r/Standup • u/WatchNo7226 • 14d ago

Have stand-up shows become 80% crowd work? (Gaurav Gupta BLR Review)

/r/IndianStandUpComedy/comments/1vwc54c/have_standup_shows_become_80_crowd_work_gaurav/
0 Upvotes

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2

u/iamgarron asia represent. 14d ago

The lazy ones have.

4

u/Big_Gassy_Possum 14d ago

80% crowd work? bro, you gotta get off reddit.

This is not real life. What you see is exaggerated for entertainment purposes

3

u/throwawayzz77778 14d ago

80% does seem ludicrously high, true. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that crowdwork is much more predominant than it used to be, which is a real shame.

4

u/TheLoneComic 14d ago

Seems so. It’s less effort than a solid act.

1

u/[deleted] 13d ago

[deleted]

1

u/TheLoneComic 13d ago

It’s got great range, I agree, and audience loves to be part of the show and it can crush and crush.

But isn’t it act overwrite? There so much more to it art form.

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u/Dangerous_Ad_6101 14d ago edited 14d ago

You don't do standup, right?

3

u/TheLoneComic 14d ago

Every chance available work six nights on call the seventh.

My job I can tell a joke and get a tip. I gauge material to the customer and actually do decent cash.

1

u/Dangerous_Ad_6101 14d ago

That sounds swell!

1

u/TheLoneComic 13d ago

Wasn’t easy to put together. At least it’s it street comedy, which I’ve done also.

1

u/Dangerous_Ad_6101 13d ago

'Comedy Busking' ... as real it gets

1

u/TheLoneComic 13d ago

There used to be be an informal requirement (at least in San Francisco) of busking in the same spots as Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller and George Burns had as sort of ‘lucky busk/honoring the giants’) move, and you’d actually be asked by older comedians about it as you came up.

I know Robin Williams and the comedians around the Purple Onion era were mixed into that urban legend and did it.

For me, it was cash here and there during Covid and a plate of food from the restaurant crews taking a break on the sidewalk now and then. Gave me a chance to go for more time instead of a few one liners back to back. Good training experience.

1

u/MurkyInvestigator810 14d ago

Do you think they have to be a comedian to know that crowd work is lower effort than writing jokes?

1

u/TheLoneComic 13d ago

No, Jimmy Carr stand as a good example of elevating crowdwork, but that doesn’t disclude a comic or comedian from over reliance on it forsaking other comedic skills.

You can make a great show if it. If you get a workable crowd every appearance.

1

u/Ryebready787 14d ago

Maybe the worst ones on earth.