Today, we'll start our class by reading one of the essays in the packet, then we'll take a break by watching the stand-up comedy of Ellen Degeneres.
What you need to know about writing stand up comedy: Believe it or not, comics (and writing comedy) can lead to a successful writing career.
Earning a livable salary through comedy is not easy. On average a typical professional comedian makes about 30,000/year--but this can be less, of course, or much, much more. Popular comedians like Ellen Degeneres can make around 75 million/year or more and many comedians you could probably name make a very good living from their writing and performance skills.
What you need to know about writing stand up comedy: Believe it or not, comics (and writing comedy) can lead to a successful writing career.
Earning a livable salary through comedy is not easy. On average a typical professional comedian makes about 30,000/year--but this can be less, of course, or much, much more. Popular comedians like Ellen Degeneres can make around 75 million/year or more and many comedians you could probably name make a very good living from their writing and performance skills.
Of course, money is not the only form of reward. Comedians perform because they love what they do. Or the prestige of a respected gig. Or simply to get better. As with any freelance job, their work requires resourcefulness, determination and creativity. Being funny is essential, but a few accounting skills don’t hurt. Also, who writes their material? They do.
What if you wanted to be a comedian when you grow up? Or out? Here are a few tips from the professionals:
Develop a Writing Habit
A stand-up comedian's job is as much about writing as it is performing. You need to be disciplined in your writing, dedicating a few hours every day to sitting at a desk and writing jokes. Good comedy takes practice.
To kickstart your joke-writing process, come up with a topic and write down as many jokes, funny lines or one-liners as you can think of. You’ll likely use only one or two of them, but you need to write a lot in order to find the true comedic gold. Don’t be scared if your first draft doesn’t want to make you laugh out loud or if you don’t find your own writing funny. Learn how to be patient with yourself, and keep at it.
Stand-up gets better as it becomes more personal—that comics who make fun of themselves and lay themselves bare to the audience are often the strongest performers. The same is true of comedic writers.
To kick off your writing process, sit down and make the following lists:
Add this to your daily writing habit; spend time each day making a new list in your journal, then develop a few items on your list into jokes.
When you’re learning how to write stand-up, it helps to watch or listen to some of your favorite comedians’ stand-up and pay attention to how they tell their jokes. How do they set up ideas, and how are those ideas transformed into punchlines?
Next, some comedy performance vocab.
SET: Your collection of jokes, with a beginning/middle/end. It’s everything you plan to say onstage. It's very much like writing a speech. Because, well, it is.
BIT: An individual joke or small cluster of jokes on the same topic.
CHUNK: Several BITS that all revolve around the same larger topic.
(So, a SET contains CHUNKS, and CHUNKS contain BITS that are made up of JOKES. Or, JOKES make up BITS and BITS make up CHUNKS and CHUNKS make a SET!)
The format of a short set might look like this:
What if you wanted to be a comedian when you grow up? Or out? Here are a few tips from the professionals:
Develop a Writing Habit
A stand-up comedian's job is as much about writing as it is performing. You need to be disciplined in your writing, dedicating a few hours every day to sitting at a desk and writing jokes. Good comedy takes practice.
To kickstart your joke-writing process, come up with a topic and write down as many jokes, funny lines or one-liners as you can think of. You’ll likely use only one or two of them, but you need to write a lot in order to find the true comedic gold. Don’t be scared if your first draft doesn’t want to make you laugh out loud or if you don’t find your own writing funny. Learn how to be patient with yourself, and keep at it.
Stand-up gets better as it becomes more personal—that comics who make fun of themselves and lay themselves bare to the audience are often the strongest performers. The same is true of comedic writers.
To kick off your writing process, sit down and make the following lists:
- Everything that makes you mad
- Everything you think is wrong with yourself
- Everything you think is wrong with the world
- Things you wish you could change about your personality
- Things you wish you could change about your body.
Let's take 5 minutes and try this now (use your journal to record your ideas/brainstorming)!
Add this to your daily writing habit; spend time each day making a new list in your journal, then develop a few items on your list into jokes.
When you’re learning how to write stand-up, it helps to watch or listen to some of your favorite comedians’ stand-up and pay attention to how they tell their jokes. How do they set up ideas, and how are those ideas transformed into punchlines?
Next, some comedy performance vocab.
SET: Your collection of jokes, with a beginning/middle/end. It’s everything you plan to say onstage. It's very much like writing a speech. Because, well, it is.
BIT: An individual joke or small cluster of jokes on the same topic.
CHUNK: Several BITS that all revolve around the same larger topic.
(So, a SET contains CHUNKS, and CHUNKS contain BITS that are made up of JOKES. Or, JOKES make up BITS and BITS make up CHUNKS and CHUNKS make a SET!)
The format of a short set might look like this:
- OPENER: The comedian starts with something that introduces him/her personally to the audience, especially if there is something visual about you that stands out, e.g. unusual hair color, super bushy eyebrows, a parrot on your shoulder, etc. Acknowledge it right off the bat and the audience will forget about it and pay attention to YOU.
- CHUNK 1: Topic 1. It's good for this to be something personal, too. Let the audience get to know you! Your chunk should include your first BIT (funny), then your second BIT (funnier), and finally, your third BIT (funniest)--comedy often comes in threes!
- CHUNK 2: Topic 2: No need to segue between chunks. You can just start a new topic.
- BIT (funny), BIT (funnier), BIT (funniest), then...
- CHUNK 3: Topic 3: It's sometimes good to connect back to an earlier topic to create continuity. This can be related to an earlier topic…or not! Either way, your 3rd CHUNK should include: BIT 1 (funny), BIT 2 (funnier), BIT 3 (funniest).
- CLOSER: Could really be chunk or bit 4, but a callback, or just a killer joke you know ALWAYS works.
- Bonus: using an outline like this can also help you memorize the order of your jokes because they will make internal sense to you as the performer...
As we watch Ellen Degeneres' set, take note of how she skillfully performs her jokes (bits/chunks/sets!)
If we have time left, please continue reading her essays on your own. See below.
HOMEWORK: None. If you haven't read Ellen Degeneres' essays please do so. You will be attempting to write a humorous essay next class (Friday). Start getting some ideas!
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