The Comedy Store
Culture Clinic: cracking London's comedy circuit
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By Tim Arthur, Time Out comedy editor
Posted: Tue Apr 8 2008 -
Fancy yourself as the next Jack Dee? Here's our advice on how to take the plunge into London's unforgiving comedy circuit
The problem
Alan, 28 ‘I’m new to London and fancy trying my hand at comedy. My friends have all said I’m funny and should give it a try. How would I go about taking the plunge?’
The prescription
That old chestnut, eh? The one thing I would definitely say is go and see as much live stand-up as you possibly can. There is a huge difference between amusing your mates and making a paying audience laugh. Go to any of the new-act nights around and watch comedian after comedian die on their arses and you’ll see what I mean.
If you’re still determined to give it a try then one quite common starting point for beginners is to attend a comedy course on which you can hone your set before unleashing it on the circuit. We would recommend the courses run by Amused Moose (www.amusedmoose.com), Laughing Horse (www.laughinghorse.co.uk), The Funny Side (www.thefunnyside.info) and City Lit (www.citylit.ac.uk). Feature continuesAdvertisementHowever, you could always just write five minutes of material and take it down to any of the many open-mic nights at places like the Comedy Café (Wed).
A lot of clubs also offer open spots on their normal bills. If you see this in the listings you can phone them up and try to get on the bill. If you’re really brave you could always put yourself down for a slot at the Comedy Store’s infamous King Gong show on the last Monday of each month and see how long you last before being gonged off.
Be prepared for the long haul. The received wisdom is that it takes someone about five years of gigging night after night, regularly dying a slow lingering death in front of a room full of strangers, before they really find their own voice. However, for those that stick at it and become successful there’s nothing quite like making a room full of people crack up. Good luck.
Do you agree? Post your suggestions for Alan's new career.
Email your cultural problem to cultureclinic@timeout.com.- Add your comment to this feature
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3 comments
I agree with you mate what we need are more easy women about! And yes this filthly lazy website should post some actual links to open mic nights which have been mathamatically calculated to resul in success. But then these are the people who don't understand what big society is all about! Heathens!
I read the daily mail! It's an outrage and to think that boy is a father at only 48 with his child bride the outraage hoodies disco music ban it allllllllllllllllllllllAlllllllllllllllllllllll. So yeah it would be nice if they did that.
Focuse on comedy for the pure love of humour - nothing else.
Find the centre within yourself. Learn from the greats - as you see and experience them in your own values. Analyse and understand the structure of humour, perhaps working from one liners to sketches and then play and films, in logical steps. Once you get the basic structure it's emotion heart intution intelligence - to write the material and performance ability to get that material across. It may be good to develop an inner state where you find your own emotion markers in every line to deliver the performance from you heart and soul - and if you really do it out of love and not ego - have understanding, intuition, intelligence, and know that we are all going to die some day and want to do it for whatever highest motivation you have in you, don't even listen to my advice - experience things for yourself and live your own truth.
Then you will be one of the greats - no one can be the greatest - there are so many who aspire and succeed in history and time time - and made their lives doing comedy out of pure love intuition intelligence and emotional congruence and out of that inner connection a connection with others as if they are their best friends - so you carry the audience with you.
If someone has something wiser to say, I will listen to it very willingly.
The practical advice above is sound and good but don't be determined by practicalities or generalities - live your own life specifically and your own success is within you and follows then outside of you in the world - because it's first within you.
Take criiticism constructively - take it to heart - learn from it - when it comes from the right place in people - it's because they care and want you to do well and become better - if they didn't care they wouldn't have to say anything - so find supportive honest environments and know humour is subjective and be your truth and play your heart out and let your audience find you - which is not every audience - but your part is to show up - be present - alive - hone your writing - write well - hone your performance - so that whatever audience you play with you have the inner state inside you to resource - and then play with them spontaneously without losing your mark, and deliver.
Be honest with yourself. Not for ego. Not for success. But for love knowing we are all goind to die. True humour is for love itself. Always learn. Always grow.
And remember, walls are sometimes put in front of you, to show how much you want something.
John
HI there,
I have just done a comedy course and a successful 5 min gig, but am having trouble finding clubs that offer open spots to beginners. Currently I am emailing random London comedy clubs and not getting much positive response. They all say they only take acts who have lots of experience. How's about having a section in your comedy pages with open spot nights?