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What is Stand-Up Comedy?
Stand-up comedy is a type of comedic routine that involves a comedian standing in front of a live audience for the sole purpose of making them laugh. Contrary to popular belief, this is usually much harder than it looks.

Joke telling is not all that is involved in stand-up comedy. Oftentimes, stand-up comedy shows involves comedians talking about and telling stories about their lives, and the world around them. Some stand-up comedy shows may even involve other elements as well, such as props or music.

Every stand-up comedian usually has his own style, and the most talented and famous comedians are usually remembered for these styles.

What Does a Stand-up Comedian Do?

Stand-up comedians perform in front of live audiences. The majority of these comedians are well-versed in observational comedy. This involves presenting ordinary everyday situations in a humorous light.

As mentioned above, most stand-up comedians develop their own styles. A comedian’s style will often be a mix of two or more different types of comedy, including improvisational comedy, prop comedy, slapstick comedy, character comedy, and deadpan comedy. Some comedians may even choose to interact with members of the audience.

Comedy routines are humorous acts that stand-up comedians perform. These acts can be as short as a few minutes, and as long as an hour or more, depending on how long a comedian has to perform. The majority of stand-up comedians will take several months, or even years, to develop their routines.

With the exception of improving comedians, most stand-up comedians must commit each of their routines to memory. Forgetting lines in their routines – especially the punch lines – can result in audience members getting bored or hecklers harassing the comedian.

What Skills Are Necessary for a Successful Stand-up Comedy Career?

A stand-up comedian should obviously be very funny. He should have a great personality, and making people laugh should be like second nature.

Individuals interested in a stand-up comedy career should also be able to come up with original jokes or humorous observations on a regular basis. Typically, the most successful and popular stand-up comedians will have several different routines that they use, which helps keep their loyal followers from getting bored. This is especially important, since no one likes a boring comedian – they just aren’t funny.

An aspiring stand-up comedian should also have an excellent memory as well as the ability to think on his feet. He must be able to memorize each of his routines. If something goes awry, however, he should be able to come up with something humorous off the top of his head.
to be continued...

[/b]What is Stand-Up Comedy? Part II[/b]


What Are the Education Requirements for a Stand-up Comedy Career?

Technically, a stand-up comedy career does not require any sort of formal education. Most comedians are just born with an extra large funny bone. Some comedians may find their true calling after attending open mic nights at their local comedy clubs e.g: stand up naija, night of a thousand laughs, crack ya ribs etc

The Comedian And The Butterfly
If you’re a perfectionist like me, you’ve probably
struggled with this fear of failure on far-too-many
occasions. Most people think fear of failure only
applies to stage fright, but this isn’t the case. It
affects your writing, performing, and marketing
efforts. In this article, I’m going to address how the
fear of failure takes us out of a creative flow. How
does worry of failure affect your writing? If you’ve
read any of my articles on the importance of
creativity in stand- up comedy, you’ve been
introduced to the idea of “differentiation.” That is,
the ability to be different from all the other
comedians working today. Without it, you’re set
blends into the 20 other sets that an audience saw
the same night. But once you differentiate yourself,
fans start seeking YOU out. If differentiating yourself
is important, what does that imply? It implies that
you must be unique and different. In short, you need
to try new ideas out that other comedians aren’t
doing. If you have a fear of failure, you’re simply not
going to take this action. Unfortunately, the best way
to break through a fear of failure is by blending into
the crowd and doing what everyone else is doing. If
you don’t stand out, there’s very little chance of
doing something “dumb” or “embarrassing.” But
there’s also ZERO chance of doing something
amazing, which is exactly what the audience
remembers at the end of a show. This same
principle applies to your actual performances . Are
you scared of moving off-script? I’ll tell you from
experience, the times I’ve improvised on stage have
been some of the most memorable moments of my
performances. But how does having a fear of failure
take you out of flow? First, you continually destroy
your momentum . Would you be an effective stand-
up comedy writer if someone busted into your room
every 2 minutes and asked “bros how far?” Of course
not. But most comedians do this to themselves
constantly. Every time you break your momentum it
takes time to get back into it. When there’s fear of
failure (specifically, when you continually ask
yourself questions due to fear) you interrupt your
momentum. In fact, it becomes almost impossible to
build momentum because every time you think of a
new joke/line/etc. it instantly gives you something
new to worry about, which stops your momentum
yet again. If creativity is 5 gear in your car then
asking yourself “worry questions” is like jamming it
into 1 gear on the highway. Second, these questions
continually distract yourself from your work. If
you’re asking yourself “worry questions” than you’re
not actually thinking about comedy… you’re thinking
about fear. If you spend an hour writing comedy and
45 minutes of it worrying and analyzing yourself
then you didn’t spend an hour working on comedy…
you spent 15 minutes (actually, it’s lower because
you interrupted your momentum and had to keep
rebuilding it). Last, fear of failure makes the process
of writing NO FUN! If a comedian doesn’t have fun
writing their comedy, what’s the chances that the
audience will actually enjoy it? It’s extremely low.
Isn’t it true that the jokes and bits that you had the
most fun writing were also the ones that the
audience enjoys the most? It’s not a coincidence.
How can you have fun while you’re continually
second- guessing yourself? Is there any activity that
you enjoy where you do continually worry about
failure? Probably not. That’s because it’s impossible
to get into flow when you’re worried about failure.

