Introduction

Let’s assume for a moment that you have selected the best comedy topics and bulk comedy material possible using the strategies provided in this course AND you have turned those into tightly structured stand-up material for the stage using whatever method that you choose to use.

Also let’s assume that you have also thoroughly prepared to deliver that “finished” material professionally to an audience.

What most new comedians are unaware of is that there are audience factors that can have a direct impact on how much laughter a comedian can generate, regardless of how funny their stand-up material may be or how professionally that material is delivered.

So I am presenting the audience secrets in this lesson in order to help you avoid tossing out comedy topics, bulk comedy material and finished stand-up comedy material needlessly because specific audience dynamics played a major role in the reduction or absence of laughter generated.

However, I also need to make this crystal clear before I continue:

No matter what the audience dynamics may be, IT IS NEVER THE AUDIENCE’S FAULT WHEN A COMEDIAN CANNOT GENERATE THE LAUGHS THAT THEY WANT.

Unfortunately, it is a very common practice for comedians to blame an audience for an absence of laughter during a performance.

This is exactly the same as blaming a basketball because it did not make through the hoop.

Still, I believe it is important to know when certain audience dynamics had a role in reducing or even eliminating laughter that is outside the control of the comedian.

Otherwise, a new comedian can end up simply “guessing” whether there were issues with the stand-up comedy topics and bulk material they used to develop their finished comedy material such as:

1. It just wasn’t funny.
2. It wasn’t delivered professionally.
3. It was affected by audience dynamics.
4. All of the above.

You should ALWAYS focus on the things that you have control over. Audience dynamics that can adversely impact your laughter generation ability is not one of those things. However…

There are some very important things to know about audiences as it relates to how effective (or ineffective) your finished stand-up comedy material is when delivered.

So with that said, let’s get started,

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Starting Out As A New Comedian

One of the things EVERY new comedian should be aware of is the impact that audience dynamics have on the laughter that a comedian generate during a performance.

This is particularly important because new comedians are an UNPROVEN entity.

As a matter fact, it is assumed by virtually everyone involved in stand-up comedy that new comedians are going to suck on stage and in most cases – they will suck for months or even years before they can get the laughs they need to move forward as a comedian.

Subsequently, most of the time new comedians simply do not get to perform for larger audiences or for extended periods of time.

Keep this in mind before you continue:

There is a lot to know about becoming a comedian who can generate the average of 18+ seconds of laughter each performing minute to move ahead in the world of stand-up comedy.

And there is a lot to know about stand-up comedy audiences — much of which you can only learn from experience.

But in this lesson I want to cover just the most essential secrets that every new comedian should know about the audiences they will be performing for in the beginning of their stand-up comedy adventures.

As you consume the information in this report, please be aware that it is provided from the context that you are 100% prepared to PROFESSIONALLY deliver your stand-up comedy routine regardless of the audience dynamics that may be present at the time of the performance.

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Audience Secret #1

Until a comedian has proven that they can generate laughs consistently for virtually any audience, the majority of audiences that a new comedian will be performing for will be small to very small.

So here’s the first audience secret you need to know:

Audience Secret #1: It doesn’t matter if there are 6 people in the audience or 100+ people in the audience, the most important audience factor that will amplify your ability to generate audience laughs as a comedian is proximity seating.

What do I mean by proximity seating? That’s just a fancy term for how closely the audience members are seated next to each other. And here is why this is so vitally important…

Laughter has what can easily be described as a “contagiousness” about it. But laughter contagiousness is directly related to how close people are when the laughing starts.

If you have ever been standing close to someone who is genuinely laughing out loud, it is difficult not to start laughing yourself. But if that person who is laughing is across the street or across the room, the influence of that laughter is diminished.

So let me put this in most blunt terms possible as it applies to stand-up comedy performances:

If I were given the choice between performing for 15 people seated close together next to the stage or 45 people spread out in pockets across the expanse of a large room – I would choose to perform for the 15 people every time. Why?

Because I know that bigger laughs will ALWAYS be generated with an audience that is seated close together than they will with an audience that is not.

You can be the funniest comedian on the planet with the tightest act possible. But if the audience is not seated close together, you simply will not get the laughter levels that you can get when an audience is seated close together. It’s a really big deal.

Now for the next secret….

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Audience Secret #2

I mentioned in the beginning of this report that most of the time new comedians will be performing for smaller audiences.

But here’s the secret that no one seems to talk about with regard to small audiences:

Audience Secret #2: Given that you are thoroughly prepared to professionally deliver a tightly crafted stand-up comedy routine, the very best indicator of just how funny your material truly is will always come from small audiences that are seated properly.

Unfortunately, most new comedians want to gauge how funny their stand-up comedy material is relative to the size of the audience – WITHOUT ANY OTHER CONSIDERATION.

And instead of gaining some of the most valuable intelligence possible about how funny their stand-up comedy material really is, they blow the opportunity to do that over and over again when they see that they won’t be performing for masses of people.

Here’s reality if you choose to accept it:

If your stand-up comedy material generates noteworthy laughs with small audiences (6-9+ people properly seated), it will generate even bigger and longer laughs for larger audiences.

There is simply NO better indicator of how funny stand-up comedy truly is than the laughter response generated from a small audience.

But the opposite situation is not necessarily true. During my own stand-up comedy career I cannot count the number of times I saw comedians (usually openers or feature acts) get decent laughs if there were 100+ people in a room. However…

When they performed their same routine for 15-20 people (properly seated), they hardly generated laughs at all, which means that…

Their stand-up comedy material simply WAS NOT that funny to begin with.

