Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 Who Are You? 4
Stage persona
Dominant trait 5
Attitude 6
Accents 7
What's my name?
What shall I wear? 8
Playing a character 9
Impressionists 10
Double acts and ventriloquists 11
Props and musical instruments
Ten questions to ask of your persona 13
Chapter 2 Getting Ideas 14
Notebooks and cuttings
Eyes and ears open 15
Look within yourself 17
Mind mapping
Topical comedy 19
Joke books? 21
Switching
Double acts 22
Ventriloquists 23
Props and musical instruments
Writer's block
Ideas organization 24
Ten tips for becoming an ideas rich stand-up
Chapter 3 Comedy Tools and Techniques 26
Exaggeration
Understatement 27
The mislead
Absurdity 28
Incongruity
Comparison and contrast
Misunderstanding 29
The outrageous
Put-downs 30
Innuendo and double entendre
Word plays 31
Visual comedy 32
Comedy genres 33
Irony
Satire 34
Black comedy
Parody 35
One-liners 36
Anecdotes 39
Observations 41
Other forms of comedy
Comedy techniques - Ten considerations 43
Chapter 4 Honing Your Comedy Material 45
Basic rules
The rule of three 46
Joke premises 47
Subtext - the comedy gap
Visual imagery 48
Comedic words and phrases 49
Comedy timing 50
Punctuation 51
Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse 52
Ten questions to ask of your material 53
Chapter 5 Structuring Your Routine 54
Intros and openers 55
Middles 56
Endings 58
Laughs quotients
Timing your routine 59
Ten questions to ask of the performance of your routine 60
Onwards 61
Chapter 6 Your Audiences 62
Audience rapport
Venue seating arrangements 64
Who's in tonight? 65
Localizing references 69
Topical material 70
Boundaries 71
More on audiences 72
Ten questions to ask of your audience/material relationship
Chapter 7 Hecklers and Other Disruptions 74
Prevention 75
Reducing the risk
What to do and not do 77
Heckle-busters 78
What if the heckle is funny? 79
Other disruptions 80
Other prepared lines 81
Five tips and tactics for dealing with hecklers 82
Chapter 8 Getting Your Career into Gear 83
The career ladder
Pro-performance preparations 84
Open mic spots 87
Other experience opportunities 88
Support act 90
Compering
Headliner 91
Spin offs for your comedy talents
Comedy writing
Running workshops, courses and teaching 95
Talks and after dinner speaking 97
Voice-overs 98
Checklist for getting your career into gear
Chapter 9 The Business of Stand-Up Comedy 100
Professionalism
Can't write enough material? 101
Keeping records 102
Networking 103
Marketing yourself
Agents, managers and promoters 106
Ten tactics for success 108
Appendices 110
Comedy websites
Other useful websites 112
Stand-up advice and how-to guides
Course & workshop providers (UK) 113
Course & workshop providers (Australia) 116
Course & workshop providers (North America)
Online courses 119
Academic courses (UK)
Resources for finding comedy clubs (UK) 120
Resources for finding comedy clubs (Australia & NZ) 121
Resources for finding comedy clubs (North America) 122
Comedy writing
Comedy festivals 124
Comedy organizations 125
Set-up-a-free-blog sites
Books 126
Magazines 129
