Comedy Advice
Advice –
that’s one thing I get asked A LOT, at least when it comes to comedy – not so much for cooking or doing handyman work around my house. I don’t do either of those very well, but I do have lots of people asking me for joke advice – out of the blue they’ll send me scripts and jokes and all sorts of documents that they want me to look at to tell them “if it’s funny.” And that’s hard for me because, as I’ve mentioned before, comedy is subjective.
I saw some videos on Phyllis Diller
this week, and in one interview someone asked her what she thinks made her so successful, and she said “ignoring people’s advice!” And so, even though I give advice on this blog, I guess today’s post will be about ignoring people’s advice.
And that’s probably
good advice, plus nobody – not your friends or your family or even other comedians really knows EXACTLY how to do something like comedy, so why listen to them? Sure there things you can do to help your jokes, and ways you can practice, etc. . .but when it comes down to it, I don’t think any 2 comedians took the exact same path to comedy. And the advice you’d have gotten from a veteran comic 20 years ago like “get your 5 minutes together and get on late night TV” in order to be famous probably doesn’t apply now. A friend of mine saw a comic who’d been on late night TV 4 or 5 times. . . getting people to fill credit card applications at a store. Late night TV did not make him a star as it once did.
In a video from
many moons ago, Phyllis said that her best friend gave her some advice – she told Phyllis to get rid of that laugh because she’ll never get famous with a laugh like that. But guess what we think of when we think of Phyllis Diller? Right, that cackle, that, well, MADE HER FAMOUS! And in his book Jay Leno says he was told to get a chin job because his chin is so huge. Good thing he ignored THAT advice as did Oprah when a TV network earlier in her career asked her to change her name. I saw an interview by Rosie O’Donnell once, and when asked what advice she’d give to up and coming comedians, she said “quit. Don’t do this job.” When the interviewer said “what are you talking about?” She replied that when she tells comedians to quit, what she’s hoping is that they tell her to go to hell, and that they’re going to do it anyway, because that’s the kind of fortitude and perseverance that you need to do this job. If you’re going to quit just because she tells you to quit, then you don’t have what it takes to succeed.
So when you’re
thinking of using humor, and friends give you all sorts of advice about what to do or not to do, feel free to ignore it. Okay, you don’t have to ignore all of it, but maybe weigh it yourself and seeing if it fits for you. Use your own judgment and don’t hope that someone else’s thoughts are better for you than what your thoughts are.
Phyllis said
that you’ll be successful if you are just you, so you have to do what’s right for you. People will enjoy that you are you and that will move you forward. And I second that. Cherry pick the advice you’re going to pay attention to. We don’t really need another comic exactly like the ones we already have anyway.
Jan
Judging Jokes
There aren’t many
hard and fast rules in comedy, but one comedy rule you can’t get around is that comedy is subjective. . . everyone has a different idea of what’s funny and what’s not. For example, a friend of mine just had a liver transplant. He’s okay, but the told me that (this is true!) he just went to his “liver transplant support group picnic”. . . you know, the picnic where you bring somebody else’s side dish! Okay, bad joke, but I think it’s funny. . .and it’s a good example of how some people laugh and some people don’t.
- enjoying dinner @ fisherman’s wharf in San Francisco last night
But this is important to
keep in mind because the person who doesn’t think your joke is funny always seems to be the person sitting in the front row when you tell it. Us comedians have figured out that we have to look away from that person, otherwise we spend the entire time trying to get that one person to laugh while ignoring the rest of the crowd.. . .who is laughing.
You never know what kinda
day that guy or gal had . . . maybe they don’t feel well or they had a fight with their spouse or their cat just coughed up a hairball on their new carpet. Whatever reason, you need to forget about them. But then again, use your judgment too! Because, sometimes you NEED to pay attention to that person who isn’t laughing.
About 7 years ago I did a show
for a company that makes adhesives. . .not just any adhesives, but one of their big money makers was the adhesives that go on the back of Maxi-pads. The committee had a GREAT sense of humor and they told me all sorts of things that I could have fun with. UNFORTUNATELY their CEO was Italian. . .and since he was Italian, he didn’t “get it” when I started joking around about the company. I was rocking the room. .. and he was GLARING at me from the front row. At first I stood so that the tall flower centerpiece was in my eyeline so that I couldn’t see him. . ..but after about 90 seconds, I quit with the jokes on them and went into my act. I quit with the jokes because, you guessed it, he was the CEO and he was FURIOUS. Later the committee called me to say how much everyone enjoyed it and they apologized for this guy. . .hey, they have to work with him, I don’t. But I was bummed that I couldn’t tell some of the killer lines I’d written (not all had to do with Maxi-pads – in fact I only had a couple of those. . there was a lot to have fun with when a company makes glue.)
So yes, in a sense,
pay attention to the signals and use your judgment when jokes aren’t going over. But in this case, my jokes were good, it was this CEO’s background that was the problem.
So what’s the
hard and fast rule again. . . pay attention! In this case, I knew the guy who was angry was the CEO, and that meant I needed to stop. Plus the way he was staring and his overall energy told me to back off, so I did. And if anyone wants to buy some killer jokes about maxi-pad adhesive glue. . .I’ve got a deal for you!
Jan
www.TheWorkLady.com – main website
www.JanBlog.com – travel blog
Picture Yourself. . .for more funny
So a couple weeks ago
I was hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park with some friends, and we took the traditional pictures. .. the 3 of us standing there smiling at the camera. But one of my friends also said she likes to do something different in the pictures to make them more interesting. . .so we started having some fun with taking pictures of us doing something different.
- we’re sleeping @ Dream Lake in Rocky Mtn.
This reminded me of something
I talk about in my Finding the Funny in Communications keynote, in which I tell people how to make their business communications funnier with humor. I remind them not to forget about the simple/routine things that you can make funnier. . .. like in pictures. How many times have you seen a press release of new construction “ground breaking” where 5 guys are staring at the camera holding shovels??? BORING. A fun, quick and EASY way to add some humor is to not take the same picture that everyone one else is taking. So do something different with the shovels. .
Ask Yourself. . .
How else could you break ground for a new building?
Who else could be digging?
What else could you take a picture of?
Your might come up with. .
How Else Can You Break Ground. . .
- People with toy shovels.
- People with spoons.
- Digging with your hands.
Who Else Could Be Digging. . .
- Kids
- The Elderly/grandma
- A dog or pack of dogs
What Else Could You Take A Picture Of. . .
- Cool equipment that digs/demolishes
- Sponsors/donors/big cheese people IN ACTION. . doing something besides holding a shovel
- The actually workers who will be doing the digging
You can add some quick humor if you stop doing the same old thing and ask funnier questions.
Every Time You Take A Picture, Ask Questions:
- WHAT else can we include to make this picture amusing?
- HOW can we do this task to make the picture more amusing?
- WHO else can we focus on to make this picture more amusing?
Besides, nobody believes the guys in the suits are digging. . .that picture is so boring I bet THEY don’t even look at it!!!
Jan
www.JanBlog.com – I’m finally back to updating my travel blog! Check it out!
www.TheWorkLady.com – Here’s my website. . pass it on to your friends and family so they can book me.
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