History, 2009 to present, of Organized Comedy's "Coach Says" newsletter for stand-up comics, business keynote speakers, politicians, ventriloquists and other solo acts.

History of Organized Comedy's “Coach Says” newsletter for:
Stand-up comics, business keynote speakers, politicians, ventriloquists and other solo acts
February 2009 to present:
Celebrating through July 15, 2014
As the arbitrary 5th Year Anniversary of "Coach Says" newsletter
Past issues today updated with:
Contests: WIN free Coaching and Co-Writing, plus
Discounts on selected products
2009, Vol. 1, i: "Easter Eggs" & overview of my web site info.
Vol. 1, ii: Character in Business Keynote Speaking & Stand-Up Comedy —
Speaker/Comic as “Gunslinger” and/or as "Knight in Shining Armor":
Next trend, To like you a lot, Corrective comedy & Practicing your jokes
2010, Vol. 2, i: Improvisation, Writing, Acting, Life as a Comedy Coach, Movie game contest
2013, Vol. 3, i: How to Write a Joke | Vol. 3, ii: How to Tell a Joke
Vol. 3, iii: Hecklers: taking advantage of rude people to keep your focus
Vol. 3, iv: The Act to Sell the Act: Media Interviews Can be Very Prickly
Vol. 3, v: Acting exercises for Speakers and Comics: solo performing
Vol. 3, vi: Flash animation movies:
“Game: Career Moves,” “Forced laughter,” “Job openings,” “Time Limit” & “Teach Product!”

Order the Workbook covering Lessons 1-4
And/or Jim's One-on-One Coaching & Co-Writing services

Vol. 1, issues i and ii, February & August of 2009, were dynamic PDF files.

Vol. 1, i features:
•"Easter Eggs"
Definition of Easter Eggs, their history, and current use by computer programmers as "virtual Easter Eggs"
and I also create dozens of Easter Eggs throughout the issue for you to find:
Hidden images and text.
•One tricky Eggs rewards the First finder: WIN a FREE hour of my one-on-one Coaching & Co-Writing services!
Runner-Up WINS a FREE half-hour of my one-on-one Coaching & Co-Writing services
•Plus, the entire issue is an overview of my FREE multimedia web site info. = Everyone is a WINNER!
as you ALL get to benefit from:
•6 hours of audio and video clips —
Tips you can use to improve your next performance,
. . . even if it is tonight!

Vol. 1, ii's theme: "Character in Business Keynote Speaking & Stand-Up Comedy "—
•Speaker/Comic as "Gunslinger" and/or as "Knight in Shining Armor":
Next trend, To like you a lot, Corrective Comedy & Practicing your jokes
•Another even more tricky to find Egg that rewards the First finder:
WIN a FREE hour of my one-on-one Coaching & Co-Writing services!

Users had trouble following the simple instructions needed to access these cool Easter Egg features, plus their way cool navigation, etc.
Each issue must be downloaded to your Desktop, then only opened using Adobe Reader 6 or later.
•You can still find both issues, said instructions, and potentially win a Free hour of my one-on-one Coaching & Co-Writing services.
Always remember, with art as in life:
"Degree of difficulty is never a factor!"

8-)

One prize to a customer, natch.
Deadline to enter both contests: Tuesday, July 15, 2014, midnight PST.
Try your luck right now at:
http://www.jimrichardson.com/coachsays/archives.html
Or just click either screen shot of the each issue's cover here:

Screen shot of Coach Says, Vol. 1, issue ii.

May 30, 2010,Vol. 2, issue i, I switched from PDFs to a newsletter authored in ActionScript 3 for the Flash Player.
Vol. 2, issue i, is a Rich Internet Application (RIA) featuring an interactive game and 7 short video clips.
Since the Flash Player is currently on 98% of Apple and Windows desktop & laptop computers,
no more download/opening file problems as this new Flash version "just worked" without being downloaded nor needing any instructions.

