Audience Laugh Pattern a.k.a. "Laughs per minute" (LPM):

Note that these LPM goals are for provincial one-nighter and full time comedy clubs which are considered Little League vs. the standards for appearances on Big League national TV shows.
TV shows once required an average of at least one Big Laugh per minute.
Those are 1980's TV standards, not the reduced standards of the relatively lame 21st Century comedy scene.

Why am I still throwing the 1980's standards at you that were once required during the big three national TV networks era?
If you want to know whether your set is ready for today's TV, wouldn't it be wise to overshoot the mark?
After all, with the greatly expanded market of today's cable TV and podcasts, you really do need something special to stand out, no?
Shooting for excellence remains a viable option.
Really!

Back to the beginner standards for local club work:

For our M.C. positions, we are looking for a minimum average of 2 solid laughs (3-4 seconds each of laughter/applause) per minute, before you cut off the last second of response.

At least twice during the set, we expect to see a big laugh (5-9 seconds) which is scored as 2 solid laughs. Great laughs (10 seconds or better) are scored as 2 big laughs (= 4 solid laughs).

These standards hold for Middle Act and Headliner positions as well, except we want more big and great laughs.

Suggestion: Do not let the laughter or applause die out. Standing there and waiting until a titter (1-2 seconds of laughter) wanes into 3-4 seconds of scattered audience response still scores as a titter.

Exit applause:

Be sure to include all your exit applause on your audition video.
For a Saturday night in front of 250 or more people, we expect the following exit applause:
     M.C.: 15 seconds
     Middle Act: 20 seconds
     Headliner: 25-35 seconds, or better

Once you are accepted to work for us, your every performance will be evaluated to make sure you are keeping up the above standards.

Quality of material:

We are actively interested in replacing comics on our roster who use blue material that bores audience members over forty and offends some over sixty.
You can't tell whether or not you're funny to all the community if most of the audience is under 25.

What is "blue material"? Simply put, gratuitous swear words and any graphic genitalia; i.e., summer camp humor:
• The kids in the audience yell and applaud.
•Those who are put off by the blue material remain silent.
But you can hear their comments as they exit the club after the show, what they really think.
If you have questions about particular bits of yours,
•feel free to call us to check it out.

We are also strongly prejudiced in favor of comics employing:
•social commentary and
•bits dealing with relationships in their act.
To us, this is an art form as much as it is a business.

8-)

We're looking forward to receiving your audition video.

To Laughs,

Jim Richardson

NOTE: If you are not yet ready to meet these standards, please do not send your video now.
If you do, we may not look at another audition video of yours for a year or longer.
So, time the audience response before you mail your video.

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