By Creig Ewing
You watched a comic who had decent material. You laughed a little, but it felt like work watching them. You don’t care to ever see them again.
Another comic you’ve seen dozens of times and would gladly see them a dozen more.
Why do we feel that way?
One reason is some comics bring energy to the stage. Others suck energy out of the room.
Comics can bring a chaotic energy like Sam Kinison or Lewis Black, or a low-key, in-control energy like Nate Bargatze.
For most newer comics, it takes time to develop strong material, but if you can win the crowd over with your energy, you are more than halfway to a successful set.
Check yourself on these categories to see if you are giving energy to the crowd or sucking it from the room.
Posture
What you want to do:
Stand upright and confident or sit confidently. You can walk a bit about the stage. Turn and include the entire room during your set.
Addressing one table or couple for a particular bit is also a good way to get the crowd focused and eager for what’s next.
What you don’t want to do:
Slouch while looking at the floor with your hands in your pockets or — worst of all — in the pouch of your hoodie.
When you close yourself off with your posture, the audience has to work to come to you and meet your gaze, which is directed to the floor.
If your hands are rattling around in your hoodie pouch, they may very reasonably wonder if you have a gun in there and if they should head for the exit.
None of this is a good recipe for laughter.
You’ve seen superhero movies. There are classic superhero poses that indicate energy. None of them are slouching and looking downcast with your hands in your pockets.
Delivery
What you want to do:
Be smooth and confident. Even if a joke doesn’t get the laughs you think it deserves, you win the crowd over with the next one.
If you are comfortable on stage, the audience is relaxed and open to enjoy your set even if you aren’t pumping out 10 laughs per minute.
What you don’t want to do:
Appear nervous or unsure. That makes the audience worry for you and takes up their energy and seems like work for them, too.
Comedy isn’t easy, and stage time early on is mainly for getting the jitters out and getting comfortable.
Have what you are going to say down pat so you aren’t having to look at your notes. Audiences notice this too and it counts against you.
Cut out the unnecessary words to get to the laughs. Remove the vocal tics like “umms” and “errs.”
Comics that say things like “uh, and then” many times in their short sets have me focusing on that and not their material. That’s work I didn’t sign up for as an audience member.
Material
What you want to do:
Your topics should flow naturally, segues should be smooth and all the information should align, though it doesn’t need to all be true.
What you don’t want to do:
Have jarring switches, like from puppy jokes to porn jokes. Everything should make sense.
If you talk about having two kids and then mention that your third kid is 7 years old, now I’m trying to remember if I heard you right and how many kids you have. I’m not even payting attention to your punchline.
Remember, give the crowd energy and you get it back in laughter.
Good luck!
Good tips. Thanks you