Comedy

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 continues

However, 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) or The Whoopie Cushion (Thur).

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.

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