The four components of standup, according to Jerry Seinfeld
"When all four of those things are perfectly in sync, bam, you get Bernie Mac."
Neal Brennan got a bunch of good standup craft stuff out of Jerry Seinfeld in this interview.
The four components of standup, according to Jerry:
The four components are the idea, the face, the voice, and the body. When all four of those things are perfectly in sync, bam, you get Bernie Mac. It's just so damn funny. So everything fits together like any good piece of music…
When the idea you're projecting, “I think this about this. I really think this.” My voice matches, the tone of my voice matches the look on my face, and my physical body matches this idea, that is a Mike Tyson right hand."
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How does Jerry figure out what his “good moves” are?
Just trial and error. What else is there? You can't figure it out when you're not on stage. You just keep doing your sets and the audience makes the set. The audience decides the set's going to be and what is valuable about you.
dear matt,
love the simple encapsulation: "The four components are the idea, the face, the voice, and the body."
also would love to hear jerry and eddie murphy face off re: "The audience decides" vs "The audience has no clue what’s funny. You’ve got to show them what’s funny."
thanks for sharing!
love
myq