Galactic Activity 19

Deliver a presentation designed to get people laughing throughout. This can be by telling one longer story, or by linking several ideas.

Activity 19 – Stand up Comedy Routine

Duration: 6 mins
Applicable Streams: Personal challenge, Inspiration/Motivation, Comedy

Aim

In this activity you are aiming to:

Perform a 6 minute stand up comedy routine

Objectives

To do this, you will need to keep the following objectives in mind:

  1. Find humour in everyday situations.
  2. Tell a story that makes your audience laugh.
  3. Ensure there is an opener, jokes/stories, transitions (if there is more than one joke/story) and a closer.

The Why…

Galactic is all about challenging and stretching you – and if there’s one activity that will stretch you further than anything else, it’s stand up comedy! The challenge here is to find humour in everyday situations.

Where do I start?

  • Find humour in everyday situations. If something happens to you during your day that you think could be the basis for a ‘bit’ in your routine, write it down and brainstorm how you can draw out the humour in the situation – often this will be something that goes against what the audience is thinking. Do things like this happen to everyone? Or can you find the humour / funny side in things easier than others?

  • Focus in on your culture, or the way you were raised – is it different to what is ‘normal’ in your society? If so, how can you describe it in a way that will horrify and or delight the audience? Think for example being raised by staunchly religious Italian parents in 80s Australia; taking spaghetti to school in your lunch box, being made to wear crisp uniforms when every other kid is barefoot and uniform free, things that mortified you when you were a kid but looking back now are laughable. Do you have stories that would surprise, delight or horrify your audience? Dig into that gold!

The How

Specific guidelines on how to tackle this activity.

There’s no right or wrong way to do stand-up comedy – think of how different the styles of Will Anderson, Hannah Gadsby and Judith Lucy are. The ‘how’ here, is to learn what works for other comedians. To this end, it’s recommended to:

  • Look at Youtube videos of other comedians such as Robin Williams (Google his golf story) or Joe Lycett – try to break down what they’re doing, and why they’re funny – is there a technique they’re using? Is it repeatable?
  • Don’t copy their gags, their stories or their style directly.
  • Learn HOW they do it, then work out how you can apply the same to your everyday life stories.
  • A stand up comedy routine is not usually one long continuous story, but most focus on a particular theme.
  • Aim for 2-3 gags or 1 very humorous continuous story.
  • Make sure you start with an attention-grabbing opener that will set the tone for the routine.
  • When closing, make it the final joke and if possible tie it back to something that you’ve referenced previously – either the opener or one of the stories.
  • If using several gags or jokes in your routine, work out how to transition between them so there are clear and meaningful segues.

Variations:

  1. Prepared or impromptu
  2. Consider entering in an amateur Standup Comedy competition or Open Mic night (eg Green Faces, Raw Comedy)

Tips and traps

TRAPS:

  • Chopping and changing from one joke to the next with no clear transition or linking between the jokes.
  • Getting derailed when a joke falls flat.
  • Not practising enough, and forgetting the jokes, segues or transitions between your stories.

TIPS:

  • Create clear transitions between jokes, and try to choose jokes that are linked or logical in the order that you tell them.
  • Use gestures, pausing and facial expressions to add life to your routine.
  • Run with the audience and how they’re reacting to you – if a gag you think is hilarious falls flat, pick yourself up and carry on – don’t let that one experience derail your whole routine!
  • Practise practise practise!

Guidelines for Program Director:

  • It may be advisable to get a run down on the stories that will be told to ensure that the subject matter is appropriate for a Rostrum Club meeting.
  • Do not underemphasise the importance of the need for practising their routines until they’re feeling confident to deliver without notes or prompts.