The Joke Exploder Blog.
I am by no means an expert on what makes the perfect headshot. It is a personal thing, an expression of the comedian. As a photographer myself I do know a bit about it, and I have heard some things. I find just like with anything in comedy there are some basic guidelines and for me it works better to have guidelines. These are my guidelines for headshots.
Read MoreWhen I started stand up I was very worried about joke stealing. But after doing it for years, stand up not joke stealing, I am not worried about it. I don’t worry about it for a few reasons. Part of my worry about joke stealing was exaggerated by the fact that someone was outed for blatantly stealing all their jokes, they were blacklisted from the comedy scene. There is not a lot of protection from this so it's usually regulated by the scene and bookers. This was unfortunately one of the first people I met in the scene. It happened around the same time I started going out to mics. I thankfully was able to distance myself from them because I didn’t know them very well yet, but it really made me hyper aware of it.
Read MoreI have been astonished at the ways I have been able to change my life using this identity model. Whenever there is something I want to change I just write down my current belief about myself. Then I adjust it to the desired behavior or new belief. I change the story I am telling myself about, well, myself. When I change the story I am telling myself, I am able to make the change on a deep level. The more I repeat it, the more real it gets for me.
Read MoreOne of the most powerful tools in my comedy toolkit is the use of opposites. The concept of opposites plays a big role in comedy applying it to both writing and performance.
Read MoreI was reading about elite athletes who get to a point where they are the best in their field. That they first must become better than those around and then once they are the best they must become better than themselves. If we are using those around us to push forward, what happens when I am the best? How do I continue to innovate and push the level of what I am doing?
Read MoreAnyone who has done standup for any amount of time has thought about quitting. I know that I have especially in 2020 when everyone has basically been forced to take a break. I am grateful to have this time away from standup to really get an outside perspective to see if I still want to keep doing this. I am not caught up in the busy work of constantly doing shows and have the time to really think about if this is something I still need in my life.
Read MoreEnvy is when we lack something that someone else has, while Jealousy is fear that someone will take what we have. I think that both take place in comedy. So often spots appear to be a limited resource for comics, so I often fall prey to thoughts that because someone got a spot that means I can’t have it. For me this is subconscious thinking and not necessarily based in reality. It’s an unchecked reactive feeling. So most of the time we refer to jealousy, when it's usually envy.
Read MoreAt first we can notice a huge leap in skill, but as we do more reps we don’t see that game changing growth, it's more subtle. I find myself growing in ways I didn’t even know I needed to grow. The best way for me to get out of a plateau is to push myself a little, find a way of getting out of this much higher level comfort zone.
Read MoreThis is something that my improv teacher at UCB told me and I have found it to be incredibly true. The more times I perform the less I bombed. The less I truly bombed. Because eventually I didn’t let myself bomb. It was like I just didn’t let the audience reaction get to me. To get to this point the only way is to perform and, well, bomb a lot.
Read MoreIn doing this no memorization process, I was worried I would forget parts, and you know what, I did. But that has become my editing process. I trust that if I forgot a part it wasn’t important. It’s like I have this built in subconscious editing system.
Read MoreI am sure there are more ways people network, but these are the ones that I employ and have worked for me over the years. I also just enjoy doing all of them. They make me feel good and create more happiness in my network.
Read MoreWith standup comedy the longer I practice it the less unsolicited advice I give. So many new comedians are so eager to give advice. I personally love to listen to all of it. I know for many comics it’s the result of hours spent listening to their favorite comedian whether it's Rogan, Maron, Holmes, or some other podcast. I was always fascinated by how the newest and least experienced comics were always so eager to spit advice to any newbie who showed up to an open mic.
Read MoreTo be truly great at what you do one must rank all these attributes and find the weakest ones. Then take steps and make a plan to turn the weakest into the strongest.
Read MoreI began practicing power poses before important performances. It really helped me. A power pose is a stance taken with an open body position. So a classic is just the superman pose, arms on your hips and chest out. But anything with a puffed up chest will work. Also the captain Morgan leg up on a chair is also a power pose and a personal favorite.
Read MoreSo my new approach is to have a set quantity goal for a specific trick that I am working on. Right now this week the trick I am working on is a backside air. I learned the steps involved in it and now I just go to the park and try it 10 times. Then I am done, and I usually leave.
I realized today that if I create an artificial ceiling for what I can do the best I can do is that. So if I set the ultimate goal too low the best I can achieve is that low goal. Why am I doing this?
Read MoreToday I decided I want to be like the snail. Slow steady growth. Pick a pace that I know that I can keep for the long haul. I so often get caught up in the flurry and see all the other fish moving so fast and all over the tank, but realize that when I take my time and I will see that part of the tank eventually but I do not need to get there by darting across to it. I just keep myself in motion and keep showing up every day.
Read MoreNo successful standup comedian is an island. They may be the one on the poster and make it look like it, but they have a team that builds them up and holds them up. So we can do that even at the lowest level. Even if it’s just 6 people getting together and telling jokes through masks into bananas on a stage under a carport 6ft apart.
Read MoreWhatever it is you do when you show up every day or every week it changes it. It becomes more of who you are rather than something you did one time. This is much harder, but more important. For real growth to happen I have to show up every day or every week.
Read MoreWhat I have observed over and over about myself is that the days where I have zero motivation are the most important days to show up.
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