(2-8-2010) "Why
get
Jim's notes after you perform & before you go to sleep!
" (1:27)
•iPhone/iPod/iPad
version
•Computer version—that
can play full screen on most desktop and
laptop computers: Apple, Windows, etc. Plus,
it also plays on most Android phones and tablets, Kindle, etc.; but this Flash
version for computers will not play on Apple iOS devices like: iPhone,
iPod and iPad.
But what do you do if the electricity goes out?
• For the long story, and a trip down memory lane with Rob Schneider, go
here: http://www.stand-upcomedyworkshop.com/workshopPreviews/roblightsout.html
• You can also play my 3-in-1 video tip recorded in the hills of beautiful
Nicasio, California.
This video clip gives you a notion of my presentation
style:
(4-19-2009) "Object
as Metaphor;
Basic microphone technique;
Solve techie problems instantly: What to do when the club's sound &
lights go out?" (4:42)
•iPhone/iPod/iPad
version
•Computer version—that
can play on
most desktop and laptop computers: Apple, Windows, etc. Plus, it also plays on
most Android phones and tablets, Kindle, etc.; but this Flash version for computers
will not play
on Apple iOS devices like: iPhone, iPod and iPad.
You can experience
the real deal live, in-person or online at my Stand-Up Comedy Workshops,
taught through live Internet video conferencing at the section of your choice:
• 4 Lessons repeated each month
• These insightful Lesson are taught:
1)
regularly on Monday nights
at 6:00 pm PST over your home
or office web cam.
2)
irregularly by special arrangement.
•Workshop Lessons
1-35: Described.
(8-3-2012) Re-enforces microphone
drill that is integrated into all the class exercises (8:45)
In this video
clip, I demonstrate the professional advantages of owning your own inexpensive
mic gear.
Why?
So you can both:
•practice at home and
•show me your improvements
during all Workshop exercises, and as appropriate during our consultations.
Knowing
how to use the mic gear smoothly will:
•boost your self-confidence on stage and
•greatly impress anyone considering hiring you as a well-paid stand-up comic
or business keynote speaker.
Techie note that is good to know about:
Even though these instructions are unique to “Comedy Kitchen, Episode
#2,“ similar
things can happen with other videos (even on other web sites you might find
yourself visiting) if the "packet
stream" that
sends you the video gets temporarily interrupted.
•So, how the Flash video player
works and
•what it looks like at various stages while you are waiting for a video
clip to load is a good thing to know.
Can keep you from freaking out:
Unlike Episode
#1, there is no "pre-loader"
counter for this Computer version letting you know that the video is loading.
•Instead, you see the control bar for
the video player eventually load.
•Oddly, on slower Internet connections, inside
the control bar you will soon see a green-and-gray twirling line which looks
like a barber's pole on its side:
Not to worry: nothing has gone horribly wrong.
•Be patient as you wait
for the video screen to load into the player in the empty space above the control
bar.
If you'd like to see what that looks like, I made a screen shot for you. Once
you have seen the screen shot, click on your browser's Back button to return
to this page. Here is the screen
shot.
•The green-and-black twirling line is next replaced by a gray line (see gray
line inside scrubber track pictured below).
•Once about two-thirds of the actual video loads, it should
begin to auto play this video clip. However, those on faster Internet connections
may actually see the video playing much earlier, and never see the green-and-black
twirling line.
How do you tell how much of the video has loaded?
•Just watch the gray
line inside the video player control bar gradually extend the width of the
player's scrubber bar.
Red circles: Pause button has changed to play button = video is currently playing,
timecode playhead (white triangle) is no longer at the beginning, gray line
inside video player control bar is well over 66% the width of the scrubber bar
(playhead track inside video player control bar).
Sound: my goof— Once the opening titles are gone for each
video, the audio finally begins with my entrance.
Lesson 1:“How
to Tell a Joke on a Stand-Up Comedy Stage, During a Speech and in the Work Place” Description | Lesson
1-4 register.
Discover the real
math that makes the difference between the Little League standards
of your local comedy scene and the Major League standards of national broadcast
television.
Compare/contrast all the comics we have studied in Workshop Lessons 1-4.
What separates the character of the comic having a successful first time
national TV appearance from those not so successful?
What makes these budding comedy stars so very different from the “saloon” players
whose acts do not translate into the “big leagues” of
national television?
In other words, by this point in our study of “The Fundamentals of
Stand-Up Comedy,”what is your current personal profile of the “ideal” stand-up
comic? iPhone/iPod/iPad version | Computer version
(5-12-2006)
What local
comics can learn from a knowing study of late night TV talk-show
opening monologues:
Most of these shows with the greater audience share are still
hosted by stand-up comics.
What works so well on national television networks every night of the
week
can give your local comedy club act a much needed career shot in the arm:
Pump new life into your act by continually putting current events into
witty perspective! (7:26)
Although I
created the above "Lesson 6: Topical Monologue 11 joke formats" video
way back on May 12, 2006, oddly not much has changed other than Jay
Leno and David Letterman retiring:
David
Letterman's announcement on his show 4-3-14 that he
will be retiring some time in 2015.
