Jess Carpenter
Rehearsing and Stand up Comedy
A lot of my comedian friend’s po po the Greg Dean book “Step by Step to Stand up” I found it to be a bit confusing in the process of writing a joke and I am still to this day a Judy Carter school of comedy guy when it comes to joke writing. But Greg Dean has changed my performing and remembering of sets and I have to say I have gotten nothing but complement from day one of using his technique.
I think the greatest complement I have gotten to date about my stand up was from my buddy Mayo, He hasn’t seen me perform in a long time and we were in a contest together and after I performed.
“That was the best set I have seen you do, So much better than that crap you were doing at the Philly’s Phoniest Contest”
Prior to this technique I have been told that if you were not looking at me why I was telling jokes that it sounded like I was reading them line for line. That was hard to take, but a great to know. That is why I am not an actor and don’t really want to be one.
I suggest you get the book or even better audio book, even though the voice on the audio book is annoyingly goofy. So I am not going to write word for word how it works I will just say how it worked for me. I don’t want to write an entire chapter just what I have learned that works for me.
Rehearsing for my type of comedy: I am would be called a story teller type of comedian. I don’t have or use one liner type jokes, I build all my sets to have a running theme and I try very hard to have a natural flow from bit to bit… this is just how I am.
What I learned from Dean:
There are 2 stages of rehearsal and they are separated into “The Critic” and “The Creator” and you need to teach yourself to separate these two jobs/ways of thinking. This is the most important thing I have learned. The reasoning behind this is that if you rehearse your set with “The Critic” correcting you at the same time you are working on your delivery and tone your are building that little negative “Critic” voice into your head during the your set. So this negative voice will come on stage with you and distract you why you are supposed to be delivering your set and having fun with your audience.
What to do with “The Critic”
You need to give the critic his voice just not why you’re going over your delivery and staging.
You need to use the critic to your advantage he is your friend, and if you use him he will make you a better comedian/writer.
Record your sets and practice sets then listen to it as the critic… make notes of what to change, then work that into the set.
Always critique your work in a space different from your practice area; you don’t even want to see the critic’s space from your practice area. Keep them physically and mentally separated.
What to do when you’re “The Creator”
This is when you are writing everyday like you should.
This is when you are practicing your delivery and staging and open mikes and thinking of what will make a great bit, and watching people.
This is when you learn your set: I am in love with the method I am about to tell you about… its works so well for me I no longer bring my set with me to shows or open mikes, I don’t have a set list and I am so much more relaxed about my jokes/bits. It may not work for everyone but it works for me and I love it. So here we go…again buy the book for better detail.
Don’t learn the words to the jokes: this is the wrong thing to do. You need to turn your bits into Pictures, Sounds and Feelings…sounds a bit odd right. It a way of turning the bit into a real memory that you can recall like telling a story about something that actually happened to you.
If you have a set with say 3 POV (Points of views) like You , The Narrator and a Third character (3 for this example) you will tell that joke or experience from each of those points of views act them out try to get the feel for all three of their feeling. Build an experience where you are more apt to remember the moment not the joke.
Do this until you are no longer trying to remember the words of the bit and now you are imagining that story about the experience you had.
I understand that there are particular words that you need to use for some bits… just practice them into the experience and why that word is being used.
Body Language 55, Tone 38 and Words 7: these are the percentages of how people get their information so build that tonal and body language into your set during the creative. Watch your set with the sound off and see what your body is saying. It’s amazing how many things you can do with body language and vocal tones to get the point across.
I am remembering my sets so much better and having more fun, I have a long way to go but I think this is a great way to rehearse.
Here are links to the books:
‘I AM DYSLEXIC’ short documentary
Humorous and tender stories told from the point of view of people who actually have dyslexia (not experts) and yes the animation is the same as Zero Punctuation so sue me, bad choice of words there.
Mackenzie Thorpe: English artist
Born: 1956
As a child, Mackenzie Thorpe had a problem learning to read and write. Some people thought he would never be able to communicate effectively with others.
Art is not about the object itself, any piece of art is a vehicle to bring you an experience, to provoke a thought, an emotion, or a new perspective. The art is the experience you have with the piece. Thorpe has used art to communicate in ways that words never could. His website notes Mackenzie’s perspective on life is clear. He doesn’t hide the fact that often life is a struggle, a dark tunnel which can seem endless. However, he passionately believes that our frail dreams are worth nurturing and that love and honesty will triumph over adversity.
He uses his art to inspire others. My ambition is to unite the world through the eyes of these children and let today’s cultures understand that in order to sustain our societies, we must protect and nurture our children, and also protect and nurture the child within us all. It is our responsibility to love these children, to let them bring love back to the world, and to keep our eyes open to the wonderment of childhood.
Allison Merriweather, American artist
Little Allison was so excited. After years of struggling in school she finally had an assignment she thought she could do well. Unfortunately, the school system turned her excitement into despair. The one time I could have been singled out as having talent I ended up being unfairly punished. I was in third grade and we had an assignment to illustrate a story. I was interested in the project and took it home to complete . I drew on all these pieces of paper and stuck it together. But, when I brought it to school, the teacher didn’t believe that I had done it and the other kids didn’t either. They thought that my older brother or my mother had done it for me. As punishment, I had to sit outside the classroom on a chair.
