Something New
In order to be the most effective with your act, it is important to know and understand the different types of comedy and how to use each effectively.
- Stand up Comedy – When you first go on stage, you are on your own. This is when you engage your audience with cute and funny comments. For instance you might say something like – “Did you come hoping to have a good time tonight? . . . Well you may have come to the wrong place. . . (Pause to let this sink in) Continue making smart but funny little comments for a few minutes. Then introduce your first character.
- Next would be to set up the type of comedy known as “Situation Comedy”. This is a series of circumstances where a set of characters are involved in various amusing situations. For instance Jerry Clower was a master of telling stories from his childhood where he would set up situations about characters such as Marcel Ledbetter and the antics that they got into. You might start by asking your puppet about something that happened recently and engaging him/her in a funny conversation about that situation. Work through a series of conversations where you continue to discuss funny things with your puppet.
- Transition in and out of “Physical Comedy”. This would be the type of circumstance where your puppet might get a bit nasty and maybe slaps you in the face.
Use these different types of comedy to create your act in a running true to life set of circumstances. Work through a variety of situations using these different styles. It will get easier the more you work at it, but it is important that you know some of the styles of comedy.
We will talk again next week.
Steve and JET
Thank you for posting “Mixing Different Styles of Comedy”, it has sparked some interest in my inner most being… All sorts of ‘possibilities’ are starting to rattle around in my head.. Tanx again.