We're back, blogging guns a-blaze!

Hey kids!

There are about five or six comedy-nerd posts rattling around in my head, meant to be immortalized for all six of you readers, but this came to my Tumblr this morning and I was indignant!  And indignant to me means "forget about impulse control or editing!  Just rant, baby!"

So, I caught this photo over my morning coffee:

SERIOUSLY?

You smug bastards, have you ever been to a comedy show?

Dale and I have used all of these as punchlines - dare I say, to pretty good effect.

When I make a 'fat' joke - by the way, I am fat - I make the most joyous, self-affirming, put-it-out-there fat jokes around.  When I use 'illness' as a punchline - by the way, I have Stage III rectal cancer - it's funny.  And awkward.  And funny.  And yes, empowering and brilliant and vulnerable, and funny.  And it shows people that illness is real, a tough part of life that sometimes deserves to be treated with actual humor.

I am proud - and I know many other comics are - to use these words as punchlines.  Did it make you laugh? Did it make you uncomfortable? Did it make you - heavens forbid - actually THINK about these cheaply printed words?

And another thing - not only are they in fact punchlines, yes indeedy, but the idea of comedy is worthless without punchlines.  I think what really makes my blood boil is the fact that 'punchlines' - the staple, the lifeblood of my art - are being reduced to a cheap negative by these font-fucking Etsy rejects.  And that is utterly, utterly wrong.

Good comics work hard on their 'punchlines.'  They craft, write, edit, perform and perform some more.  Perhaps they're talking about their lives.  Perhaps their lives involve, oh, some of the above.  Do you expect to go to a comedy show and hear jokes about nothing but happy bunnies?  (Clearly, their lives involved something besides bunnies.  Do you folks want jokes about bunnies? Or will that offend the animal-rights snotheads among you?)

Bunnies?

Okay, I'm off for some breakfast.

I defy you, comedy community, not to be heartily insulted by this.

Make Every Spot, Your Spot

Konstantin Stanislavsky famously said, "Remember; there are no small parts, only small actors.” 

And to that I say, "Bullshit." In comedy we all know there are good spots – headlining the Saturday night show to a packed house – and lousy spots – opening the Monday night show to eight people. 

Not every spot is the best spot. But every spot you get is your spot.

No matter what spot you're on, be it HBO or a hostel, they all have one thing in common … you. You are on stage, with both an opportunity and an obligation to connect with the audience and deliver the show. 

Somewhere near the bottom of the comedy totem pole is the dreaded "check spot" – the spot late in the show during which the checks are dropped on the tables and the audience gets distracted. Adding to the challenge, often it's late, they're tired, they're drunk, they're all laughed out or they want to leave. But you're there, and so are they. And if you're not there to perform, why bother?

Many comics just phone it in during a check spot. "The audience is not invested, why should I be?" But a comic who can rock a check spot is a comic who can do anything. Take two examples from SuperEgo TV.

Rob Santo's video on SuperEgo TV is the only check spot we've ever posted. We love Rob. We just don't usually feature check spot videos. 

Watch this video carefully. No, there aren't a lot of laughs in the first couple minutes. The crowd is distracted. But make no mistake, Rob is doing his best material that we've seen kill at other shows. He doesn't give up. And he doesn't badger them to pay attention. He just keeps going, staying totally committed. Watch how the crowd slowly buys into his set. By the end he's getting great laughs. All because he took the spot he was given, made it his own and he rocked it. So we put it up on SuperEgo TV. You're awesome, Rob!

Our second example is Dan Enfield's kick-ass spot on SuperEgo TV. Dan was booked to do a 5 minute check spot. Instead, the checks never came and he performed for 9 minutes. When you're performing you don't know what's happening backstage. 

So what happened?

A backstage SNAFU, that's what. The checks weren't ready. We were up against a wall and the staff was scrambling. Because of the lineup, we could not drop the checks on the next comic. So we left Dan on stage and like a trooper he just kept going. We love you, Danimal. You're a machine!

