Stand up comedy - How do they actually do it?
I've been to comedy clubs. I don't laugh. Not really. It's more of a polite laugh because I feel peer pressured to laugh. It's also a guilty laugh. It takes courage to get out on stage. I don't want to be a dick. So I force a laugh to be polite.
More than one person has said to me, "you should be a comedian".
I'm glad people think I'm funny. I'm glad I can make people laugh. Most of the time my "funny" is really my anger, bitterness and intolerance for bullshit exiting through my snark pores.
But I could never be a comedian. I could never get up on a stage, write a routine, and make people laugh. Anyone who paid money to sit in a chair "Ok, I'm here. Now make me laugh" would be sadly disappointed. I would be as unfunny as a knock knock joke.
And if by some freak accident, I was able to force a few hyuk yuks and a gaffaw out of an audience, my career would be short. At some point, while trying to force the funny, I would stumble into the pit with Gilbert Godfreid (aaflac), Michael Richards (cramer - seinfeld), and our newest casualty Nicole Arbour (the fat shaming chic.)
I feel bad for these people. I really do. I'm sure none of these people woke up and said "Hey... I think I'll piss off everyone, hurt their feelings and end my career."
No, I think I'll leave my "funny" to the curious, spontaneous accident that it seems to be.
Interesting thing about me - and I suspect it's somewhat universal - is that even when things don't seem outright funny (in fact - sad) - and I force myself to laugh - that that laughter seems to have chemical, biochemical, emotional, whatevahs affects and effects - so that my possibly "black" mood is modified and my outlook on whatever was bothering me changes. There must be a term that describes this phenomenon. So, bottom line, we choose the moods we allow ourselves to experience at any particular time. And now, writing about this, I can feel a mood change coming on. I guess I'm actually, by responding here, in this fashion, setting myself up to enjoy a beautiful day (not that it was already going to be a beautiful day)! So - laugh and the entire world gets happier!
Not everyone standing on stage with a microphone has talent. Laughter is usually the result of surprise, possibly with embarrassment or "wow" mixed in. It is Not at all easy, that is why the Robin Williams and Seinfelds, eh al, make the big bucks
I dig stand up, helps me get to sleep and it’s good to laugh sometimes.
Like everything else in life... Is not for everybody. Not everyone likes science, can ride a bike or learn a second language. Same with standing in front of an audience and let it rip. Like everything else they test, practice and tape their routines until is as perfect as they can make it happen. A lot of work behind the mike. No different than everything else, it is Hard Work. Is a form of acting.
It’s talent, to look at something so obvious and steer the audience through until the end. A lot of stand ups say what I have thought about something, and make me laugh about it. The first few minutes makes or breaks my attention. The timing of Gaffigan, Todd Barry, and Bill Burr never lets you stop.