Comedy

Logan Murray has been a working comic since 1984. For the past five years he has run the Stand Up and Deliver comedy courses in London and Edinburgh and he’s taught around 900 people. His ex-students have won every major new act competition including So You Think You’re Funny?, Funny Women, Laughing Horse and Chortle awards. They’ve been nominated for Perrier and If.comeddies awards. His book ‘Teach Yourself Stand-Up Comedy’ will be published by Hodder later this year. Here he outlines 12 steps to achieving stand-up comedy greatness…

‘So, you want to be a stand-up comedian? Welcome to a life of adrenaline, late-night motorway food and paranoia. You’ll need three things to succeed, over and above being funny. First, a thick skin because of all the knock-backs. Second, expertise in reading the mood of an audience. Third, phttp://www.timeout.com/london/comedy/events/39erseverance – there’s an incredibly high drop-out rate in the first year and often it’s not the most funny that survive, but the most driven.
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'After a bad gig, try to learn from it and then throw yourself back in the ring. The more you perform, the funnier you will become. We were all pretty rubbish for our first ten or 20 gigs. Practice makes perfect. It’s a craft and you will need to learn it. If you don’t give up, you will become funnier.

‘Write for yourself. Don’t try to second-guess what the audience wants you to say. Talk about what fascinates you and what annoys you. It’s your opinions that we want. Is your message clear? Art can be ambiguous, but a joke must not be. Don’t waffle. Get to the point quickly.

‘Keep phoning around for work. There may be a lag between your call and the actual gig – so keep plugging away to make sure there are no gaps in your diary. If you want four gigs a week, you should phone around and book four gigs a week!

‘Be yourself on stage (or, at least, an extreme version of yourself). That’s what you’re best at. Relax. Take your time. Don’t let nerves speed you up. Try to look as if you’re having a good time.

‘Do your time. If you’re booked for five, don’t do ten. You’ll be using up someone else’s stage time and generally annoying everyone who’s on after you. Don’t drink. It won’t relax you; it will just slow you down.

‘Listen to your audience. The person you think is heckling you may just be agreeing with you. Treat it like a proper job. Turn up on time, don’t mess people around by dropping out at the last minute and be polite. It’s business, not a soap opera.

‘Tape yourself at every gig. That way, you won’t lose any of those brilliant ad-libs that you will make up during your performance. If you can, run through your material immediately after the gig. What worked well? What didn’t? What could you do to improve it?

‘Play the moment. React to what happens around you. Make eye contact. You are not reciting lines; you are engaging a group of people. You are talking to, not talking at an audience. Just like you do all the time, every day of your life.

‘Feel free to enter the competitions – but be aware that they can be a lottery, and that it’s only a competition. If you win, it’s fantastic, but plenty of performers have won and then sunk without trace, and plenty of comics have never entered them and now have their own TV shows. Remember you are in charge. You have the mic and the audience wants you to win (honest).’

Semi-finals of this year’s Amused Moose Laugh Off competition takes place at Amused Moose Soho on the next four Saturdays. So You Think You’re Funny? showcases are at Laughing Horse Richmond (Sun) and the Monday Club. Logan Murray hosts the Fortnight Club this Monday.