10 good things: Add the humor last, Rogan/Austin, and GOAT convos
Also: Chris Rock, Donald Trump, Ricky Gervais, and more.
💥 Joe Rogan is “perhaps the single most influential person in the United States.” [The Atlantic]
Of the many recent failures of the American left, one of the greatest is making entry-level battle-of-the-sexes humor seem avant-garde. (Did you know that women often run relationship decisions past their female friends? Bitches be crazy! That sort of thing.)
💥 Start with an idea that excites you! [Joel Byars]
Something that evokes an emotional response whether positive or negative.
Having an emotional connection to your ideas will keep you motivated and consistent in both writing and performing until you find that comedy gold.
Professional writers loves this trick.
I was recently listening to a podcast with one of John Oliver’s writers and learned their secret to writing such compelling and funny stories is by adding the humor last. They first make sure they have a well thought out idea and storyline, then find the funny.
The right idea is the foundation of your joke. The stronger the idea, the stronger the joke.
💥 How To Host by
who has a Substack called .He would lead the audience through every step of clapping. “Hold your hands up in front of you, go head, get them up. Okay, now take them and slap them together. You hear the noise they make? Okay, now do that repeatedly, harder, and faster! There ya go...” At this point the audience is clapping, and then he’d quickly shout “Now please welcome your first comic of the night, Keith Lowell Jensen!”
💥 Tony Hinchliffe’s advice to TikTok creators transitioning from funny videos to stand-up comedy, [Variety]
It’s a very dark, lonely road. It is the opposite of TikTok, where your content is immediately seen by a ton of people. You must be able to be present in a room and change your timing. Not to be taken lightly. Someone going from TikTok and expecting to be a natural stand-up comedian is the equivalent in my mind of someone being good at Pop-a-Shot basketball, making as many as you can in 30 seconds, to being in the NBA. How many people from TikTok or Instagram reels are even making it as a stand-up comedian? People get Matt Rife confused and blocked in with those people. But my take on Matt Rife is I knew him 11 years ago, opening for Ralphie May. And he was a little star. I bust all my comedian friends’ balls when they bring him up and speak negatively about him in the green room. He did the work. He did those things. And he started young; he’s built for it.
“Someone going from TikTok and expecting to be a natural stand-up comedian is the equivalent of someone being good at Pop-a-Shot basketball to being in the NBA.”
-Tony Hinchliffe
💥 I wrote about GOATs and comedy here.
Dave Chappelle referred to himself as “the GOAT” in a standup special. Sorry, Pryor/Carlin. But then he appeared onstage with Chris Rock and Kevin Hart as Hart gave an actual goat to Rock because, um, everyone is GOAT? 🐐🤔
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Up ahead: YouTube’s “banned” words, Ricky Gervais, Trump and humor, Chris Rock, and art vs. the algorithm.
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