As you can see from the menu on the screen shot of this issue's cover, there are articles on:
•Improvisation
•Writing: story hook, add characters
Look for order form at the end of this article on Writing, "Coach Says," Vol. 2, 1i, page 4, where you can save 30% between now and July 15, 2014 on either or all three:
1) "How to Write a Joke: the 7 basic joke forms" audio/workbook package: audio 2 hours, 45 minutes of audio, workbook 80 pages. Description and video preview.
2) "Editing Your Comedy or Serious Speech into an Act" audio/workbook package: audio 1 hour, workbook 34 pages. Description with video preview.
3) "Topical Monologue: joke formats" audio/workbook package: audio about 4 hours, workbook 92 pages. Description with video preview.
•Acting: script & stage your bits
Look for order form at the end of this article on Acting, "Coach Says," Vol. 2, i, page 13, where you can save 30% between now and July 15, 2014 on either or both:
1) "How to Tell A Joke on a Stand-Up Comedy Stage, During a Speech and in the Work Place" audio/workbook package: audio 1 hour, workbook 32 pages. Description.
2) "How to Make the Audience Like You A Lot" audio/workbook package: audio 1 hour, workbook 36 pages. Description.
Find audio previews and update for "Audience" in "Coach Says," 1, ii, pages 1-27.
•Life as a Comedy Coach: how I invented my "Editing Worksheet" which went on to help Ronn Lucas win the San Francisco and National Stand-Up Comedy Competitions which turned his career around!
•Movie game contest:
. . . Yes, the first person to win this contest WINS a FREE hour of my one-on-one Coaching & Co-Writing services!
. . . Disclaimer: The same person cannot win all three contests.
Vol. 1, i-ii and Vol. 2, i each feature contests whereby the First person to solve a puzzle wins a Free hour of my one-on-one Coaching and Co-Writing services.
One prize to a NEW customer only, natch.
So, counting the Runner-Up in Vol. 1, i's contest, there can be up to four (4) winners!
Note: these are three (3) new contests that all officially begin:
Sunday, June 1, 2014, 6:00 pm PST.

You can find this third issue at: http://www.jimrichardson.com/coachsays/
Or just click the cover here:

Screen shot of Coach Says, Vol. 2, issue i.

"No good deed goes unpunished!"
Even though Flash Player is still on 98% of the world's desktop and laptop computers, it is not allowed on Apple's iOS operating system which runs iPhone, iPodTouch and iPad.
By late 2011, iOS accounted for 60% of the market share for smart phones and tablet computers, but is hardly user-friendly for dynamic PDFs = no going back there.
Facebook announced that 50% of users were accessing their FB social network via hand-held devices.
By 1-30-2013, more users accessed FB with mobile devices than via desktop computers.
Although iOS continues to lose market share, . . ..
If that wasn't bad enough, the first three issues of "Coach Says" were much bigger than a typical 4-page newsletter, more like mini-magazines.

What was I thinking!

8-(

So, in July 2011, I skipped any new issues of "Coach Says" and instead created a new web site for my Workshops and one-on-one Coaching & Co-Writing services.
New design targets: be hand-held device friendly while still being accessible on desktops & laptops: http://www.stand-upcomedyworkshop.com/

Additional topics are covered on earlier versions of my web site.
Most of it is pre-Flash Player and therefore, remains hand-held device friendly: http://www.jimrichardson.com/

8-)

In May-July 2013, I brought back "Coach Says" as a bi-monthly newsletter which was published in my twice monthly email blasts to my e-mailing list.

You can sign up for the mailing list here: http://www.stand-upcomedyworkshop.com/contactUs.html
Or find "Coach Says," Vol. 3, on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/CoachSaysNewsletterForStandUpComics.OtherSoloActs
Or just bookmark this web page.

