Very cool. I'll take a look into it.Originally Posted by Evan the Shaggy
Facebook ID: Doug Hahner
Agreed. I thought that sounded a bit silly. I just write down any errant thought that I think I can turn into a joke.
Then I'll try and add the set up and punch line to those ideas. Try and craft those thoughts into an actual joke.
Yes, this.
A guy here near me offers a "How to do Standup Class" here in DC. Its basically a month of a comedian telling you how to do standup. This is kind of like a rock star teaching you to write a song.
I had a friend who had seen me perform and thought, "Well if Evan can do it," and attended this class. After a month of three classes a week, they had a showcase. Every single person who took this class was awful. Not just a laugh here or there awful, like nothing but silence awful.
I can clearly remember a 45 year old mother of two getting up on stage and saying something along the lines of "My daughter asked me how I felt about the Middle East and I answered well Irock and Iran!"
That doesn't even make sense.
And I am under no illusions that the first several times onstage I will suck big time. But whatever. No pain no gain.
Classes aren't all bad. Board members who came to see me at Caroline's a few years back also saw Erica Watson, a graduate of the same class I took. She's in Precious now and is touring with her one woman show; Fat Bitch. She's going to be huge(r) in a year or two.
Winter is Coming.
What did you learn in the class that you hadn't heard other places? Or was it a communal thing that helped propel you forward?
You're close with the communal thing. The reason, IMHO, that comedians hate classes is the same reason that the classes (can) work (depending on the student) - because they offer a safe place to be received and can ease you onto the stage. "Real" comedians know that some of the funniest stuff can come from the baptism of fire of open mikes and clubs. It's not really a teaching environment, it's a more "comment on your act" environment. And you can have a bad class as well. Sorry, I see both sides of it. Perhaps, while I feel I got a lot out of the 3 or 4 classes I've taken, I never really got past baby steps careerwise. And maybe if I had crafted something in an environment that made it harder to do so, I would have passed baby steps a long time ago. And then again, maybe it's just me. Funny people are funny people, if it takes a class or doesn't is no reflection on how funny you can eventually be.
Winter is Coming.
Stand up comedy died the day Paul Riser got a sitcom.
"What if it snowed in San Francisco?"
Had a show last night at a bar near my house. A drunk heckler was in the audience so that was a blast. Suprisingly, I actually didn't do too bad.
At the end of the night, the guy demanded he be given the microphone and proceeded to say, "Heyyy, you alls know that my jokes are funnier than them!" and proceeded to mouth off the most racist jokes I've ever heard, directly at comedians. So that was an experience.
My Two Dads was awesome.
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