I can say with great certainty that one of the keys to my own success as a comedian was delivering the same professionally delivered stand-up comedy routine REGARDLESS OF AUDIENCE SIZE and generating big laughs when I did.

Hint: Comedy club managers, professional talent buyers and even other experienced comedians know that if you can rock a small audience with your stand-up comedy act, that is a very powerful and compelling indicator of just how funny your comedy material is.

But that’s not what you see when you get out in the real world of stand-up comedy. What you will see is new comedians lament about how small an audience is before they get on stage, then waste their time (and the audience’s time) giving a half-baked performance with little interest or enthusiasm when they hit the stage.

And when all is said and done and the laughs didn’t happen, guess what? Now the comedian determines that it’s the audience’s fault! To me, that’s no different than blaming the car because it got stopped for speeding.

If you want to move forward quickly in the world stand-up comedy and have better and better performing opportunities open up for you – I would strongly advise that you EMBRACE small audiences (seated properly) and depend on them to determine just how funny your stand-up comedy material truly is any time you can.

I say that because if you will do this and you can consistently generate big laughs from small audiences, you WILL get noticed as a comedian.

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Audience Secret #3

Here’s the last audience secret I want to cover in this lesson:

Audience Secret #3: Don’t make any sort determination on how funny your stand-up comedy material is after delivering that material to audiences that ARE NOT seated close together.

Now I need to make something clear before I move forward which is this:

Since new comedians are quick to blame the audience for their lack of laughter generation skill, I don’t want to add an easy “excuse” that can be used to distract from what would be realistically categorized as a poor performance.

But hear me out and I think you will understand what I am trying to convey with this secret.

First of all, new comedians tend to lack confidence in their stand-up comedy material to begin with. And it’s no wonder, given the fact that most new comedians are trying to “write” jokes for a reader instead of structuring talking and physical expression to create a powerful stand-up comedy act.

Trust me, I get it. But as I said before, you never want to blame an audience for anything – they are what they are and you must recognize that as a professional.

If you have developed a stand-up comedy act that uses all of your comedy talent, is tightly constructed with 4-6+ punchlines per minute and is professionally delivered…

Use audience seating proximity – not audience size – to determine how funny your stand-up comedy material is. In other words…

If your stand-up comedy material is funny, tightly packaged (4-6+ punchlines/minute), professionally delivered, the audience (even a small audience) is seated close together and your stand-up comedy material is NOT getting the laughs you want, then here are the only reasons for that:

• Your comedy material is not funny
• Your comedy material is funny but not tight (laughs are few and far between)
• Your comedy material is funny but your delivery is substandard making it not funny
• Any combination of the above

You also have the ability to use your smartphone and free apps that are probably already installed on it to tell OBJECTIVELY just how funny your stand-up comedy act is.

This report shows you how to do that:

[beautiful_link_preview url=”https://www.comedyevaluatorpro.com/203/smartphone-secrets-for-comedians/” target=”_blank”]

Now if you sit though any stand-up comedy open mic night, what do you see from MOST of the comedians that attempt to perform?

What you will see with great consistency is that the open mic comedians are NOT prepared to give a tightly packaged, professionally delivered stand-up comedy audience NO MATTER WHAT SIZE THE AUDIENCE IS.

So answer this question honestly for yourself:

If a comedian is not prepared to professionally deliver a tightly packaged stand-up comedy routine to an audience – in a way that captures and presents ALL of their already developed comedy talent, how would they begin to know if their comedy material is actually funny or not?

The answer is that they don’t – whatever laughs they get are an accident and there is no real way to determine how to repeat that laughter generation ON PURPOSE with the rest of their material.

If that’s the way you want to roll with your stand-up comedy adventure, that’s 100% up to you. That’s not my call to make.

All I am saying is that taking the stage unprepared to deliver the highest quality stand-up comedy routine possible is not the most efficient way to get the laughs you want as a new comedian.

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Wrap Up

The most important piece of advice that I could possibly give you is this:

You have 100% control over the stand-up comedy act that you choose to develop and deliver to any audience. NEVER focus on the things that you have little, if any control over (like audiences and their seating.) Victory loves proper preparation.

What I have provided you in this lesson is just the bare bones basics about audiences that every new comedian should know.

What fascinates me today is that not any so-called stand-up comedy expert that I am aware of addresses audience dynamics or how they can impact a comedian’s act in any meaningful way.

Odd when you consider that the audience is a most important aspect of a comedian’s ability to generate audience laughter.

And that hasn’t changed since the time I started my own stand-up comedy career in the early 90’s.

Do let me say that the information I have presented in this lesson applies regardless of the system, method or process you use to create, produce and prepare to deliver your stand-up comedy act and is not exclusive to any information that I provide in my extensive online course.

Frequent and big audience laughter is your KEY to rapid success as a comedian. Small audiences properly seated are your KEY to knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt just how funny your stand-up comedy material is (rules apply as previous identified).

But don’t take my word for it – get out and suffer through several comedy open mic nights. Pretend you are a talent scout or a talent buyer and at the end of the night ask yourself these questions:

Which open mic comedians would YOU hire based on what you witnessed?

Other than not generating laughs, can you pinpoint SPECIFICALLY why would you hire or not hire open mic comedians you saw perform?

Is what you witness representative of how you intend to approach your own stand-up comedy adventure?

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