The Stand Up Comedy Clinic

Mar 20 (5 days ago)

Good Afternoon kevin! I'm always curious when someone says take your [INSERT YOUR NICHE HERE], to the "Next Level." It sounds interesting, but what does it mean? Is there a lounge we all get to go to like at the airport? Do we get free bottled water and The Wall Street Journal delivered to our door? How do we know when we've reached the next level? I started comedy about 28 years ago and I can tell you I knew when I hit the next level. When I first started, I didn't know anything. I didn't know what I was doing. I would just get up on stage and "riff." I would hang out with friends and if something funny happened, I would try to recreate it on stage. Sometimes it would hit. Sometimes it would flat-line. Let's face it... most of the time it would flat-line. They called the 'time of death' for my jokes more than I could count. I knew I wanted to do comedy, but I didn't know what I was doing. Finally, I had to make a change, because it was either figure this out or give up and get a 'real' job. I was one of those kids who always took apart his toys to figure out how they worked. So I started doing that with comedy. I actually posed as a journalist--and I'm a little embarrassed to say this--and asked 22 talent coordinators, club bookers, managers and agents what that one thing was that made them know that a comedian "had what it took." The overwhelming response was "STRUCTURE." (17 of them said this!). So I started developing more structure in my act... well, once I figured out what "structure" actually was. :-) I realized how many more laughs I was getting, how many more applause breaks. Then I begged for an audition for Bud Friedman, the founder of the World-Famous Improvs, and he booked me in Vegas and gave me a spot on A&E's "An Evening at The Improv." (It was the biggest stand-up comedy show on T.V. at that time). Some people would call that a lucky break, but I knew I worked my butt off in class, with private coaching and I worked my butt off at the mics. So on my first audition for Bud Friedman, I got Vegas and T.V. Since then I haven't stopped working. I knew I had reached the next level. I believe I can give you the tools to build the stairs so you can take yourself to the next level. Love to see you there! Kindest, Jerry

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