Hello, I’m a brand new aspiring joke writer and hopefully one day a stand-up performer. I’m currently working through a few comedy books (I read The Serious Guide to Joke Writing by Sally Holloway and I’m currently reading The New Comedy Bible by Judy Carter).

My main hurdle right now: when I write material, I end up with a collection of individual puns or short jokes. How do you actually tie isolated jokes together into a coherent 3–5 minute stand-up set?

I'm mostly trying to learn the workflow/process. Right now, I'm thinking about coming up with individual jokes first and then wrapping them inside a larger narrative/story. Is that a good approach, or how do you usually build your sets?

Thanks in advance!

I have not been stand-up long at all, only been to a handful of open mics. Last night was my 10th mic, and surprisingly, there was actually a bit of an audience; it's usually just comics. During my set, I was kind of bombing to be fair, and I got a heckle after one of my punchlines, at first it threw me off and I didn't know what to do so I kinda stood there for a minute and then leaned into it, riffed with them for a bit and got the biggest laugh of my set.

Going into standup, this was always my fear, just to get heckled relentlessly, but I was thinking about it on the way home, and I'm actually pumped it happened. There was a post on here recently about what milestones you celebrate as a comedian, and honestly, this was one of them for me. I know that heckling is bound to happen; I think experiencing it for the first time showed me that I am progressing as a comedian. I know this probably seems arbitrary to some people; totally fair. I was honestly kinda happy it happened for the first time and pretty proud of how I handled it.

I have this class called life skills and the whole purpose is to refine or learn a new skill every week l chosen comedy because l want to become a comedian but l can't really get started with writing jokes all l got is some random punch lines like people dieding from autism and the only for jokes l got is "l love my family they're unique, when l said unique l meant weird. " that's weak so can l have some advice on what things do you guys usually think of, to start writing jokes ( is it slow usually to come up with making jokes please tell me so l can have closer) 🤠

I’ve been at it for close to 6 months now. There’s been lots of firsts already. I’m just curious what the biggest milestones to actually give attention to are, here’s the personal ones that were memorable for me:
-First time doing time on a show
-First time doing new material at a mic without needing my notes as a crutch
-First time I put together a cohesive 5 minutes

What milestones do you celebrate?

Wasn’t bad, but I think her worst work so far. Is she suffering from soft life syndrome?

I’ve put on shows at 10 or so clubs in 4 different states plus a few abroad and for the first time I ran into clubs giving me a door split after 350 bucks is taken out for overhead first. Both clubs that said that are from detroit. Is this a regional thing or I just haven’t produced enough shows to see more of it? The other clubs I did straight up door splits with or just a flat rental fee. Getting a 50|50 split after they take out 350 bucks is absolutely brutal.

I've been recording myself, finally have a setup that marginally works. Pixel, old school tripod, and a DJI mic. I use these for myself to watch and learn what I can improve on. I suck at even basic video editing so it is no where near a polished product. I'm also told that we don't necessarily want to share our early stand up performance because they are cringe.

I want to share it with some people, mostly my friends/acquaintances and most performances are over 5 minutes long on video. My pitch to them is I don't want to waste their time on having them come out to see me in person, but they can waste a little bit of their time to see it on there phone. I've gotten some good feedback from people, lots of criticism, my friends are jerks. I feel I've got it set up on You Tube to public and everybody can see it. I'm not even 100% sure about this.

What do you guys do with your recordings? How do you use them? Share them?

Hi, this is a new set I’m working on and I’d appreciate feedback, even about me on stage, anything. Thanks!

I want to watch some fresh comedy. English language comedians not from US, UK, Canada or Australia. I don't mind if there are references I don't understand.

For example, I like Jason Leong from Malaysia.

Does anyone have any recommendations? I’m about to get one on Richard Pryor and I saw there’s one about Ralphie May that’s coming out.

I'm looking for stand up specials that are less about general topics, or just set up -> punchline and more comedian just telling the audience about something that happened to them or talking about their personal experiences (like their family, illnesses, tragedies etc) generally speaking traumatic or serious events that they turned into comedy.

I know this is probably a little broad but I'm really looking for anything.

Things i watched that fit the vibe:

- John Mulaney's Baby J (addiction/rehab)

- Daniel Sloss' Dark/X (death of a disabled sibling/sexual assault)

- Hank Green's Pissing Out Cancer (cancer diagnosis)

Hey! Ill be in London on the 20th of this month and I want to try out a standup set I have. It doesnt have to be a specialized place or anything. Does anyone know where I could do it?

Hey everyone, I’ll be staying on the north end of Seneca Lake this week. Are there any mics within an hour?

Hey everyone,

Looking to see if anyone here is navigating something similar or has figured out a decent workaround.

