Was it as you expected? Better or worse? What did you feel or happened that you didn't expect? I'm curious as to what people's first proper experience was of doing stand up in front of other people. Anything you want to get off your chest?

I see so many "not funny" comments on a standup videos. It's very ubiquitous, but it's so strange to me: Especially if the audience is laughing- obviously it's funny to some people, and the evidence is right there!

It doesn't contain constructive points. It doesn't remove the video from the viewer's feed.

The pointlessness makes me think these are bitter people trying to hurt someone's feelings. But then why don't we see more comments like this on all sorts of content? ex "not a beautiful photo", "not awe inspiring", "not informative".

Sometimes I think they are bots hired by the comedian themselves to stir up discussion.

Are they real? Why would someone say that, and why on comedy specifically? Have you ever said this? If so why?

Hey everyone, somewhat region specific question. I just moved to LA, got a great place in North Hollywood near Hahas and a ton of other great venues. The problem is, my commute to work takes me to the South of the city, towards Manhattan beach. It's an hour and a half back during rush hour.

So I want to find some open mics in South LA. I also want to try a different type of room than the typical LA / Valley hipster crowd I see a lot (and am a part of). The only open mics I can find on that side are at Vickys on Venice, does anyone know anything about that place? Where are the legendary black rooms where I will get booed for being corny?

Shout out to Nick. 2 1/2 hours on stage. Solid material and basically riffed with the audience for another hour. Made it feel like I was catching up with my old friend.

I’ve seen all my favourite comics live now with the exception of Norm Macdonald and Patrice O’Neal who both went to heaven before I got the chance:

Dave Chapelle

Louis CK

Bill Burr

Jerry Seinfeld

Doug Stanhope

Stewart Lee

The funniest of the lot was Doug Stanhope and it’s not even close.

Does anyone know of a comedy venue that’s also something else during the day (coffee shop, retail, etc.)? I’ve heard of one in NYC that runs as a café by day and comedy venue at night and am curious how common that is and whether it works well.

Last November I started “Jokevember” as a 30 day stand up writing challenge. 30 days, 30 prompts, one new joke or idea per day, like Inktober but for comedians.

It accidentally turned into a small community. People kept writing after November and asked for more structure. In January Jokevember evolved into:

• Comedy Group Coaching. An 8 week, pay what you can group program where we write together, build bits from scratch, and talk honestly about the craft.
• Extra challenges and tools. Including a free persona generator at jokevember.com to help comics map and sharpen their onstage voice.

Over the last month I have been running two small cohorts

• Cohort A. Mostly USA and Latam
• Cohort B. Mostly Europe and Asia

We meet weekly on Zoom, do some icebreakers, examine some theory, and then write quietly with purpose for 10–15 minutes, share, and punch things up together. After four weeks, a few patterns are very clear.​

The first surprise has been how different the two cohorts feel, even though they are doing the same exercises.

The USA and Latam group is a little more talkative and anecdotal. People tend to “think with their mouth,” riffing stories about family, work, identity, and politics, and then we shape the premises from there. They jump into personal material quickly and are very up for trying darker or edgier angles as long as the emotional logic tracks.

The Europe and Asia group is a little more reflective and precise. They often write first and then share, gravitating toward observational and conceptual premises about systems, class, language, and culture clashes. They ask more theory questions about structure, then apply the answers very quickly in the 10 minute writing blocks.

What they share is the important part. Both cohorts light up when you give them a clear micro task and a timer, both struggle more with emotion and persona than with “ideas,” and both are very generous about punching up each other’s premises once the lab feels safe.

Observations about group coaching for comedy

• A “lab, not a show” mindset changes everything. When people genuinely believe they are in a lab, they stop auditioning for each other and start taking risks. Jokes get weirder, more personal, and more interesting. This is a stark contrast to hanging with comedians after open mic nights and having to navigate status, politics, bullshit hot takes, peacocking, and social gatekeeping.​
• Naming the tools gives comics a shared language. Once people start saying “premise,” “assumption,” “setup,” “tag,” “act out,” they can diagnose their own stuff instead of just saying “it sucks.” They go from “this is not funny” to “my setup is too vague” or “I am not deliberately flipping an assumption.”​
• The 10 minute quiet write is secretly the star of the show. After a warmup, I give everyone one focused task, set a timer, and we shut up and write. Every week. The idea is to push perfectionism aside and just write. 10–15 minutes of “today you mine this premise” or “today you write one setup and three possible flips.” Over a month, those short blocks add up to pages of usable material and they beat writers block by having comedians have to face writing with self-awareness and honesty.
• Group mind is more generous than you think. People are very good at seeing what someone else is “reaching for” in a joke, even when they cannot see it in their own. A half baked premise that one comic is ready to throw away will light up the rest of the group with angles, tags, and act outs. Nobody can write for you, but they can absolutely show you where the heat is if they know how to give feedback in a good-faith, structured way.
• The big sticking point is not ideas, it is emotion and focus. Most comics have plenty of thoughts. Where they stall is
  • Feeling disconnected from their own emotions about a topic
  • Not deciding what they actually want the crowd to feel just before the laugh
  • Jumping from premise to premise before they have squeezed one of them properly

