Introduction

One of the terms you will hear tossed around frequently in the comedy club arena as a comedian is hack, which refers to a comedian who delivers stand-up comedy that has already been done extensively by other comedians with similar angles, perspectives or points of view.

Unfortunately, the term hack is not only misunderstood as it relates to stand-up comedy but has also become an epithet of sorts, used by many comedians to simply denigrate or vilify a comedian whether they are actually a hack or not.

There is an extensive write-up on Wikipedia regarding comedy hacking.

Note: That Wikipedia page used to contain a list of “hack” topics that has since been removed. I strongly suspect that this is because most anyone can see that virtually EVERY comedian at ANY level would fall into the category of “hack comedian” if that list were actually used as a guideline for determination of such a title. Just continue on and you will understand exactly why I can say that.

The reason that I am presenting this lesson now is because I want you to know that the concept of “hack” stand-up comedy material is largely artificial for valid and important reasons that I will identify as this lesson progresses.

I also do not want the misunderstood notions of what “hack” stand-up comedy is or is not to interfere with your artistic creativity when you begin to develop your own stand-up comedy material using the techniques provided in this course.

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Why Almost ALL Comedians Deliver “Hack” Stand-up Comedy Material

If you take a close look at the stand-up comedy “hack” topic list at Wikipedia and then go seek out online videos of ANY popular or household comedian on YouTube, as far back as you can find…

Oddly enough, you will find that much of the stand-up comedy material delivered by almost every top stand-up comedian you can find on YouTube manages in one way or another falls into one of the “hack” topics listed on Wikipedia.

But how can that possibly be? Here’s why:

1. Unless a comedian is actually educating an audience using their stand-up comedy about a particular topic, concept, observation, opinion or idea that will not be commonly recognized or understood by an audience during their stand-up routine (ie: Comedian Eddie Izzard talking about European or American history or Bill Hicks talking about political discourse)…

In other words…

If an audience cannot visualize, understand and/or largely relate to what a comedian is talking about, they aren’t going to get the “jokes” or the references used to set-up the “jokes”.

The result? No laughs. No laughs = Bombing on stage. Bombing on stage = getting nowhere fast as a comedian.

Subsequently, this is one of the reasons many comedians who deliver topical material tend to hit the topics that are most prevalent in the news — these usually have the best chance of general audience recognition and subsequent laughter generation potential.

Ironically, this is also the reason that so-called “cutting edge” or “edgy” comedy material tends to flop miserably on a regular basis.

Again, if an audience can’t understand, visualize, relate to or appreciate a comedian’s comedy material — no matter how “original” it may be — collective audience laughter at noteworthy levels simply isn’t going to happen.

2. Because most comedians usually fabricate “jokes” using the exact same mechanical “formulas”, methods and techniques and usually with limited regard to personal involvement, personal experience, passion or interest…

It only makes sense that many comedians are going to craft their stand-up comedy material from very similar, “predetermined” angles, perceptions and points of view.

Subsequently, while the “jokes” may not be exactly the same, they can be very similar, lending themselves to being tagged with this “hack” label — regardless of the topic, subject or premise used as the foundation for that material.

But let’s look at this concept of “hack” stand-up comedy material from another perspective…

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It’s NOT About The Topic

Let’s assume for just a moment that comedians were hired solely based on the stand-up comedy topics that they delivered during their act.

You will note that one of the “hack” topics identified on that Wikipedia page is:

Differences in Men vs. Women

If only one or two comedians could get hired or make progress in stand-up comedy based on having that particular topic material in their act and all other comedians who delivered material on that topic were considered “hacks”, unworthy being hired…

How many comedians — at ANY level — wouldn’t be able to get work as a comedian? 60%? 70%? 80% or more?

My point is this:

If getting hired or progressing as a comedian was determined solely on the “uniqueness” of the topics a comedian talked about…

There would only be about 50-100 comedians who would be working at any one time.