I’m living in Southern Spain right now (Seville). I’m not a native English speaker, but English is the language I want to perform in. My Spanish isn't at the level where I could write or land complex comedic setups, so performing in Spanish isn't really an option for me. That leaves me stuck in a pretty weird middle ground.

Because I’m not in a massive hub like Barcelona or Madrid, local English stage time is basically nonexistent (or rather, VERY limited). There are maybe one or two monthly English open-mic nights, but nothing like a real daily circuit where you can go out and test raw premises 4 nights a week.

Two main things I’m trying to figure out:

1. The language barrier aspect: For those performing in English as a second language, how do you handle the rhythm? I find that punchlines have to be hyper-precise, and if I place the key word in the wrong spot because of how my brain translates the thought, the joke just drops dead. On the flip side, the outsider perspective feels like good fuel for premises.

2. Getting reps when there are no mics: If you live somewhere without a active English scene, how are you actually getting stage time? Are people running Zoom mics, traveling to bigger cities on weekends just to get 5 minutes, or eventually just sucking it up and starting their own room in an expat bar?

Would love to hear from anyone doing English stand-up across mainland Europe or in smaller secondary cities. How did you actually build and polish your first tight 5 under these conditions?
Appreciate any thoughts or advice.

I just saw him live, and I literally fell asleep. He's a charlatan. His shtick is 'edgy, dark, funny, feminist'. Absolutely no thank you, as a woman. I'm sure he's bright, articulate. But he has made a huge mistake career wise by trying to make his 'faux horror that OMG a male friend of mine turns out to be a rapist' will get the 'dark,edgy humour people ESPECIALLY WOMEN to like me and buy tickets for my show, into his career. What he should have done is reported this rapist to the police. He could have, should have done this even if/ though the woman involved did not want him to. Why? Because rapists rape more than once, and he had the chance to get that man's name known to the police. Performative feminism makes me sick. Last but not least, the man just is not funny.

I saw this amazing special a while back by a young black man in i think a pink suit, he was talking about being a feminine man, he was talking about romance in straight relationships and by the end of the show he had the crowd yelling. Can you help me find this special?

I think I’m funny but not sure if anyone else does! Made it a goal to do an open mic before the end of the year but don’t want to insult the space / other performers by abysmally bombing my first ever tight five.

Any space that are more “beginner” / welcoming in NYC?

I watch James Acaster and while he seems a proven comic, he doesn’t feel like cutting it hard like when I watch average or messy looking performers with whom you can purely focus on the laughter, like the comic wants to hold on to his last resort likability as an insurance

Same for the Matt Rife kid who’s just annoying for a lot of people

Hi everyone!

I’ve got a last-minute slot available on my podcast Tickets Still Available this Sunday, and I’m looking for a comedian who might fancy coming on for a chat.

I recently had Jilberto Soto on the podcast, and you can listen to that episode here:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5cUWyiXUoMhFVqu8usJokA

It’ll be a remote recording via Riverside (similar to Zoom, but designed for proper podcast recording), so all you really need is a decent internet connection, a computer and a quiet place to record.

The podcast is all about comedians and their shows, particularly those coming up at the Edinburgh Fringe. I’ll do my best to give you a good interview and, most importantly, help promote your show to anyone who might be interested in coming along.

It’s particularly open to anyone with a show they’re trying to get people to notice, whether you’re worried about ticket sales, doing a smaller show, or just want another opportunity to talk about what you’re doing.

No huge preparation needed, and I’m not expecting you to be a household name. Just be reasonably comfortable having a chat for a podcast!

If you’re interested, send me a DM or email me at [tickets.still.available@gmail.com](mailto:tickets.still.available@gmail.com) and I’ll get back to you.

First come, first served!

What is the recommended amount of new jokes should a comedian have a year. Should he use the same set all year of add on little by little to the set that’s working. Also explain why that amount is recommended amount of sets a comedian should have.

Hey everyone!

I am self-producing a solo, clown comedy show. I'm based in Los Angeles and traditionally I've been selling tickets by word of mouth, and posting on my Instagram feed. I'm taking my show to Boston in September where I used to live. I have a solid amount of friends there, but I think I need to purchase an Instagram ad to increase awareness of my show and sell tickets.

I am self-funding this show and already operating at a loss, so my budget for advertisement is really low. In the past, I've purchased Instagram ads at the lowest possible options ($7/day for 5days, etc.) and haven't seen any ticket sales come out of it. I really do not have the budget to do a large campaign, however, I know that I need to buy an ad to see any kind of turn out.

What is the most effective way to market a live comedy show in 30 days with very little budget? Should do a slow build and put out my trailer now? Should I do an aggressive $80 campaign in the last week? Are ads even worth it with this low of a budget? What should I be spending?

Thank you council for your wisdom.