What's the lesson here? If the MC leaves you on stage longer than you expected, have more material. Keep going. Plan a set that is longer than the one you've been booked for and have your jump to closer ready for the light. Or do crowd work. Improvise. But when you're on a pro show, never bail the stage, especially if the MC is not in the room. If you haven't gotten the light yet, there is a reason. 

If Dan had bailed, we would have been in a real pinch. Instead, he rocked the house, made an awesome video and got himself on SuperEgo TV on what was supposed to have been a check spot. 

Dan scored himself a very well-paying college gig off this video. We don't claim credit for that. That's all Dan and his awesome hustle. He turned a check spot into an opportunity, and then another one. 

Bottom line … no matter what spot you're booked to do, take it, own it and rock it as hard as you know how. Do this and not only will you get more spots, you'll get better spots. 

Writer's Block of Epic Proportions - Break Through It!

Hey kids!  What do you do when you have writers block?

As much as I love my old material, and as much as I love hosting and crowd work, it's not conducive to cranking out and polishing some tight new stuff.  So the time comes where one must write one's little fingers off and hone some jokes to razor-sharp points. 

So - how to begin?  After having plenty of bouts of this, I've come up with some things that work - whether for me or for my creative friends - hope this can help you on your comedic quests.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.  What about dusting off old jokes? I had some good ideas when I started out, but wasn't the best editor in the world.  Some of that stuff is funny and deserves a second glance.

Record it!  I know I've been riffing some neat stuff at the mics.  Sometimes - magic!  I often take notes afterwards (that say, in deepest secret code that no one can read, WRITE THAT), so I can need to commit to things that seem to be working.  Writing notes is my style - lots and lots of people prefer to videotape or even record audio. 

Stimulus, Response.  Go watch a lot of comedy.  DO NOT COPY PEOPLE.  Perhaps it's a comic whose style you admire, a Comedy Central special, or just a good downtown show.  Watching standup - at least for me - gets me analyzing and thinking my own process.  Perhaps it will inspire you and shake some jokes loose.

Group Think.  Write with a partner? Write with a group?  This is a great help to many folks.

Classy.  For me, the combination of forced interaction and deadlines helps - every so often, I'll sign up for a class or workshop to get me creatively moving.

Nike said it.  How about getting off your fat lazy butt and just writing? Oh yeah....that.

Tips for Open Mic Comics, New and Old

Hey kids! Michelle here.  As you know, we here at SuperEgo are loving, nurturing, supportive...and bossy.  Way bossy.  We older-and-wiser types just love to impart our collective comedy wisdom to you.

A while back, on an improv message board, I posted some tips for improving your open mic experience.  I wrote that in about ten minutes.  I'm going to post them here, with some additional quickly-written but thoughtful commentary.

Open Mic Rules to Live By

1. Don't shit on the room, the host or the other comics.  Yes, we know we don't all play in the cushiest venues.  But we operators of open mics like to create a positive atmosphere, and, moreover, we depend on the kindness of the various clubs and bars to keep us in business.  So man up and sip that $4 Coke!

2. It's OK to acknowledge you're a newbie. Even open-mic comics can be supportive and reminiscent of their first time.  And if subsequent comics are lovingly picking on you from on stage, you've likely made a good impression.

3. However, don't apologize for tripping on a joke or making a mistake. We know. It's OK.  Don't waste your 5 minutes in regret.  That's what life is for.

4. It's OK to bring notes as a backup.  Other mics have rules about this; we don't.  As far as we're concerned a mic is a place to work out things that are new and perhaps you haven't memorized them yet.

5. Don't be drunk.  Or visibly high.  Seriously.  Not cute.

6. It's OK to be nervous. You'll always be a little nervous.  Just get your cute little butt up there and do it.

7. Go and watch the room a few times before you put yourself up. Different mics have different vibes. Talk to comics and the host.  There's no pressure to get up there the first day.  Bring a friend if it will help your nerves and push you onto stage when it's your turn.

