Excuse me there are loads more crumbs in my comedy now

I've stood up on stage a million times.

I have made people laugh.

And I have failed in a myriad of ways.

Then I started to teach stand up comedy with Roarhouse 

Here are some crumbs from the edges of the stage.

Stand up Comedy
The Perils_ The Pleasures _The Pitfalls.

 The only way to learn how to do stand up comedy is by doing it.

·       Write material using your life experiences as a spring board.

·       You probably need to be through the pain to make it funny.

·       Doing stand up comedy is a craft – learn it by writing it, honing it and doing it again and again.

·       Comedy usually comes in 3’s

·       Set up the joke, create a conflict, the punch line should resolve the conflict and take us somewhere we don’t expect to go

·       Comedy is made up of 3 tenants fear, humiliation and failure – master the tenants.

·       You can only be as funny as you -  so don’t try to be as funny as someone else.

·       Get better at telling a few jokes rather than trying to write a lot of jokes or a whole show.

·       Commit to the material, learn it, don’t read it off the back of your hand.

·       It’s ok to be the butt of your own joke  - but the comedian must stay on top.

·       Learn how to use the microphone and move the stand.

·       Keep your delivery fresh as if you’ve just thought about it.

·       If you’re enjoying it then the audience will enjoy it.

·       Making people laugh is a gift  - enjoy giving the gift.

·       The only thing you can control at a gig is you.

·       If people aren’t laughing it doesn’t mean that they aren’t enjoying it.

·       If it’s not going well don’t apologize.

·       What the worst that can happen? – no one laughs – but no one dies.

·       Understand fear and use it to your advantage.

·       Fail and fail fast  - then get up and do it again.

·       If it’s not working try and go with plan B.

·       Everyone has a bad gig.

·       Get feedback from people you respect and trust.

·       Comedy is addictive.

·       If you can’t do comedy watch it.

·       Be professional , turn up , do what is asked of you, a five minute set or a  whole show.

·       It takes a while to get enough material to have a whole show – share the stage with others.

·       Turn up be professional – don’t read off your hand, know your material

·       Manage the fear

·       Post performance adrenaline – what to do with it

·       Drop into the performance space – don’t just get on stage – take a moment

·       Being an MC is different to doing stand up, you are sign posting the night with a few jokes not doing all of your material.

·       Comedy rooms are a good way to start but there are more ways to skin a comedy cat.

·       Comedy and gender dont get me started.

·       Don’t confuse commercial success with other kinds of success. 

·       Don’t expect huge commercial success, so don’t give up the day job.

·       Doing comedy festivals is a financial risk make sure you don’t over commit  - be realistic about venue size ticket sales

excuse me there are crumbs in my comedy