Coach Says, Vol. 3, Issue i, May 19, 2013: ”How to Write a Joke”

Our first article/challenge tutorial will actually be a web page I wrote way back in 1997 (very Web 2.0)
that answers these questions, and more:

What should the set up line(s) give the audience in as few words as possible?
What is the major difference between telling a joke to associates vs. to a general audience?
If you expect laughter in response to a conventional joke, what percentage of the general audience has to know about the joke's subject?
Are “tag lines” a good way to flesh out a joke? Why, or why not?
After the audience hears the joke's "punch word," what two things happen?
Define "prosody."
What are the traditional requirements for a “second topper”?

To find the answers to all these seemingly simple questions,
please read my online tutorial "How to Write a Joke: the 7 basic joke forms"

Then, take the Quiz which asks all the above questions.

Oh: if you think that you already know all the answers:

At the beginning of the tutorial, you will find a link that will take you directly to that Quiz.

There you can answer these same questions by clicking the appropriate link in a multiple choice format.
If your first answer is incorrect, you can:

guess again or
click a link that will take you back to the exact paragraph in the article where I gave you the answer.
- You can also go back to the beginning of the article, and read the whole thing.
- (But then, you already knew that!)

Disclaimer:

Only you will know how well you actually did on this quiz, natch.

8-)

To find the answers to all these seemingly simple questions,
please take my online tutorial "How to Write a Joke"
Have fun:

http://www.jimrichardson.com/write.shtml

Coach Says, Vol. 3, Issue ii, May 21, 2013: “How to Tell a Joke”

Vol. 3, issues i-v are oh-so-very Web 2.0 but issue vi requires Flash Player. Oh, well.

;-)

Our second article/challenge tutorial will actually be another web page I wrote In 1997
that answers these questions, and more:
•In this tutorial, what do I claim is the basic difference in the writing rules for putting over serious and comedic points?
•What is the “creed” for all my online tutorials?
•What is my “blazing fast lesson in joke editing”?
•What is your favorite joke?
How many sentences is that joke?
•From this day forward, what habit do you always want to practice immediately after hearing a very funny joke?
•What is the relation between length of joke and the power of audience response?
•What has a negative effect on a live audience?
•What are two visible signs of this negative effect which you can spot if you sneak a quick look around the room?
•What profile should you start creating right now?
•What standards must you live up to, or hate yourself in the morning?
•When watching another comic perform, which is more important to note and why: their good or bad on-stage behavior?
•Who are the ideal comics?

Before you take this tutorial, please write down everything you want to know about how to tell jokes with maximum effectiveness.
When you have finished the tutorial, compare your list with my “Table of Contents:”
•What items were not on your list that now peak your interest?

To find the answers to all these seemingly simple questions,
please take my online tutorial "How to Tell a Joke"
And have fun:

http://www.jimrichardson.com/telljoke.shtml

Coach Says, Vol. 3, Issue iii, June 16, 2013: “Hecklers: taking advantage of rude people to keep your focus”

Our third article/challenge tutorial:
•If an audience member shouts out a comment or insult that has nothing to do with your act or speech,
what should always be your first plan-of-attack?
•When you are looking at the audience, does it matter what you see or hear from the stage/podium?
Why, or why not?
•In dealing with hecklers, how can you accidentally lose the sympathy of the crowd . . . instantly?
•How can you tell whether or not the audience cares
that the heckler has interrupted
your stand-up comedy or business keynote speech?
•When does the audience love what the heckler has to say?
•In reading how the audience regards the heckler,
what are the two possible extremes
that must temper the strength of your squelch?

