We’d all love to be as good as Jon Stewart at the Daily Show. (Wouldn’t we? I would! ) Current events jokes can be a pain because they are related to a moment that will end soon so you can’t use the joke over and over as you would more …
ACTING EXERCISES FOR STANDUP COMEDIANS
Here are some solo exercises you can use to improve your acting skills. Good actors can make things believable. Being credible onstage for an actout joke or a sincere punchline is crucial. You also need performance skills and good vocal variety. Try these tools from the world of acting when …
185 BLANKS WALK INTO A BAR
A joke writing format from improvisation comedy. This is a fun exercise you can play alone or with fellow comedians to work on your punchlines. You have a fixed setup and you can make multiple punchlines. First you need to think of a random object or ask an online tool …
COMEDY PODCASTS. For comedians by comedians.
The Best Podcasts for Stand-Up Comedians Learning Comedy You can learn a lot from the pros. We recommend the following podcasts which are specifically for LEARNING to write comedy. Topics covered are everything from comedy personas to breaking down joke structure and performance skills. URLS change all the time, and …
POINT-OF-VIEW. The Heart of a Joke
Your joke needs at least 2 parts, a setup and punchline. This is joke structure. But what makes a joke very satisfying is attitude. What is it you are really trying to say? Having a clear point-of-view is what helps you create a relationship to your audience. Ideally every joke, …
WRITING YOUR FIRST FIVE MINUTES OF COMEDY
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 …
SETUP & PUNCHLINE. The two parts of jokes
The key to writing a successful joke is to make sure you understand how joke structure works. PREMISE. First you need a setup. This is a topic that is what your joke is about. It could be about relationships or politics or or even an anecdote of something that happened …
JOKE INSPIRATION LIST.
Check out our joke inspiration list before heading to your next open mic. For new comedians it can be difficult to know what you should write jokes about. For more experienced comedians it can be easy to get writers block and not be able to think of any fresh ideas. …
WRITING SETUPS FOR JOKES.
Random Punchlines – A setup joke writing exercise. It is helpful to be able to separate a punchline from the setup. Below are a list of 30 punchlines to real jokes. You should pick a random punchline and write as many setups as you possibly can for it. Setups should …
PREMISE DECONSTRUCTION. Using Improvisation to find Joke Premises
As a standup, you know the importance of strong, focused premises. But coming up with great ideas can be difficult. Taking a tip from improv can help spark new premises in a low-pressure, creative way. The format “Armando” asks an improviser to give a truthful, autobiographical monologue about a word …
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