QUESTION:
If you are an upcoming comedian without an agent or any audition at sight, how do you market yourself as a comedian

Tips For Marketing Your
Stand-Up Comedy

Get good. Then get seen

Job #1 is to get to the point where you can
consistently go out and get laughs on stage. If
you’re hit-or-miss with your performances,
you’re not ready to market yourself. Take the
time to develop a solid set and get some stage
time under your belt. Don’t burn bridges by
performing on shows that are above your
experience level. Doing badly at an open mic is no big
deal. Doing bad at a show that people paid money to
see (i.e. a showcase) is a big deal. You can be
sure that your booker/client isn’t going to want anything
to do with you again… even if you’ve gotten
better since.

Be remarkable

It doesn’t matter what medium you use to market
yourself, if you’re not worth talking about you’re
not going to get the YouTube views, the Twitter
followers, or whatever. It goes back to “Get good".
Then get seen.” But being remarkable isn’t simply
about having high enough quality material. Just
because you get the audience to laugh doesn’t
mean that they’re actually going to remember
you long after the show or become a fan of
yours. Remarkable is all about becoming “sticky”
in the mind of the audience. The number one
way of doing this is by being highly creative.
Be around the scene. Not an outsider
The more often you’re seen by other comedians
the more comfortable there are going to be around
you. If you’re an "outsider" then they’ll likely
give you a slot on their show. However, if
they’ve seen you perform several times in the
past and like your material, they’ll likely come to
you when they have an opportunity.

Don’t be too pompous

Don’t be too pompous to anyone: fellow comedians,
bookers, audience members… anyone. It’ll come
back to you every time. The easier you are to
work with the more people are going to want to
work with you. That means more jobs and more
opportunities for your career.

QUESTION:
Hello Koboheights i'm a young and ambitious Comedian, i feel like i've stylist flair and i'm trying to break into the competitive fashion industry of Nigeria,it's really feeling frustrated right about now. But i'm not giving up so any Advice or inspirational quotes for me

Network

Networking is the #1 marketing strategy in stand-up comedy. Every one of your paid gigs is going to be as a result of who you know. A fellow comedian will enjoy your set on an open mic and invite you to perform on a showcase or a paid Job. A recommendation can get you in the door of a comedy club much faster than the best promo video. Network with fellow comedians. Then use your network. Use the Social Media effectively although you shouldn't do everything on Social Media . In fact,
don’t even (publicly) post on Social Media until you have a solid set. It’s fine to share them with
friends and family privately. But remember, bookers will find you and do their research. If they want to book you for a big show and the first video they find of you is your very first
performance you’re not going to book it.

