Great crowd work here from Taylor Tomlinson. Instead of adopting the common stand-up approach of trying to trip up the audience member or put them down, she comes across as genuinely invested and engaged in what they are saying.
She repeats back what the audience member says to her, which ensures that everyone in the room can hear the exchange and feel included in the conversation.
Rather than rushing to find the next joke, she takes her time to thoughtfully probe, explore, and follow the natural flow of the conversation until she organically arrives at a funny reaction.
She keeps the interaction moving by frequently switching her attitude. For example, she might start a conversation by being sympathetic and concerned, momentarily display faux vulnerability, and then abruptly shift her energy to complete outrage.
Oh, by the way I have a stand-up crowd work coaching session that I'm running with crowd work master Geoff Whiting in LONDON on Saturday for gigging acts. (25th April). See chrishead.com
Here is a bit from Greta Titelman (plus my analysis) where she describes the embarrassing ordeal of trying to navigate the ocean after lying to her keen-surfer boyfriend about her own surfing abilities.
This is an edited excerpt from my Zoom stand-up comedy writing classes (STARTING AGAIN NEXT WEEK - see chrishead.com/comedycourses). It is a masterclass in utilising the "fish out of water" angle to generate comedy. The comedy comes from her attempts to fit into this setting.
Here Titelman is figuratively and almost literally a "fish out of water." She utilises several key stand-up techniques to maximise the discomfort and alienation of the situation: • Dramatic Irony: This is where the audience know something that a character in the story does not. Here, the comedy is fuelled by the fact that the audience knows her secret (that she doesn’t really surf) that the boyfriend in the story does not. We know she is completely out of her depth, so watching her dig a hole for herself creates high-stakes, comedic tension. • Vivid Analogies ("Is-likes"): To paint a picture of her awkwardness, Titelman gives us surprising analogies. She compares herself to his "stepmom" on the beach, claims she transforms into "Christopher Walken" when her hair gets wet, and describes being helplessly tossed by the wave like a "taquito" and a "sandy churro". • Undercutting (Build it up, knock it down): She purposefully creates a highly glamorous image—slowly making an entrance into the ocean like a "Bond girl"—specifically to give herself somewhere to fall from. This makes the contrasting, unglamorous reality of being fully submerged "without your consent" and violently washed ashore significantly funnier. • Personification: There is a touch of personifying the ocean (giving it human attributes) as an entity that should seek ‘consent’!
In your own stand-up writing, ask yourself, when have you been a fish out of water and tried to act cool and fit in, but it all went wrong? And of course you're going to massively exaggarate, do 'is likes', act-outs and more like Greta T.
This video features a performance by the brilliant UK based German comic, Henning Wehn, who uses a story about being in a "caff" with "proper builders with hard hats on" to explore the comedic tension of fitting in and social codes. It's a fish out of water piece.
Try telling a story in your own stand-up where you were a fish out of water! What did the people around you seem like to you? How did you try to fit in?
This is an edited excerpt from my Write Stand-up Comedy course on Zoom. Starts again next week! See chrishead.com under 'comedy courses'.
In this clip Wehn imitates the people he is amongst, deliberately "getting it a bit wrong" and exaggerating their manner of speaking for comic effect.
His being a fish-out-of-water creates a dilemma created where he questions if it is "acceptable to ask for latte" in the "testosterone-filled atmosphere," or if it would be "too la-di-da".
The resolution is a funny solution where he asks for his drink by swearing—"I want one of them what you call them fucking latte"—to (as he believes) successfully overcome his fish-out-of-water status. What absurd way could you attempt to overcome your own fish out of water status?
Here is my full 8 minutes analysis of an Iliza Shlesinger bit highting all the techniques she is using, which you can apply to your own stand-up. (I'd previously shared the start where I explore her use of rule-of-three). This is an edited segement of my online stand-up comedy writing sessions which start again on Zoom in April. See chrishead.com/courses
Statistics can be a great way into jokes. Here are some brilliant examples from the likes of Troy Hawke, Joan Rivers and Mark Smith. Get joke writing coaching in my stand-up classes. Classes coming up in Stroud (on 22nd March) and on Zoom (starting 14th April). Go to chrishead.com and look under "comedy courses"!
The whole trick of stand-up is to make the audience forget that it's a massive contrivance to try and make them laugh. Check out my video on the topic and coming up on Saturday I have my one day live session on Stand-up Storytelling in London. All the details at under comedy courses.
I have just made an in depth video on Kevin Hart's storytelling, highlighting techniques that you can use in your own stories (whether one minute, five minutes or a full show!). And my London stand-up storytelling day is coming up on 28th February. Just £75 and you can claim £10 off with coupon code STORY. Booking and info on chrirshead.com under comedy courses.
As a stand-up comedian, your choice of attire is not merely a matter of personal taste but a fundamental element in the construction of your stage persona. This video explores how comedians craft a memorable visual identity to align with or playfully contrast their material. For more on this check out my blog at chrishead.com where you will also find details of my upcoming Zoom stand-up comedy persona classes.
In this video excerpt from class 1 of my "Write Your TV Script" course, I discuss bringing characters together for the first time in your pilot script. I use the opening episode of Catastrophe, where Rob and Sharon meet, as an example and I also give some screenwriting tips. The next class starts on Zoom on February 24th! See chrishead.com and go to "Comedy Courses"
Where are you on the spectrum from grown up to childish/ realist to dreamer/ wise to stupid? Find out on my Zoom Stand-up Comedy Persona class (video snippet from a previous session with participant stand-ups artfully concealed!) Next sessions Mondays 23rd February & 2nd March on Zoom. Go to chrishead.com/comedy courses
Misdirection is a fundamental comedy tool. You build a mood or an expectation in the audience which is then abruptly subverted. It happens all the time in stand-up but can also be seen in TV comedy scripts too. Here are two examples, from Beef and Ghosts. For more comedy tools see my Essential Tools of Comedy Zoom course (which this is a clip from) and my Complete Comedy Script Toolkit book. Both can be found at chrishead.com