All the other comedians would have to wait for these comedians to die off before they could fill their “spot” and deliver stand-up comedy material on a similar topic.

Well, it doesn’t work that way.

As I mentioned before and bears repeating…

And the reality is that…

Comedians have, and always will talk about the same topics, subjects, concepts, observations, etc. that general audiences can understand, visualize, relate to and appreciate.

So here’s what you need to know about developing your own original stand-up comedy material…

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What You Need To Know About “Hack” Stand-up Comedy Material

If you subscribe to the misconceived notion about what “hack” stand-up comedy is and you try to avoid the broad “hack” stand-up comedy topics that most comedians identify as such when developing your own stand-up comedy material…

You are going to quickly find that you will probably have very little to talk about that will actually generate headliner level laughter.

Here is what you need to know before you begin developing your own stand-up comedy material:

1. By and large, you need to completely ignore the largely misguided “hack” stand-up comedy concept when it comes to developing your own stand-up comedy material.

If you don’t, you will be imposing unnecessary restrictions on the type of stand-up comedy material that YOU want to develop and are comfortable delivering to an audience with confidence.

2. What will make your stand-up comedy material “original” (or as original as it can be) will ALWAYS be your own unique perspective, points of view and sense of humor when it comes to your stand-up comedy material — not the topics you choose to talk about on stage, whether they fall into the nebulous “hack” stand-up comedy list or not.

3. Your ability to move quickly as a comedian is directly related to your ability to develop and deliver stand-up comedy material that generates a minimum average of 18 seconds of laughter each performing minute.

And your ability to reach that milestone with consistency is directly related to an audience’s ability to understand, visualize, recognize, relate to and appreciate the stand-up comedy material you have to deliver.

4. If you get approached about doing stand-up comedy material that another comedian has been doing, it can be due to parallel thinking or parallel observations.

Remember, all comedians are on the look out for the same things they can turn into stand-up comedy material that a general audience will understand and appreciate.

So, my recommendation is — simply develop new comedy material if you get approached about doing similar comedy material as a another comedian.

Unlike other comedians who suffer and struggle trying to “write” one “joke” at a time…

You have access to the system that will show you how to develop far more stand-up comedy material than you will ever get stage for – in these Rapid Training Modules and in the Your Best Stand-up Topics Made Easy Course.

5. No matter what type of stand-up comedy material you develop, if you start killing audiences there will be always be comedians who will call your stand-up comedy material hack no matter what.

I should also mention this:

There are virtually NO issues with hack stand-up comedy material in corporate comedy market.

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Wrap Up

Delivering “original” comedy material that doesn’t generate laughs is still called bombing — the “politically correct” term for humiliating oneself as a comedian publicly.

What will ALWAYS make stand-up comedy material original will be the effective application of a comedian’s own unique perspective, points of view, opinions, observations etc. about any “topic” or “premise” no matter what it may be (relationships, marriage, air travel, cats & dogs, driving, doctor visits, blah, blah, blah).

And the only way I know to do that is to start with topics that are very much of interest and/or personal to the comedian to begin with — as opposed to “fabricating” the funny in a “joke” style format the way most comedians do.

Specifically, I’m talking abut topics, subjects etc. that DO lend themselves to a personal, and subsequently unique perspective.

Just know that even with the most “original” material ever developed in the history of stand-up comedy that slays audiences consistently…

Some comedian somewhere will still call you a hack. Why?

Because inadequate comedians who can’t deliver the goods and can’t get the big laughs have no other way to effectively degrade another comedian who is doing far better than they are other than to call them a hack.

Professional jealously runs rampant in stand-up comedy.

But unless a comedian is paying you for your performances or helping your stand-up comedy career in some way, I also submit to you…

It really doesn’t make a difference what they think.

So, don’t let the largely flawed notion of “hack” stand-up comedy material stand in the way of your own creativity when you begin developing your own stand-up comedy material.

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