5 Mistakes That Are Killing Your Comedy Sets…
Many people have a good comedy set but ruin their sets because of some common mistakes. In this article, I am going to share 5 Mistakes that are killing your comedy sets so that in the future, you don’t make those mistakes.
Nobody is perfect. Creating humor is not an easy task. Different people react to different jokes.
The comedy which is liked and enjoyed by one will be irritating for another. Everyone makes mistakes. Mistakes teach us to learn more and reach greater heights.
This article gives five common mistakes that kill comedy sets.
#1. Announcing That You Are Telling a Joke
Announcing your joke early will be the biggest mistake. Don’t announce that “I am going to tell you a joke I heard.” This will ruin the audience and kill their humor. This will not affect your joke.
Our humor works only if it is delivered in a surprise full manner. If you want to tell a joke at the beginning, deliver it. But don’t announce it.
Most experts deliver their comedy set in a surprising way that’s fun and full of twists.
Surprising people with comedy at an unexpected time will surely make the audience burst into laughter. Tell your punch-line at the end.
One of the other big reasons for putting the punch word at the end of the punch line and not saying anything else is because that’s when you want people to laugh. This is where you need to shut up and let them laugh.
#2. Less Preparation and Planning
You should prepare and plan before delivering your joke. Rehearsing it and getting comments from your fellow comedians help you improve. Plan, organize, and practice are the primary keywords followed by every comedian to avoid mistakes.
You should always create an outline of what you are going to say. When you want to use humor, you have to memorize it word by word. Overconfidence also ruins you.
Sometimes if any word is changed or forgotten, it kills your set in a wrong way. Adding your own words that you didn’t prepare has no guarantee that it will be a good one.
Also, make crisp jokes, so that it will be easy for you to remember. Though prepared well, anything may happen on-stage, so always be ready to tackle any situation and be prepared for everything. Rehearse multiple times to do best.
#3. Not Knowing Your Audience & Using Offensive Humor
Research your audience. Preparing your jokes before knowing your audience is a waste of time. Because comedy that is liked by one will be irritating for another.
Before starting your comedy, know about the people, their location, culture, and humor sense and make jokes related to them. Knowing your audience is significant.
Everyone is different, and everyone has different humor sense.
Using offensive words to make humor will degrade your value among your audience. Avoid using racist, sexist, black humor, and vulgar humor, which insults the audience. Avoid excessive use of sarcasm and keep your comedy funny and straightforward.
#4. Irrelevant Comedy Sets
Though old is gold, sometimes old will be boring. Always make new and different jokes and avoid using the same ones over and over again. Since grinding the same flour is of no use.
Old jokes are corny, dry, and obsolete to the audience. Some jokes are so great that you can tweak them a little bit, and they’ll be relevant again. Everything has a life cycle. Know which jokes are appropriate and which aren’t.
If you recently saw it on TV, it’ll probably expire in a few weeks or months. So update your jokes and don’t use them again and again. Since the usage of the same comedy repeatedly will not be a comedy anymore.
Presenting an irrelevant joke may irritate the listeners. So make jokes that are relevant to your topic, and the joke should make some sense. Highlight what you want to tell to the audience through a joke.
If you’re going to put humor into a presentation, make sure that it’s relevant to the group you’re talking to and to the subject that you’re talking about. Don’t put humor in just to try to get a laugh.
For example, if you are talking to an American audience and you tell a joke that is related to Indians, then it will not be relevant to your topic.
#5. Going Over Time
The longer you make your joke, the shorter the response will be. If you want to make the joke or story funnier, it should be to get a good laugh.
Most of the comedians on stage stretch out their jokes in a shorter way. Because when you make long stories, the audience will get bored.
Maintain good time management while performing your comedy. Stay within your time, because consuming more time and making long jokes may be irritating for some.
Conclusion
Anything can be done perfectly if we identify and rectify our mistakes beforehand. Make crisp, relevant, and new jokes to attract people. Try to avoid errors, watch the experts comedians, learn from them, and practice it to reach greater heights.
CEO ga Linus
9jastandupcomedy/MC Network
