just making a simple observation.
Those jokes were seriously horrible. Just a collection of bar jokes, and bad puns. Live comedy will live on. Hopefully.
Punk ass. Show some respect.
Best part of your post Patrick is that you spelled Swardson correct but completely butchered Nick.
ah, motherfucker, your right. god i feel like such a douchebag. dammit. ah well, i guess thats what i get, i correct someone and then i butcher one of the simplist four letter names in the english language.
anyway…i dont know if the rest of you have been following this but theres been a rivalry between dane cook and dave chapelle for the longest set record. i think cook had it recently with like seven hours and its just been broken but not by chapelle. according to punchline magazine it was broken by a arizona comic named Robby Wagner. this guy is pretty young yet he did ten hours of material. ive never heard of this guy and i dont like these superlong shows that keep coming up but if this guy was consistintly funny he must be like a comedy prodigy or something.
No one is consistently funny for 10 hours. I would imagine that Chappelle would get old after hour 5.
Hell, Dane Cook isn’t even funny for 90 minutes (citation: Rough Around the Edges, Vicious Circle)
I don’t get this whole longest set record battle between Chapelle and Cooke, doesn’t Mark Watson have that record tied up with his numerous 24 hour shows, and one 36 hour show if I am not mistaken?
Mark Watsons good, but chapelle and cook, plus this Wagner guy, would probably say its the american record. one of these days i gotta go to the edinburgh fringe festival, it looks like a great uncensored comedy venue
The Edinbrugh Fringe is the mecca for all of the totally sweet live stuff in the world, English speaking or not. You have to go, even if it is only to gawk at the cool shit. It’s a real eye opener. Kinda like a cartesean bus exploding in your brain.
awesome, things exploding in my brain are great…except bullets…and babies, that would be kinda bad.
I know a guy who had a stroke caused by a tape worm exploding in his brain… its how it reproduced. Totally squick, right?
“Jan can I ask you a question:
Is stand-up comedy big in Germany? Because it started in America, then migrated to Australia and England.”
I think you can’t quite compare it. There are a few big names in Comedy like Michael Mittermeier, Mario Barth (don’t like him, he’s a little bit hacky in my opinion) and Dieter Nuhr (really smart one and funny too), who can fill the big theatres but thats about it.
And there are no comedy clubs, except for one in Hamburg and one in Berlin. Only there you can find the “opener, feature and headliner” - system.
Comedians mostly play in little theatres with their one man show. I think a tour with a show with 3 or 4 different comedians, which seems to be quite popular in the USA, has never been done here, but I could be wrong.
Also, in Germany there is a difference made between Comedy and “Kabarett”.
Kabarett focuses more on politics and the world, while everything more silly and personal is called Comedy.
Yes, yes…
That’s awesome.
So, it’s in Germany, but it’s not really popular yet? It seems as though comedy there is about as popular as slam poetry is here. At least, that’s what I guess from your answer. There’s a group of people who enjoy it, but for the most part, it’s not very mainstream. Am I getting that right?
Also, is it in any other European countries that you know of?
I heard Italy has a form of stand up comedy. I hear they love aryan looking women (white, blonde hair, blue eyes) going on stage and speaking Italian like an off-the-boat immigrant. I don’t know how much truth there is to that, but if there is–ladies there’s your hook!
oh btw, idk if anyone got this. but the trash i was talking was about the website link from asterion. not the comics mentioned above.