trump-make-america-hate-again

Is Trump’s Election Changing Stand Up Comedy?

The Trump voters—who during the campaign seemed quiet, almost a little embarrassed about admitting they were voting for Trump are now emboldened in post-election. They have no problem booing comedians, heckling them or threatening them now that their guy is going to be the president.

Some comedians, like Wanda Sykes, was booed when she called Trump an “orangutang,” and Amy Schumer had 200 people walk out of her show when she condescendingly questioned a Trump supporter after inviting her on the stage--

Stand Up Comedy Clinic

What Do Comedy Bookers Mean When They Say They Want it ‘Clean?’

There is no absolute definition for clean. Here's something you should never do...

I was on the road with this comedian from Salt Lake City and we got a call from a booker in the middle of the week to do a corporate show for a bunch of gold miners. It was a dinner and everyone was well dressed. The pay was $1000 for the headliner and $500 for the feature act.

When we got to the event this huge dude in a tuxedo comes up to us--There's something scary about a huge dude in a tuxedo. Like, first of all, what tuxedo company rents shirts with a 22-inch neck?

Anyway, he says to us, "We need this show to be clean because the wives are here." The comedian I was working with was told by some other comedian that when they want it clean all you have to do is ask the audience, "Do you want the clean stuff or the dirty stuff?"

So He got up onstage and said...

phone firing my manager

3 Reasons Why Firing My Manager is the Best Thing I Did for My Comedy Career!

That's good news, my manager's calling. Maybe he's got some work for me... "Hey Harry. Tell me some good news." "I just wanted to let you know that I get 20% of whatever work you're doing, regardless of if I book it." So I said, "I'm sorry, Harry. I don't think I heard you right. Can you repeat that?" "I just wanted to let you know that I get 20% of whatever work you're doing, regardless of if I book it." I straightened up, took a breath and said...
what's your comedic persona

20 Comic Masks – Which One are You?

How important is having a strong comedic point of view? It's the difference between winning and losing, working or being unemployed. That's pretty important. Who are you? Why do we care?

Don’t Suck! The 9-minute Comedy Mastermind Session

This could be the most important 9-minute comedy lesson of your life.

In the next 9 minutes you're going to learn a lot! I mean a ton! I'm calling this article my 9-minute Comedy Mastermind Session.

When it comes to comedy writing and theory, my argument always focuses on structure.

"Structure is king!" I'll usually say.

Getting to the point and getting the laugh with a strong point of view while saying something that actually means something is crucial but structure is where the laugh occurs, not just...

political correctness

Why Are These College Kids So Damn PC?

Got an email from a student today. It said...

"The lesson I learned tonight is that university students are PC to the point that it is unnatural. These are the people posting PC crap all over Facebook! At first I was confused about my inability to connect with the crowd. I felt it from my first joke (about marriage/children).

So how do we make this work?"

nat-margolis-comedian

The Best Way to Write a Comedy Act if You’re an Absolute Newbie

There are three primary techniques I use when creating a comedy routine. The first way is to always write down things that are funny. Usually when I'm with a group of friends and something occurs that makes me and them laugh, I will write it down to possibly use later.

The other technique is to sit down and write jokes. I prefer this technique because I don't have to wait for the coincidence of the moment with friends or a funny situation to just happen to 'occur' to me. I can just sit down and generate material.

I do this by utilizing about 23 different approaches, but for the sake of this blog post, I will just write about two approaches. Here they are...