Comedians Article

Becoming a Comedian

So, you finally taken your friends advise and decided to quit your full time job and become a comedian. According to your friends and your own intuition you have the talent and the skills to make people laugh, which is all a comedian has to do anyway, right? You may have even played a few clubs and had successful feedback, but how do you go from being a weekend comedian, to a full-time entertainer? If you think this will be an easy task, you may want to rethink your plans.

if you talk to any successful comedian, that will likely tell you that the best thing you can do is do your homework, by watching other comedians at work and learning from their techniques. Visit your local video store and rent some of your favorite comedian’s standup comedy routines and study them. Try to watch so that you can determine just what makes your favorite comedians so funny. Look at how their comedy routines are timed so that they get just to the funny part right at the correct moment to make the biggest impact with their audiences. You have to develop your own style of comedy, but you can also avoid making a lot of rookie mistakes by watching the routines of other successful comedians.

Once you have studied some comedy routines and learned how comedians play the audience, you should be ready to start developing your own routine. You should choose topics that are familiar to you, while still remaining funny. You want to make sure that your routine is interesting enough to hold the attention of your audience, but still be extremely funny as well. Some comedians find that they have successful routines when they throw in a few impersonations, musical gags, and some funny props. Just make sure that your routine flows smoothly from one joke to the next.

To be a successful comedian you need to be comfortable being in the limelight and addressing an audience. You can do this in many ways; you can take some acting classes, some public speaking classes, or just practice by doing standup routines in local bars, clubs, or other popular places. It will take time to develop your confidence in your abilities and to get over the natural stage fright that everyone experiences. Make certain that you completely memorize your routine and that you have tried out several times and in front of family and friends before introducing it in front of an audience. You should listen to what your family has to say about your routine and make changes to it as needed. You need to go ahead and accept the fact that when you're on stage there will be people who will try and will probably succeed in heckling you and ridiculing you're routine. When that happens don't respond to the heckling, just carry on with your routine as if those people weren't even there. You will have to learn to deal with criticism if you expect to make it as a comedian.

There are lots of places where you can practice your comedy routine, just look for invitations for open microphones, usually at local bars and clubs. The more practice you get the more comfortable you will become with speaking in front of a crowd, and dealing with those people in the audience who criticize. Use this time to tweak your routine and master your public speaking skills so that you are ready to move on to the comedy circuit.

It can take years to become a successful comedian, so don't get discouraged if you aren't an immediate success. With persistence, hard work, and a good routine, you will eventually carve your own path in the comedy world.