Fortunately, Merriweather has found that she does have a talent for art, and can succeed. Today she owns her own art gallery. Her work can be seen on the covers of numerous magazines across the country. And her commissioned paintings are in high demand.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: composer
Born: March 18, 1844
Died: June 21, 1908
As a student in school, Nikolai Rimsky struggled to learn. But as student of music, he excelled.
A pupil like myself had to submit to Balakirev a proposed composition in its embryo, say, even the first four or eight bars. Balakirev would immediately make corrections, indicating how to recast such an embryo; he would criticize it, would praise and extol the first two bars, but would censure the next two, ridicule
them, and try hard to make the author disgusted with them. Vivacity of composition and fertility were not at all in favor, frequent recasting was demanded, and the composition was extended over a long space of time under the cold control of self-criticism.
As a teacher, Rimsky was able to reach out to his pupils in that same way others had helped him. His famous student, Igor Stravinsky, remembered: I worked with him in this way. He would give me some pages of the piano score of a new opera he had just finished (Pan Voyevoda), which I was to orchestrate. When I had orchestrated a section, he would show me his own instrumentation of the same passage. I had to compare them, and then he would ask me to explain why he had done it differently. Whenever I was unable to do so, it was he who explained.
Dave Morrison: founder “The Right Stuff” and “Express Workout.”
Like many dyslexics, Dave Morrison has used his combination of observation with creative thinking to succeed in business. That is how he got the idea to create “Express Workout.”
We sat in the lobby of one of our full-service clubs several years ago and watched our members come and go. At the end of the day we realized that 95% of members were not even using the locker rooms. We had to ask ourselves why were we building these large full-service clubs if members weren’t going to use most of the
facilities anyway? Why not give them what they wanted by reducing the scope of our future facilities and passing the cost savings on to members in the form of lower, more affordable membership dues?
Not concerned with keeping his success all to himself, Morrison has supported another fitness innovation, www.workout.com.
I know Joe, and I think it’s great. Anything that’s going to encourage increased knowledge of the business is good for all of us. It’s great for everyone involved. [I hope] the site encourages people to at least get some help in the initial stages of working out.
Frank Muir: British comedian and author.
Born: February 5, 1920
Died: January 2. 1998
It stands to reasons that any boy born and raised in an English pub would have a good sense of humor. And Frank Muir supported that idea. Though he did poorly in school, he continued to learn on his own throughout his life, developing such a sophisticated grasp of the English language that many who heard him swore he must have had an upper crust education.
Wit is a weapon. Jokes are a masculine way of inflicting superiority. But humor is the pursuit of a gentle grin, usually in solitude.
While serving the Royal Air Corps, Muir discovered his eye for detail and for radio comedy. After his tour of duty was over he went into radio as a career, moving into television during the 1950s. He also wrote numerous books for both children and adults. He rounded out his career with some stage work in his later life. One of his specialties throughout his career was in word play, including making up humorous definitions for common words. Strategy is buying a bottle of fine wine when you take a lady out for dinner. Tactics is getting her to drink it.
David G. Neeleman: founder of JetBlue
Born: October 16, 1959
David Neeleman credits his faith combined with his failure in the classroom with outfitting him for his role as founder and head of JetBlue.
Well, I had a really hard time in school. I didn’t do well in school and didn’t really know why. My parents said I was smart but the test scores didn’t show I was smart. When I got the results back from my ACT test, my counselor called me in and said, “You got the lowest score.”
So, I didn’t have a lot of self-confidence. What that (missionary) experience gave me is this: It was the first time in my life where I really felt that I had accomplished something. When I went back to the University of Utah, I got straight A’s. I hated it.
I spent the whole time thinking about what the possibilities were out there, and I was sitting here trying to read a textbook. Still, today, I have a hard time with reading and writing and that kind of stuff. I obviously know how to read, but it’s not something like I can sit down and devour a book, because your mind’s just not
into that.
If you want to work for JetBlue the key is simple: just be nice. One day you may get a really nice person, and the next day, Wow, what happened to her, what happened to him, what’s wrong with that person, why can’t they just be nice? Let’s just treat people nice. Sometimes people don’t deserve to be treated nice. But let’s just do it anyway, because that’s just the way we want to do business.
Larry D. Silver, M.D.: Author
Larry Silver knows only too well the difficulties students with dyslexia face in the classroom, and the long-term effect those difficulties can have.
If an individual’s learning disabilities are not identified and addressed, the student will underachieve and possibly fail. Even if this student manages to get out of high school, his or her educational weaknesses may limit future job/career and educational opportunities. The individual’s future potential may be less than the original potential might have allowed. This adult might struggle with a poor self-image and low self-esteem.
He advises teacher and parents on how they can help the struggling child.
If you see students struggling, don’t blame them (too lazy, unmotivated, needs to try harder). Take the time to try to understand why there is a problem. If needed, pull in your school professionals to observe and to
assess. Veronica could not read, write, spell, or do math. If you have students with difficulties like Veronica, don’t let them live the life she did. Act.
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