5 Lessons from my first stand-up comedy class

5 Lessons from my first stand-up comedy class

1- I suck

Speaking comes easy to me, I have more than 8 years of practice.

But getting on stage where the sole metric of success if you making people laugh?

I suck at that.

No surprise, I've never done it before. Every time I dive into a new skill, there are many more nuances than I initially knew about. Repetition is the key to improving.

2- It's more difficult when you have to unlearn habits and relearn new ones, than to just learn a new habit.

I'm a trained public speaking coach, you would think I wouldn't have any issues with stand-up comedy. Quite the opposite. Because I'm so used to speaking in 'corporate' - my delivery sounds more like a speech than a comedy bit.

I have to learn to switch off, and adapt to a new style of speaking, and a new audience.

3- It's now just what you say that makes something funny, it's how you say it

In my class, there were people who made me laugh before I even heard a word. Just by their mannerisms, their reactions, and how they carried themselves. Body language is a key component in communication.

4- Preparation is key

My first class, we were put on the spot to come up with a 1 minute comedy bit on the spot. I didn't do well. I was all over the place, desperate to get a laugh.

In the second class, we were given a week to prepare a 3-5 minute bit. I wrote out the script, I rehearsed it out loud 4-5 times.

It was a LOT better.

Hardly surprising.

The more prepared you are, the better you’ll do.

5- Perspective is power

No matter how good you are at something, you never really know what you could be doing better unless you have external perspective.

5 People could listen to you speak and each of them would give you a different opinion of what they liked and what they'd like to see improved. This is what makes coaching so essential.

Maybe you’ll see me in my new Netflix Special soon?
Who knows!