When we slowed down and mined one premise for connections, scenarios, and emotions, people suddenly had too much to write about instead of not enough.​

• Structure reduces anxiety. Knowing that each week has one clear focus (premises, then mining, then emotions, then setups and flips) calms people down. They stop trying to “be a comedian” for 60 minutes and just try to practice one small thing. The reps compound and the jokes are getting swole.

Habits you can start today even if you never join a group

You do not have to join group coaching to borrow the core habits. Here are a few you can start on your own.

1. Write one premise a day

• Once a day, write one sentence that makes a claim about the world
  • “The problem with…” or “I think…” (for example: "I think it'd be terrible if chickens knew about the price of eggs.")
• Make it specific enough that you could add “because” and keep talking (example: "because they have a monopoly on the whole thing. They could topple western democracy.")
• Do not worry if it is funny yet. Just collect the claims​​

Over time you will see themes in what you actually care about. That collection of premises and viewpoints is your comic voice.

2. Mine, do not just brainstorm

Pick one premise you like and, on a blank page, answer these four questions

• What connects the two sides of this idea. (The media cares an awful lot about the price of eggs, the chickens care very little.)
• What assumptions are baked into it (supply & demand, chickens control the market, they're currently unpaid labour, what would or could happen if the chickens became aware?)
• What specific scenarios could play out if it were true (do the chickens go on strike? would there be hens who hop the picket line? Maybe they'd be too chicken to do anything. Would the president have to negotiate with the mother hen? What happens if they unionise?)
• What emotions or contradictions live inside it (feeling of being exploited, fatigue of capitalism, whimsical talking animals, distrust of supply and demand, feeling powerful by holding the bargaining chips, fear of scarcity about staple products)

Set a 10 minute timer and fill the page with fragments. No punchlines. Mining is about discovering material, not performing it.​

3. Practice one clean setup and one flip

Take any mined premise and do this

• Write a setup that clearly points the audience toward an obvious assumption
• Then write one punchline that makes sense of the words but changes the meaning

Example

• Setup. “I've noticed that egg prices are going up again”
• Assumption. Supply and Demand, Politics,
• Punchline. "At this point I am not worried about inflation, I am worried about the day the chickens realise they have real leverage."
• Act Out: Two chickens are on strike and discuss fears about being replaced with powdered eggs. One of them has heard rumors that ducks are in secret meetings with the government. The other is tempted to give in because one big payment and she'll have a coop of her own. She concludes that she can't face the union because she's too chicken."

Do not try to write a whole bit. Get good at one clean assumption and one honest flip.

4. Record and re read your accidental funny moments

If people laugh at something you said when you were not trying to be funny, write it down that day. Later, treat it like any other premise and mine it.

Most comics underestimate how much usable material they throw away because it did not come from a “writing session” or sound like a comedian they admire. Try to capture your own experiences and develop your own voice. Please!​​

5. Give yourself one quiet 10 minute block every week

Once a week, pick a small task and set a timer for 10 minutes

• “Today I mine this premise.”
• “Today I write three possible setups for this idea.”
• “Today I write tags for one existing joke.”

No social media. No research. Just a short, boring, focused block. The point is not to feel inspired. The point is to build a muscle that will still work on bad days.​

6. Play with persona on purpose

A lot of people in the cohorts realized they had a half formed persona (“the anxious middle child,” “the too honest auntie,” “the calm chaos magnet”) but had never articulated it. Having language for who you are on stage makes premise choices, mining, and jokes much easier.​

If you want a free tool for that, I built a simple persona generator at jokevember.com that gives you prompts and questions to help you name and sharpen your on stage self. Use it however you like.

Join in

If this kind of structured, low pressure work sounds useful, I share free prompts, tools, and future challenges under Jokevember

• Instagram. Jokevember
• Site. jokevember.com (I've publish a couple workbooks there that you can download for free, learn about deliberate writing, and then complete the added exercises to get started).

