So you want to start standup comedy. Where to start?
A good way to find topics for your first five minutes of standup comedy is to have a think about yourself… what’s unique about you? What are your most pronounced personality traits?
You cannot control whether an audience will laugh at your joke but you can control if they believe you. Your jokes should be emotionally true but they don’t always have to be factually accurate. You want to be yourself on stage but you want to be an exaggerated version of yourself. This is something comedians referred to as a persona.
Exercise: Finding Your Persona
Write 5 good things/qualities about yourself.
Write 5 bad things/qualities about yourself.
Fill in the blank about yourself. I am always the most __________ person in the room.
What topics would you say you are an expert in?
What do you see that other people don’t see from your vantage point?
What are some things I would never know about you or guess about you? Can you make a joke about that?
What are your guilty secrets? How can you turn them into jokes?
- I hate…
- I love…
- I’m annoyed by…
- The best is when…
- I’m proud that…
- I’m terrified of…
- I’m embarrassed by…
- I’m obsessed with…
- You should totally be my friend because…
Exercise: Creating a Comic reality. Picture someone who knows you very well.
What are 2-3 positive things this person would say about you?
What are the behaviors that he or she would change about you? (What is something your friends wish were different about you?)
Fill in the blank for your friend:
I wish s/he wasn’t so __________.
I wish she were more like this: ______________. (thoughtful, a better listener, could cook, on time)
Now think about what are the advantages to being this particular way? Maybe you are always late to things. Why is being late actually better? In real life it may not be, but this is how you find the funny things – you are creating a comic reality.
These exercises will help you to identify joke SETUPS. (The funny idea or premise) People laugh at the punchlines. For help on setup and punchline, check out our article on how to separate the premise from a punchline.
Then you want to try out some of these ideas at your first open mic! You will usually have three to five minutes at your first open mic. If you are in Frankfurt, you should sign up for our weekly open mic at the Haier Experience Lounge.