8. The light that the host is waving at you means 'wrap it up.' It doesn't mean 'leave' and it doesn't mean 'hello.' Don't blow off the light or loudly call it out. That's hack, we've seen it before, and we're not amused.

9. Have fun. It's supposed to be fun. Yeah, call me cheesy, and yeah, it is hard work, but it's still fucking fun.

10.  Don't be a dick.  Seriously.  My long-held personal belief.  Simple, right?

Now, go forth and amuse us.

Your Showcase Spot – Making an Awesome Video

We here at SuperEgo Comedy created our Showcases and SuperEgo TV to help our comics show off their talent. A good showcase video helps you promote your standup career, get attention, build a fan base and get booked. We've had comics get everything from club spots to lucrative college gigs from SuperEgo Showcase videos.

Here's a few tips on how to make a rockin' video that we'll be proud to help you promote.

DO's

• Make it personal. Showcase yourself and your stage persona, whatever makes you unique and interesting. Particularly effective is when your persona has some inherent tension, for example: sweet country girl in the big bad city, Puerto Rican Jew, meathead philosopher, hot fat chick, gay nerd. It is harder to distinguish yourself as a comic with observational humor. So unless you are totally committed to being solely an observational humor comic put yourself in your act.
• Make it accessible. Make sure a general audience will understand your material. Be careful with inside jokes specific to particular groups of people and with pop culture references unless these things are the foundation of your act. 
• Make us care. Before tellings us all about you, you, you, give us a reason to care. This is where tension, conflict and contradiction in your stage persona are useful. Another way to pull your audience into your act is by showing them how your experience relates to their experience.
• Perform your best material. Unless you have already recorded a set showcasing your stage persona, perform your strongest jokes, which may or may not necessarily be your newest jokes. Resist the urge to do the joke you thought up on the way to the club that sounds great in your head. 
• Do your time. If you're booked for a 7 minute set, do a 7 minute set, not 6, not 8. Have a "jump to closer joke" for your ending. If your closer is 30-45 seconds, ask the MC to light you at 1 minute. If your closer is 60-90 seconds, ask for the light at 2 minutes. Then when you get the light you can finish whatever bit you're on and slide comfortably into your "jump to closer joke" for the big finish. This technique will keep you relaxed and ensure your set has a strong, smooth, professional ending. It will also keep you from panicking if the light comes unexpectedly.
• Name your jokes after your setups not your punchlines. Then your set list will pull you forward through your set instead of accidentally causing you to blurt out a punch line and blow a joke. 

DO NOT's

Here are a few simple mistakes to avoid if you want your video to impress industry professionals and be eligible to appear on SuperEgo TV.

• Don't do too much crowd work. Respond to crowd participation and heckles as needed. But long segments of "what do you do?" and "where are you from?" crowd work tend to not make a good showcase video, even if you're awesome at it. Don't let the crowd drag you too far off topic or you'll end up losing time you'd planned to use for your best bits. 
• Don't beg for applause. Do one, "give it up for [whatever]" or "how ya doin'?" if you absolutely must, but don't beg the crowd for responses. It may pump up the energy in the room but it doesn't make for good video. 
• Avoid current events ... unless you are a current events comic and intend to record a new video every few months. They make your video stale very quickly. 
• Don't disparage the club, the host, the staff or other comics ... NOT EVER. No matter what you think of the club, the manager, the bartender, waitress and MC and no matter what drama happened backstage, do not disparage the venue or anyone involved in the show. Even what might seem to be an innocent joke about the decor says to any industry professionals watching your video, "this comic doesn't respect the people who put him on stage." 
• Don't take notes or a set list on stage. Period. Also don't take a voice recorder on stage with you. If you use a drink as a prop that's fine, but you should not have anything in your hands or on stage with you that isn't part of your act. It weighs you down and distracts the audience.
• Don't do call backs to previous comics' material. They won't make sense out of context.
• Don't call out the light. When you get the light, make eye contact with the host and give a subtle nod of your head so they know you saw it. But don't say, "I got the light" and don't leave the stage with "That's my time."
• Don't be drunk. Duh.