John Mulaney's advice for handling a big crowd: “Louder and faster.”
And get ready for delayed reactions too.
John Mulaney's advice for handling a big crowd: “Louder and faster.”
As a rule, with 18,000 people, I’d say: louder and faster. I remembered [Mike] Birbiglia gave me a piece of advice when I was first emceeing that he had been given when he was first emceeing. He did his set, walked off, and the headliner just went, “Louder and faster.”
Another tip for big crowds (I’ve never done 18k, but have done 1-2k before – and I’ve discussed it with other comics too and they echo this thought): Get ready for delayed reactions. It simply takes longer for jokes to reach the back of the room and for the laughter to come back at ya. It can feel like a wave that hits the beach a split second after you’d expect. Just ride the waves as they come and stick with your typical pacing.