Next, on April
10, 2014, CBS-TV announced that Stephen Colbert will
replace Letterman in 2015.
He is the host, writer and executive producer of Comedy Central's cable
TV show "The
Colbert Report,"
However, CBS Chairman and CEO Les Moonves said in a statement: "Colbert will not portray his Comedy Central character when
he hosts the late-night show."
Judge for yourself:
April 23, 2014, Colbert appeared on "Late Show with David Letterman" (12:33):
Upshot, the topical-comedy-National-TV-Network-host-deck has been shuffled,
but is still short one card:
Now, Comedy Central needs a new host for a new show
•who can do
topical material in Colbert's
soon to be vacant Monday-Friday half-hour time slot
following John Stewart's also topical "The Daily Show."
Basically, most of the same stand-up comics
are still getting the same ratings,
•and still no one since Johnny Carson has cornered the
national market.
Every night you tell a topical joke,
•you are automatically competing
directly with all the late night talk show hosts
•by telling jokes on the same
subjects.
If you make a name for yourself as a great topical comic:
When you perform, the press must be there
•to quote you in the next day's
major newspapers and TV shows.
So, check out my above video
clip to learn the strengths and weaknesses
of your current national competition.
Colbert's job is now up for grabs.
8-)
No-brainer prediction:
Expect many more new late-night-talk-shows
hosted by stand-up comics
to emerge soon
as the late-night-talk-show-wars
heat up anew.
Number one weapon:
•Whoever does the best topical monologue
. . . will get the most viewership!
If you are yet to do new topical jokes every night in your comedy club
act
and/or your humorous business keynote speeches,
•you are hardly taking this obvious and very available
career fast-track.
8-(
Solution:
24-hour, 30% off sale on my audio/workbook package:
"TOPICAL MONOLOGUES: 11 joke formats"
•Order through your desktop or laptop computer only on the 9th and 24th of the
month at: http://bit.ly/2o79Va
8-)
This same 30-off sale is also available inside my newsletter "Coach
Says," Vol.
2, issue i, page 4,
through Sunday, May 4, 2014:
You will find this announcement in the upper right-hand corner of that
page :
Looking for a steady job in stand-up comedy without all the road travel?
Suggested career plan:
•Figure 6 months to train properly under my guidance.
•Then, three
months to slug it out in the national arena.
•This,
so Comedy Central has at least another
three months remaining to promote the obvious winner (you?)
before he or she ascends
to the by then vacant Colbert throne.
Again, expect many such job openings near-future on national television.
Remember: "Success is won with a combination of luck and preparation."
Since most of your fellow comics are ignoring the preparation,
•those who
get good at topical joke-telling will be making their own luck!
8-)
You will need to know your beans:
•This lesson is the first in a series of lessons which show you how to
effectively use the 7
basic joke forms in clearly defined traditional
joke formats: topical, social commentary, improvisation, wading
into the audience, roasts, stage movement, etc.
•What makes this a particularly good place to start is the fact that businesses
with big money to spend are eagerly looking for local talent who
can use these topical joke formats to compete with the men and women they
see on TV every night.
•Such gigs can pay literally ten times what a comic will typically
get paid for night club work.
Even more strangely, most of your local competition still fails to take
advantage of this career opportunity.
Cathy the camera person playing a typical audience member,
Somewhat
distressed when she suddenly and unexpectedly finds herself
"on stage"!!! Introduces
final
microphone drill that is integrated into the last exercise
described on Lesson One, page 86:
"When I walk amongst them"
(2:25)
Jim Richardson and Cathy the camera person show why a 20 foot extension cable
along with the microphone's own 15 foot cable combine to give you a 35-foot
reach to every corner of the average night club house where the audience
sits.
They also demonstrate how to more dynamically interview reluctant audience
members. How to still keep them on mic (and what to do if they say
something off-mic that many in the audience will not be able to hear).
All this,
when going
into the audience as "you
walk amongst them!" Page 86 iPhone/iPod/iPad version | Computer version (2:25)
Note: video shot of the Open Mic at the beginning of Lesson One will be
played back at the end of Lesson One.
This,
so you can demonstrate what you have learned
by self-critiquing your performance in terms of the techniques taught in the
first Lesson.
See page 87.
This is often the most valuable, and enjoyable exercise
of the first class!
There are no pre-requisites for Lessons 26-29, Professional Stage Movement: setting the bit.
But it is assumed that students who want to jump ahead to these four
Lessons will already have several well-tested bits that by now have set
lines:
•Adding professional stage movement at this time can greatly help
cement in your memorization of the final version.
•This is especially
helpful for those bits which have undergone so much re-writing that the
new version is next to impossible for you to re-memorize.
Most comics and speakers spend their entire performance in the middle of the
stage nearest the audience and/or pace nervously back-and-forth to no
purpose. In 2005, I began creating a 42 minute video that replicates
what I teach during the initial 30 minutes of these Workshops. I challenge you
to begin putting these techniques to use the very next time you appear
on stage.
