You have been thinking about trying stand-up comedy for awhile. Your friends all say you should try it. In conversations with strangers you easily get laughs. People gravitate towards you at parties. You fire off comebacks and retorts like a Gatling gun. In short, you think you have what it takes. Maybe, you even went…
Joke thieves are everywhere. Just when you least expect it, your favorite routine that you’ve worked years to perfect is stolen. And it’s on TV nonetheless! What do you do? Drop the joke? Confront the thief? Check out this episode! As long as there have been stories, there have also been “raconteurs” who have…
At some point you will discover that your jokes appeal to a certain type of audience. Hopefully, that group will be full of people you enjoy performing for. When this happens, you have found your “Ultimate Audience”. Check out this episode! Early on, I don’t want you to get to hung up on finding out…
Going full time into comedy can be intimidating. Leaving the comfort of a job with benefits for a life on the road is a dream for some folks. For others, it is a nightmare. Former School Of Laughs student Brian Bates flipped the switch this past month after twenty years at a TV station job…
by Rik Roberts | SchoolOfLaugh.com It’s funny looking back at when I first started. I thought I knew exactly who I wanted to be on stage. From recent discussions, it turns out many other comics felt the same way. They thought they knew what style they wanted to have on stage, what type of material they would get into, etc.,…
Every road comic knows the frustration of leaving town with hours to spare only to find themselves stuck in traffic, construction or an airport for a rediculous amount of time. On the road, time is your enemy and technology is your friend. We discuss some of our favorite travel apps. We also discover a few new…
by Rik Roberts (www.SchoolOfLaughs.com) This question was asked as a follow up to the post on hosting tips last week. As with nearly every comedy topic the short answer is, “find what works best for you by experimenting and see how it goes.” So that’s one answer. More specifically, I feel the host (or as…
Be funny. That’s really the only rule in stand-up comedy, right? It is a biggie, and it trumps everything. The funnier you are the more you can get away with, no doubt. But there are countless unwritten rules of comedy. Most of these unspoken expectations are unsaid because only an idiot would have to…
Defining your goals is extremely important in any self-driven profession. In stand-up comedy, defining your comedy goals will set you apart from a large mass of aimless souls. Goals in and of themselves won’t make you funnier than anyone else. But they should make you funnier than you are now if you set them correctly. Without…
How often should I be working in new comedy material on stage? by Rik Roberts (www.SchoolOfLaughs.com) This is a GREAT question that I received twice last week. It came from both an established feature act, and a brand new aspiring comedian. As you might expect, there is no “one size fits all” answer. Some will…