Looking for Stand-Up Comedy Tips Please

Hey guys, as many of you know, I'm currently in my second year of law school and getting scary close to actually having to get in a court room and litigate. The problem is, I'm only 24 and have quite a fear of public speaking. So I figured, the best way to beat my fear is to get in front of a crowd and do some stand-up comedy. It's fun and I like to think I'm funny, certainly clever, and I have some decent material written already (i think). So my next step is to find some open mic nights, somewhere I can get on stage for 30 seconds to 5 minutes and try stuff out. Just thinking about it makes me start to sweat haha oh man. So anyway, since we've got a lot of Rogan fans on here, and I believe Joe has mentioned that Eddie has attempted stand-up before, I was wondering if anyone has any tips for me, a completely new beginner to stand-up. I have literally never been in front of a live audience yet. Thanks in advance 10th Planeteers! Hopefully one day I can return the favor by making you laugh! :)

just getting comfortable is a big thing be yourself (if you like to swear be dirty as hell) thats what i think anyway as a fan of comedy.

where are you at? is there a local comedy club? open mics are cool but now they are usually new showcases and you have to take a class first. And like sly said...if you want to be blue (dirty) go all out...don't half ass it. If your talking about 5 minutes you can't be too cereberal, the setup will take too long. My suggestion would be go to a comedy club and by some of the comedians there a drink and shoot the shit with them. It's a fraternity, I did some amateur hour stuff and got a lot of advice from comedians. I also learned that the mess is hard and you can't have an ego, because sometimes the audience will NOT get you.

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Originally Posted by RaiderFunk

where are you at?

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I live in South Florida, there are a bunch of local comedy clubs and some bars with comedy nights where you can just sign up and anyone can get on stage... I've seen people go up who clearly have never done it before. It's a nice environment, not judgmental, even if they suck and it's totally uncomfortable, they won't boo you off or heckle you. As far as ego goes, I'm all good there, my ego is non-existent, rendered that way by the constant and perpetual tapping that I do as a white belt haha. I'll probably do a lot of stoner material, I'm sure I will swear because I do all the time in my everyday conversations, it's not a conscious thing. Thanks for the advice! Keep it comin guys :)

I'd say the best thing to do is when your in class crack a joke thats an audience in itself if your comfortable speaking infront of your peers then you can be comfortable infront of total strangers.

standup comedy ? .... anderson silva vs damian maia

I got an email the other day and it said "how would ya like a cock you could choke your girlfriend with?" and this offended me...'cuz if I had a prehensile cock I'd se it for good not evil!
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Hey Matt,

I applaud you for wanting to overcome your fear of public speaking. The more you practice in front of people the less intimidating it becomes. The best way to minimize the fear is through preparation. That is, know your shit. I'll repeat, KNOW YOUR SHIT! Know it in your sleep, cold, inside and out. Having just said that, also expect the unexpected. I still have to push the fear aside every time I speak in front of people. It isn't as bad as when I was your age but it's still there sometimes. Again, preparation helps lessen the fear. (At least for me.) Keep in mind that there are different styles of delivery in public speaking depending on your target audience. For example, speaking in front of people in a comedy club who paid money to be entertained is different than motivational-type speaking, or speaking in a court room or business a setting. But using comedy is best the way to soften up a crowd. If you chose the stand-up comedy route, go for it, "balls to the walls!" You only live once, right?

My sister went to NYC to pursue a career as a stand-up comic. One of the first things she did was to take a stand up comedy class offered by one of the local comedy troops. She said they had to write and perform a lot of mock stand-up exercises in front of the class. The class would give each other feedback to refine each others delivery, timing, etc. They also worked on handling different types of audiences. Then, for the final class assignment, they all had to go to a Comedy club together and perform individually in front of an audience. She said she had a great time, every class was a blast, and she met some really funny people, and made some great contacts to bounce ideas off of and get advice from. Now, she's done quite a few amateur stand-up nights. I don't know if she's done any paying gigs as of yet. She gave herself 2 years to try the comedy thing. She's probably gonna be a lawyer like you, except she chose to postpone law school to pursue comedy first. Best of luck in your pursuits.

i used to be shy timid but i think getting triangled alot made me crazy or its that Indonesian coffee im always drinking , but i feel i can speak in front of a crowd , i didnt use to tho , i remember being called up in some churches and speak and i was like uhhh i forgot what i was gonna say .
but i think if someone practices speaking to small groups first then step up or just jump in with both feet whatever you feel i guess

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Originally Posted by Mike Noronowicz

i used to be shy timid but i think getting triangled alot made me crazy or its that Indonesian coffee im always drinking , but i feel i can speak in front of a crowd , i didnt use to tho , i remember being called up in some churches and speak and i was like uhhh i forgot what i was gonna say .
but i think if someone practices speaking to small groups first then step up or just jump in with both feet whatever you feel i guess

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ya i hated in school having to read something i had written in front of the class.

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Originally Posted by sly

ya i hated in school having to read something i had written in front of the class.

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+1

NY Comedy Club in Boca has open mic nights and so does Hard Rock at the Improv. Let me know man we'll work on it together. Im planning on going to the Improv soon to do it myself.

Thanks for the responses guys, I greatly appreciate the encouragement! :)

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Originally Posted by Ericp

NY Comedy Club in Boca has open mic nights and so does Hard Rock at the Improv. Let me know man we'll work on it together. Im planning on going to the Improv soon to do it myself.

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Sounds great Eric! I could use a buddy to take some of the pressure off, how long have you been doing stand-up for?

A few minutes,lol. Its gonna be my first time also

TTT for myself :)

So far i've got about 15 minutes of solid any-audience material, and about 10 minutes of dirty material ...That's enough to get on stage with right? I have a couple jokes that are designed to bail myself out if I start to bomb... most notably the classic "so you guys like smokin weed?"... that always gets a positive reaction lol then I have some typical stoner jokes to follow up with that I THINK are original, but who knows. I'm kind of nervous that since I've listened to SOOOO many standup comics that I'm subconsciously going to steal someone's bit or punch line. How do comics avoid that? Do they just google the shit out of their jokes? I mean obviously at my extremely amateur level it probably doesn't even matter, but ideally I want to be 100% original ya know?

Anyway, my plan is to practice my bits in front of the mirror until I've got them down cold and am happy with my delivery, then sometime in the next couple weeks I will venture on stage for the first time. I don't want to invite any of the south floridians from the forum to watch my first time, but if I don't bomb too badly you guys are more than welcome to come to any future gigs. Either way my buddy will video tape my first time so if it's not too terribly mortifying I will post the video. I hope I get laughs, i've heard nearly everyone bombs the first time lol.