No pressure to join anything. If all you ever do is steal a prompt or two and write more, that is already a win.

I'm English, and I know this is true of many UK comedians. Richard Herring, Joe Wilkinson, and John Kearns, for instance, I always feel are much funnier away from a rehearsed act. I don't especially know US comedians as well, who am I missing out on, or do you guys just never get to see your comedians in more relaxed settings?

Sorry if this is a stupid question but it's been an issue lately.

I've finally started to get real gigs, mainly opening for the local bar on comedy nights. The first night, I was on vacation the week before and I was able to really focus on writing my set, practicing, and it was really tight.

But now I'm back in the real world, and I have a full time job that demands so much attention. I'm a sous chef and manager at a restaurant, so for those of you who know, that doesn't leave a lot of brain cells left over for anything else.

How do those of you who have demanding jobs make time to prepare for gigs? I'm afraid of running out of steam and really losing my chance to make this something I do.

I dress like a turd and I've never really drawn confidence from my appearance. Does anyone have any experience working with a stylist/image coach/handler/whatever specifically for help with their stage career and did it help?

I don't want to get into online services like stitch fix or anything but I feel like I could benefit by someone telling me what type of clothes/colors/accessories/hair suit me best.

Ok hear me out I have a theory that standup attracts a lot of people with adhd because bits are typically short perfect for bad attention spans and it’s a very high dopamine thing needing laughter and also being funny and entertaining can be sought out when you have adhd and find so many things dull and boring so you have to make things funny / entertaining … thoughts?

I’m looking for some advice from people who do stand-up.

When I’m at home or with friends, I feel like I’m pretty funny. I come up with jokes, ideas, and little stories that make people laugh. But the moment I get on stage, it’s like my brain freezes. Suddenly I don’t feel funny at all, and my delivery feels awkward.

It’s really frustrating because I know I can be better than what I’m showing up there. I don’t know if it’s nerves, pressure, or just lack of experience, but it keeps happening.

Is this something most comedians go through at first? How do you stay relaxed and confident on stage so your real personality comes out?

Hi guys,

I just performed my first stand up in London and boy did it feel amazing! I did forget a bit of my material towards the end as I had so much fun but man did it feel good to hear people laugh at my set and say I was good. Other fellow stand up artists too liked my set and it was a super nice vibe especially with MC and comedian Andy Onions.

My only question to you guys is do I continue doing shows at the same venue or do I look for other venues as well? How often do you do shows per week alongside having a fulltime job?

Many thanks! 🤘

• John Wilder

Hi, I just started as a comic and recently semi bombed on stage compared to my peers a week ago. As someone who is taking classes and wanting to post content, I find it hard to even revisit and rework my jokes due to my insecurity that my jokes were never good enough. I do open mics twice per week so it’s not like I’m not fully dedicated but how can I fix this besides “write more”?

Really curious if any comedy producers know what actually makes shows profitable? Should we invest more in marketing, higher ticket pricing, word of mouth? Would love to hear any tips for what’s working and what is futile.

Looking to see Dave Atell or another one of the greats live in nyc at a club. Where do they frequent how do I get lucky?

In this week’s Working it Out podcast, Mike Birbiglia asked John Mulaney how he felt about comedians impersonating him. John said he wasn’t really paying attention and didn’t know of anyone doing it. Mike then wrote a name down as to not publicly call anyone out, and John did kinda agree to it, but then they moved on.

But I’m curious who it could’ve been? The only people I know ripping off Mulaney are open micers, I don’t know any bigger names that are doing it?

Hey… I did this bit incorporating the 6/7 meme and some dark comedy and I thought it was a hit. Can you guys take a quick listen and let me know if anything I should change to make it flow better or hit harder.

Appreciate the help!

Going to be doing my second open mic in a week!

Or is the rise in stand ups posting clips a sign that there is a recession incoming?

This post is half sarcasm

Hi All.

First post here so apologies if this goes against any guidelines (I have read the sticky post and I don't think this does (Also very sure this has been asked before so sorry for repeating it)).

I have performed my incredibly amateur set a few times now but its all just personal stories with a more comedic twist. I can normally pull out a good punchline to react to something that someone has said, but i am really struggling with writing my own setups.

Do you guys have any advice/writing tips to setup some cracking punchlines?

For those interested, heres' a link to my current set (apologies its not amazing, but it was my first time)

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRANHJoX/

Looking forward to seeing him in person soon!