Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Don't Quit Your Day Job.........Yet

By Erin Garcia

While you would still be an amateur for a while, it may need more than a minute to begin doing a lot of significant cash in your stand-up comedy acts. If you have a regular 40-hr week job, by all means, don't quit it just yet. Unless you get a lot of money saved up for some time, it is foolish to turn in your resignation right then. Perhaps even immediately after you start having consistent performances that pay, it could not really be sufficient to put food on the table and pay your bills.

When you work a 9 to 5 hour job, which may be to your own benefit. Don't schedule your evenings or weekend break for just anything else. You could find more comedy gigs, such as open mics and to be able to watch other comedy shows. You will need to suck up anything that you could the moment you are getting started. As soon as you get in the groove, you will become so busy focusing on your comedic routines with composing, performing sketches, etc.

Where You Must Perform

Once you begin, you are aware of how to use your material on other people and eventually family and friends. Once you are prepared to do live performances, get with some experienced comedians that would certainly be willing to give you a few nuggets. Not anyone is freehearted, so you may have to go through quite a few of them in order to get the guidance you need.

One of the first places you need to perform is an open mic. Open mics are typically held at bookstores, coffee shops and bars. Even though these could be non-paying gatherings, you may possibly build up your own base. Doing this would likely provide you with the experience you will want when it's time for you to go out on the road to perform for bigger audience.

People enjoy hearing you tell jokes. Your family and friends, rave about how much you can make people laugh. They seem to think that stand-up comedy is your true calling. Now you need to learn how funny you really are and what you could do to make the most of this gift.

See some of the expert comedians on TV. Study how these people perform their routines and share their particular stories. If you are a born storyteller, then you can start off by doing that. Or perhaps if you're the kind that's really observant then you may want to enter into that sub genre. Even if you hit big time, you shouldn't rest on your laurels. There will invariably be innovative material which you can study from.

Get some family and friends gatherings and show your stuff. You can ask them to provide you with their ideas on your performance. Feel free to tell them to be truthful. It can be hard with someone who you are acquainted with given that they really don't want to harm your feelings once they believe you are terrible and must make improvements to. Don't forget to jot down notes.

Review your notes to straighten out pros and cons. Review those information with your actions on video and find out what comes best or is right on point with the character that you carry out. Whatever you do the most and the best of, is what you should start out with.

Practice your stand-up acts facing a mirror. Stick with what you do very best and eliminate anything that isn't part or should not be part of the act. Maintain your same persona and style of comedy all the way through. You want the crowd to get used to your style of making them laugh.

Don't stop rehearsing. The more you rehearse, the more you get better with your routine. Rehearsing is the only way you will get your stand-up act just how it should be. Go to different venues and observe how audience takes you.

Every performance must be videotaped. Take a look at them afterwards and see if you find any weak spots that could be taken out of future stand-up acts. You shouldn't be someone that you are not. Your acts must be unique and natural. Do not force yourself to make changes which could disappoint your audience.

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