Use Social Media

Social media is your friend. Befriend every comedian around. Those comedians will often post which shows they’re performing on, giving you more ideas of what shows you can hit in the future. It also helps your offline networking. Instead of being a stranger you’ll be someone they’ve heard of… even if it was just online. Be professional there are ghastly stories about hilarious comedians being rude and malicious. Each time the booker says
the same thing “they were hilarious, but I can’t book them anymore.”And of course trust the Nigerian entertainment industry, there is a replacement willing to take your place It might surprise you, but
bookers for professional venues actually rank professionalism above humor.  A comedy club would much rather have a B-level
comedian that’ll be at the show on time and treat their employees with respect than an A-lister that
might forget to show up. Being professional means being on time, not being a nuisance, and being easy to work with.

Start an open mic in your town

to get more stage time
Depending on what city you’re in there might not be many Stand up Nigeria to perform on. If that’s the case,
start your own show and book fellow comedians.
Not only does having your own show help you network with other comedians (you now have
something valuable that they want), but you also
have a show you can control. You can choose to emcee the show, book yourself in an ideal spot,
or take the night off… the choice is yours. You can even end up earning money.

Be unique

If you want the audience to remember you after the show, give them a reason(a good one o). The more unique you are as a comedian the more successful
you’re going to be in the long-run. The
comedians that obtain the ultimate success all have one common trait… they were unique. It’s held true since before comedy was even an
industry and will be true long after stand-up comedy perishes. Audiences love uniqueness. Once you meet a minimum standard of quality,
uniqueness becomes much more important to your success.

Don’t let your fans grow cold
I really don't know how fans act outside the country but in Nigeria fans are to be treated with care
Once you have a fan, be it a Facebook fan, an email list sign up, or a YouTube subscriber, don’t let them forget who you are. The fan was excited
enough about your material to opt-in. That means they want to hear from you. If it takes you 6 months to write them an email they’ll completely forget who you are and mark it as spam. Once they love you, keep them loving you.

Use your network

When you have a network in place, start using it
to get yourself booked. That means asking your
friends to book you on their shows, not just
passively waiting for them to ask you. If their
show is any good they likely have tons of great
comics that are continually asking them for
spots. It’s not that they won’t give you one, it’s
that they’re busy juggling everyone else.

[url=http://koboheights.page.tl/%23BrainExplosion.htm]Visit Koboheights[/url]

[url=http://koboheights.page.tl/%23BrainExplosion.htm]Visit Koboheights[/url]

Owkay

QUESTION:

- What strategies should you apply to a career in comedy?
- What are ideas should I use in strategizing/ planning my career as a stand up comic?
- How do I apply these strategies

What follows are some ideas that
have stuck with me over the
years – observations I hope you’ll
find inspirational, thought-
provoking, and helpful.
The Ideas
motivate yourself
1. Always get yourself going, push yourself past your limit whenever you want to throw in the towel or you feel lazy about working that just put this phrase in your mind "If you’re not willing to put in
the work it takes to succeed,
that’s ok. But you also have to be
ok with not succeeding".
2. If you only keep doing what
you usually do, you’ll never know
what you’re capable of doing.
3. The things you say no to are
just as important to your career
as the things you say yes to.
4. If you hate promoting your
comedy, it’s not because you’re
an artist. It’s because you don’t
believe you provide value to
audiences.
5. If you’re “too busy” to spend
time on your comedy career, that
just means your career isn’t a
priority for you. Be honest with
yourself.
6. You’re most likely going to
fail. But understanding that will
help you succeed.
be innovative
1. People love watching videos of
comics battling hecklers because
they’re more real than most
comics’ acts.
2. If you want to get noticed, why
are you doing the same things
everybody else does?
Networking
1. Get somebody to notice you
today. Entertain them every day
for a year. Repeat tomorrow.
That’s how you build a fanbase.
2. Too many comics focus on
getting people to LIKE them when
they should try to get people to
CARE about them.


To be continued...



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