It’s been a couple of weeks since I last posted, and since then I’ve done four spots – a couple at Sam Rhodes Comedy Explosion and one at We Are Funny Project, all in Dalston, and another at Comedy Moochabout in Vauxhall.
It’s getting harder to write individual posts about each gig at the moment, because every night I just grind out the same material, tweak it, and try to get better at delivering it. I’d rather write fewer, more interesting posts, than the same old shit week in week out.
I’ve been getting great feedback recently and it really feels like I’m getting better at this, although I attribute most of that to just hammering the same material over and over so that now I can deliver it without thinking about what I’m going to say next. That gives you a lot more freedom to experiment with different styles and throw a few new bits in, because no matter what happens you know you can always find your way back.
So I’ve been playing around a bit with my delivery and, long story short, leaning into the audience and making eye-contact with a visibly uncomfortable person while I say something offensive seems to do the trick.
I’ve also been working on my current set, trying to tighten it up. To reduce the art and craft of standup comedy to a dreary statistic, I’m currently averaging one big laugh from the audience every 23 seconds – that’s 13 laughs during my five minute set. I think that’s respectable, but I also think I can do better – there are some bits which take too long to set up, so I could probably trim the fat and make room for more punchlines or tags.
This constant repetition can be a bit soul destroying, especially if you’re desperate to show off your bottomless well of creativity to the other acts on the circuit, but it’s worth doing. Being able to confidently deliver a decent set at the drop of a hat without any mental preparation feels pretty good.
Side-note, if you’re not recording your sets, you should. I leave my phone on my seat when I go up, running a voice recorder app, and I listen to it on the way home to get an honest idea of which bits worked well. Doing this has helped me improve, because you can’t hide from the fact that a bit you might love consistently doesn’t get any reaction from the audience. It’s also good to occasionally listen to recordings you made six or 12 months ago to show yourself how much you’ve developed.
Somebody told me this week that my current set would do well in competitions – I’m not so sure, I think there are quite enough heterosexual middle aged white men in standup and the competition judges aren’t really looking for more of us. On the other hand…. maybe I’ll enter a few next year anyway.
In other news, I’ve been working on a podcast about the London comedy scene with Mouch, where we interview people from the circuit about what it’s like to be a stand-up comedian at the beginning of their career. We’ve already got a few episodes recorded and more lined up, so it looks like we’ll be ready to launch in January – I’ll keep you posted.
Other than that, not much to report. I’ve started photographing the other acts at open-mic nights, just to make myself useful and maybe get to know a few people. My first efforts were shit, but I got some advice from a friend who regularly shoots rock concerts (similar problem, shitty lighting conditions and an act who just won’t stand still) and I think I’m getting better. I usually throw them up on the Basic Comedy Facebook page and tag the acts when I can remember their names.
People I’ve seen recently who I really liked include:
- Elie Kraft
- Steph Aritone
- Davina Bentley
- Micah Hall (known him for a while to be fair, but he’s still pretty decent)
Check them out if you get a chance.