Some people are born with humor and some want to learn comedy to tickle everyone’s funny bone. You might be here because you want to learn how to become a comedian.
Well, it ain’t that easy for the newbies. But with the right tips and tricks, you can become a successful comedian someday.
So in this post, we share how to become a comedian using the right tips. We also cover how to write a joke and FAQS ahead.
Steps To Become A Comedian
Let’s have a look at 12 basic steps to becoming a comedian:
Write Down Joke Ideas In A Notebook
Pen down your funny thoughts, situations, lines, and any past incidents in your book.
From One Or Two Funny Incidents Make A Joke
Once you have completed the above step, pick one best joke and write long anecdotes and jokes. Twist your story to surprise the audience.
Learn From Other Comedians
Take inspiration from other stand-up comedians by listening to their podcasts or watching their videos.
Properly Organize Your Set Skills
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After completing the above steps, organize your joke in sets and end the acts with bigger jokes.
Choose A Performance Style
Pick a performance style and stick to it till the end to make the audience laugh.
Organize Your Movements And Facial Expressions
To increase your wacky sense of humor, perform with funny facial expressions and funny body movements.
Learn And Rehearse Your Setlist
Once your setlist is prepared, it’s time to edit, learn, and practice if you don’t want to forget your dialogues.
Ask For Feedback From Your Family And Friends
After preparing the setlist, do a practice performance in front of your close ones and ask for their honest feedback to gain more confidence and change certain lines.
Start Performing At Open Mics
Perform in the open mics in local comedy clubs for free to learn, improve your performance, and to sharpen your comedy timings.
Develop Your Persona As A Comic
After giving a few performances, create your own person, voice, or presence to use in your future performances.
Get To Know About Other Standup Comedians In Your City
Know more about comedians, event organizers, and venue owners in your city, and get in touch with them.
Don’t Be Afraid Of Failure
If you don’t get a good response from the crowd then try to improve in your next act. Don’t take it as a failure. Instead, learn from your past mistakes.
3 Common Types Of Comedic Performances
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Here are three types of mostly used comedic performances:
- Stand-up comedy: This one is popular these days among the young crowd where the comedian tells punchlines and jokes.
- Sketch comedy: It involves a team of performers who act in short comedy scenes.
- Improvisational comedy: It involves comedians inventing and improvising comedy on the spot.
What Are Some Standup Comedy Tips For Beginners?
Here are some 7 tips and tricks to follow to become a stand-up comedian:
- When you feel you won’t get a good response from the audience, learn to edit the dialogues while you are in the middle of the show.
- Stick to the best material and remove the useless stuff.
- Act as if you are conversing with the crowd to keep it real.
- Always keep new jokes handy if you don’t want to run out of material.
- Do a test comedy the night before on the stage to boost your confidence.
- Work on your comedic persona and as per that write your jokes.
- When you have a new joke then try to add one liner first to see the reaction of the audience.
How Do I Write A Joke?
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Below we have shared four quick steps to write your joke.
Watch And Learn
Learn from the big comedians and go to the comedy clubs to understand the structure of their set.
Gather Material
Collect the right materials from your environment to begin writing your jokes.
Start Writing Jokes
Once you have an approach and idea about what you have to write, start with the characters, settings, situation, punchline, and conclusion.
Assemble Your Act
Once you have collected the jokes, add the best ones to your five-minute set in a natural way to avoid cramping.
Write The Open And Close.
Make sure to one and close your act or the jokes naturally.
Rehearse In Front Of People.
If you are new to the comedy world, practice your show in front of your family and friends and ask them for their opinions in the end. Doing so will help you in memorizing, pacing, physical gestures, editing, and developing confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions.
Q. How to become a comedian in India?
If you want to become a successful comedian in India, then you need to first find the comic inside you because without this you cannot proceed further.
Once you do, then create a plot in your mind or any true incident to narrate to others.
Practice it in front of the mirror or on the stage with no audience to boost your confidence.
Once you are sure, then arrange a live performance for free in front of the live audience which mostly involves your family and friends.
Then upload the entire standup comedy on your youtube channel and other social media accounts.
Once the general people give positive reviews to your content, then repeat the cycle and upload more videos like these.
Once you gain a good amount of audience, arrange for a paid comedy show and be the host.
If this show becomes a hit then you will get more shows. Next, advertise yourself on social media platforms by writing funny comments, one-liners, or jones on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Soon managers will get in touch with you and you will gain commissions. Interact with the audience and continue this until a few months.
Get in touch with other comedians and attend their shows as well. After 4 to 12 months, you will become a known comedian.
Q. Why do people become comedians?
People become comedians due to various reasons and the common reasons are shared here. Some people are born comedians and some love to interact with others.
They feel comedy is the way to get their mind out of their serious job and to make others laugh.
Other things are that they love to speak their mind and the only rule here is to be funny.
And making a living by cracking jokes is not a bad idea because one joke can pull someone out of depression or another crisis.
Moreover, telling jokes also connects people and gains a good fan following.
Q. How do I become a comedian in Nigeria?
Becoming a talented comedian in Nigeria is not as easy as it seems.
First of all, you need to come up with a joke that is perfect for the occasion and make sure your joke fits the timing and has meaning.
Wear funny outfits or do funny facial expressions or movements to make the audience burst into laughter.
Come up with a joke that has a lot of humor and do not repeat the same joke in the same show again because it will make the audience lose their interest.
One thing the audience enjoys about the comedians is that they can make jokes about themselves and the audience without any practice. So you need to master this technique.
In the end, summarize your jokes with humor so that the audience gives you a loud cheer.
So this is how you can become a famous comedian in a popular country like Nigeria when it comes to comedy and entertainment.
Q. What tips would you give an aspiring new stand-up comedian?
Here we are sharing some useful tips for the aspiring stand-up comedian.
First of all, you need to develop a habit of coming up with a topic, writing jokes, funny lines, and one-liners and practicing them.
Make yourself the main character of the comic and lay yourself bare in front of your audience and share a list of jokes that are related to your life experiences.
The next thing you can do is watch and learn from other comedians and keep your eyes open to understand the anatomy of their jokes, their ideas, punchlines, how they open their act, transitions from joke to joke, and performance.
Then you can create your catchy punchline and hone your observation skills.
Q. How do I become a comedian in under 2 weeks?
Well, to be honest, you can’t! It takes a lot of time, preparation, and hard work to become a comedian.
Those people who become overnight successful are due to overnight exposure to the crafts they had honed for decades.
But if you still want to become a comedian within two weeks then you can become a self-proclaimed comedian by simply calling yourself one.
Here you don’t need any degree, a certificate, or an interview.
You can tell people that you are a comedian and if the people ask for proof, then arrange a performance or show within two weeks and upload the videos on all your social media accounts.
You don’t need anybody’s acceptance, permission, or approval and if no one likes your comedy then it is time to choose any other career.
But if you receive good reviews then you have a good sense of humor.
So it takes only seconds to become a comedian if you have it in yourself. However, to become a successful comedian, you need to work hard.