How to wright stand up comedy?

Question

I am a funny person and I want to start doing stand up comedy. How do you go about writing stand up comedy? How do you put your stuff on paper so its not one of those had to be there jokes. Just about everybody I talk to says I am funny and think I should be a comedian. Do you know of anyway to pull jokes out of daily life and put them into a comedy skit? Know of any websites/things that will give me a better understanding on how to write comedy?

Answer 1

Ok first off, SLOW DOWN. BREATH IN. PAUSE. BREATH OUT.

I'm not getting "funny", I'm getting "too much Jolt Cola" from your question.

First off, successful comedians come in several different categories.
You have Observational comics (Jerry Seinfeld, Lenny Bruce)
Comics who Talk about themselves comically (Roseanne, Bill Cosby)
and Prop Comics (Carrot Top, Gallagher).

Which are you funniest doing? Are you one of those spontaneous comics who finds and uses the humor in a particular situation as it is happening? If this is your strength, then you don't need to write anything. You just need to hone your improvisation skills so as to be able to be funny no matter what someone throws at you. Not as easy as it sounds. The Amazing Jonathon is one of my favorite of this type of stand up comic. He VERY wisely mixes slight menace with the comedy, giving it an edge I truly find hilarious. Another HUGE talent source for this type of "spontaneous" humor are the amazing guys from Mystery Science Theater 3000.
MST3K. 197 2 hour episodes. Roughly 700 jokes PER episode. One full length movie. Very few jokes which dont work. Genius.

Or, when something happens to you, do you retell the story of what happened, seeing what people's reactions are as you tell it, changing it to make them laugh in different parts, etc? These are the kinds of stories I tell, usually about my amazing goddaughter.The more I tell these stories, the more I tweak them to make them funnier. These types of stories are referred to by comedians as "bits": Individual 'skits' of dialogue, where they tell a story which is either humorous in and of itself, or which is told in such a funny way the actual story doesn't have to be funny.

Answer 2

Just start writing, and keep your eyes open. Really good stand up comedy is very observant and holds a mirror up to people so they can a) realize how foolish they are, and b) realize that's OK, because everyone else is just as foolish if not more so.

Take things from your own life and embellish them. If you know an odd or unusual person, make them into a character and make them even more odd.

Keep a notebook with you, or a recorder. I can't tell you how many great bits I've thought of and promptly forgotten because I didn't take the time to write them down. You WILL NOT remember it so that you can write it down when you get home.

Study comedians; ones that you like, and ESPECIALLY ones that you don't like.

Try writing with other people, or at least get someone to read your work and critique it for you.

Lastly, just get up there.

Answer 3

there's material everywhere.. life is funny... these pages are funny..
if you have the ability to see the humour in most things and relay your humour to others ...then that is a gift and you are 99% towards your target of becoming a comic....
the best comedians are the naturals.. those who just seem to see the humour and deliver it to an audience.. like Billy Connolly... and Robin Williams.. (both were hysterically funny when interviewed on Parkinson)...to the uninitiated Parky is a UK tv chat show ....
there are bound to be web sites or books... so try the library... but the single most important is talent and it sounds like you've got it...

Answer 4

I've read books about stand ups. the thing to do, is carry pen and paper with you. EVERYWHERE. anything and everything should be written down. especially ironic things. all of which u can use later. make sure to write down your emotion at the time, tho it sounds stupid, u'll realize that things arnt funny unless u recal the exact emotion u were feeling whilst laughing. last but not least, be sure to "wright" down funny things that happen to your friends and family, but when you're making your set(list of jokes basically) pretent these things PERSONALLY happened to YOU. not "a friend" or whatever.

remember. Timing is EVERYTHING. good luck =]

p.s. try this site...

http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/standup/standup.html

Answer 5

All you have to do is wtite down events that happen in your life and maybe embellish them a bit. Family is a great topic

Answer 6

Well, too bad you are going to talk during your stand up routine and not write, because the way you spelled "write" was frickin' hilarious.