Advice for Beginners

I. Writing a Joke

• Try writing a joke, it could be something you thought was funny or a story from personal experience

• Don’t worry too much about it being funny to other people. For now, focus on what you find funny.

• Try to include vivid imagery without being wordy. Clear and concise language will allow the audience to follow the structure of your joke.

  • A basic joke structure works like this: setup -> punchline -> tag

    • The setup functions as the introduction to a situation or characters, ect.

    • The punchline is where a contrast is made to the setup, or a different idea is presented relating to the setup.

    • The tag, (which is not always necessary) can add a “polished” feel to jokes, serves to comment on the joke. 

    Let’s see this broken down: “It is amazing what people believe. I watch these infomercials late at night, if it gets late enough, the products start to look good to me. I have actually found myself sitting there thinking, ‘ya know I don’t have a knife that can cut through a shoe. I don’t think any of my knives are good enough to cut through shoes. I’m gonna get this knife and cut my shoes up.’” - Jerry Seinfeld

II. Find an Open Mic

• You’ve come to the right place for this one, check out our list under “Open Mics” for Seattle-Tacoma-Everett mics!

  Great, I’ve found one, now what?

• Show up before the sign up time, seriously, it helps to get the spot you want on the show.

• Find the producer (they usually sit at a table with a clipboard near the stage) and ask them 3 important questions:

  • How long are the sets?

  • When do I get the light?

  • Where will I get the light?

• KEEP COMING BACK! “There is no substitute for stage time” - Greg Dean. Stage time is paramount for developing your act, even if you’re doing this casually. So get back on stage and do it again!

III. Stage Etiquette

• Put the mic stand behind you when you get up there. This does not apply to those who want to keep the microphone in the stand.

• Anything in front of you can become a barrier between you and the audience and will mess with their psyches.

  I mean go ahead and do that, if that’s your thing.

  It feels like I’ve been up here for too long!

• You may have, but that’s a mistake you can avoid if you know where the light is located.

  What is this light ya keep yapping about?

• The light is usually a phone flashlight that a producer shines towards you when you have 1 minute left. If you see it, wrap up. At clubs, the light us usually located above the crowd and is a dim red bulb, though some clubs have a digital timer facing you.

IV. Stage Presence

• Stage presence is something you will develop over time.

  What even is it?

• It varies from comedian to comedian. “Stage presence” may be the way you’re holding the microphone, your posture, the movements you make and whether you have act outs for your jokes.

• Most people will be stiff initially; your movements will loosen up over time.

V. Reviewing Material

• Reviewing and revising material is essential to bettering your craft. Set your phone up to record yourself and listen to it the next day.

  Yikes, I gotta listen to myself?

• We have to hear you too, how do you think we feel?

• It’s super cringy to hear yourself but it will 100% give you feedback on things like shortening your set up and fixing the timing.

VI. Collaborate

• Collaborating can be a huge benefit to your writing.

• Ask around about writing groups and writing workshops, they exist in the dozens!

• Don’t be (too) shy, I know this is Seattle and we’d rather die than talk to our neighbor, but sharing your ideas can lead to developed ideas such as skits or short films.

Important Tips

• This is a job after all, so as Ralphie May says, “don’t fuck the waitstaff”.

• Be a professional, treat your fellow comedians as coworkers. These places may seem more casual than most workplaces but this workplace might just lead you to a career in the industry, so don’t muck it up with petty drama.

• Read the audience the best you can, if you think a joke is going to really piss them off, it very well might. It’s your job to use the best judgement.

• You are responsible for the relationship you have with the audience. Sure, in the beginning it’s going to be rocky but if you keep going on stage, you’ll develop ways to deal with different audiences and the different relationships you build in those exhilarating few minutes you get with them.

Written by Mitch Schaab