To find the answers to all these seemingly simple questions,
please take my online tutorial "Hecklers: taking advantage of rude people to keep your focus"

Photo montage of various animals: seagull flying by, California raisin gesturing wildly, Great Dane jumping up on his small master -- an eleven year old boy -- and almost knocking him down, cow looking through barbed wire, horses eating out of a trough, Jim's cats staring cross-eyes into the camera

house.html

Coach Says, Vol. 3, Issue iv, June 23, 2013:
“The Act to Sell the Act:
Media Interviews Can be Very Prickly”

Our fourth article/challenge tutorial:
•What is the basic different mind set between performing before a live audience
and being interviewed by the media
which often throws stand-up comics and business keynote speakers off track?
•How can David Letterman
"always tell when a guest is going to be a disaster"?
•More important, how can you get lots of practice doing broadcast interviews
without ever having to leave your home?
•What alternatives are there for you to practice while still protecting
both your central character and your original material?
•If you are doing neither your character nor your own act,
how much additional time is needed
to prepare for your first interview . . . maximum?
•If you have a bad memory,
is radio a help or a hindrance?
Can you still be certain to get the wording of your jokes exact?
•During a radio interview, where should your eyes remained focused at all times?
•When does the comic or speaker find it very advantageous
(and even relaxing!)
to function like a lawyer or puppeteer?
•Should you switch the order of your jokes during an interview,
or stick with the order you had planned ahead of time?
•Are DJs and TV interviewers deserving of our respect?
Why, or why not?
•If an interview is to last 10 minutes,
what average percentage of the time
can the interviewee (you) be likely to fill?
•You phone a one-man radio station to request becoming a guest on next week's talk show.
What should you expect to happen immediately?
•To think BIG, when should you begin promoting
both your national and international performing career
through media interviews?

To find the answers, please take my online tutorial "The Act to Sell the Act: Media Interviews Can be Very Prickly"

interv.html

Coach Says, Vol. 3, Issue v, July 21, 2013:
“Acting exercises for Speakers and Comics: solo performing”

Our fifth article/challenge tutorial is updated from a web page I wrote 15 years ago,
and accidentally ran across today.

I stand behind the page, and see that the show I reference is still rated 7.2 on Internet Movie Database,
Dellaventura (1997–1998), TV Series, 60 minutes, Drama, starring Danny Aiello:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118302/

But you do not need to have seen the show to do the tutorial:
"Try this same test on another TV show or movie of your choice—one you love excessively."

Game?
Go for it.

You will stand taller tomorrow.

Please do take my updated tutorial "Acting exercises for Speakers and Comics: solo performing"

acting.html

Coach Says, Vol. 3, Issue vi, July 23, 2013:
Flash animation movies:
“Game: Career Moves,” “Forced laughter,” “Job openings,” “Time Limit” & “Teach Product!”

Our sixth article/challenge tutorial I authored in ActionScript 1.0 and therefore, requires Flash Player 6 or later.
So, you will need to access this Flash web page via your Mac or Windows computer.

I authored these 6 fun animations way back in 2002, and 5 of them are still completely relevant.
. . . So, I have just updated their introductory web page for the today's audience (you!):

•Game: "Career Moves" works best with your computer's volume up LOUD:
Read notes on how to do so, especially if you are on a Windows computer which may have shipped with audio turned halfway down.

•"Canadian $ converter" was a currency converter which is now outdated = disregard this converter animation.

•"Forced laughter" asks, "When are you compelled to do the impossible?"

•"Job openings" a shorter path to earning BIG BUCKS on TV.

•"Time Limit" when you first think of a joke spontaneously,
a sure-fire way to lock in both your delivery and your exact wording
before you forget what you just said.

•"Teach Product!" what three (3) skills did you probably learn in school that are actually relevant to the business world?
Hint: These same 3 skills are also core to the good work done by:
stand-up comics,
business keynote speakers,
ventriloquists
and other solo acts!

Please read the updates at the bottom of the flash.html web page before watching the still relevant 5 of my 6 "Flash animations movies"

Comic career moves--cartoon figure with wired hair.

flash.html

Note: in August, 2013, I switched focus and instead of more issue for Coach Says, I updated my Goodies Page.

Questions?
•Get in touch:
415-877-4424
jim@Stand-UpComedyWorkshop.com

Jim Richardson
Organized Comedy
PO Box 992
Mill Valley, California 94942-0992
USA

Page last updated: Wednesday, October 9, 2013, 8:04 pm and Suniday, January 6, 2019, 9:37 pm PST.