The beautiful thing about standup comedy is that it allows us to explore our creativity while teaching us how to learn to be ourselves in front of strangers. Communicating through the language of comedy can be a challenging endeavor. Every comedian and content creator is magnifying the importance of standing out and being authentic.
But how do we actually get to that?
The answer lies in these 3 building blocks that can lay a foundation of your comedy.
BLOCK 1: PERSONA
Before you dive into your material you have to understand who you are. Character development comes from publicly exposing one (or more) of your personality traits. This process requires you to stick to the truth, because when something is truthful you will be emotionally attached to it, otherwise an audience can sniff out a phony.
Here’s a simple exercise to help you figure out what your persona is. It’s very important not to rush through this process because it’s rooted in psychology and requires some soul searching. Take a pen and paper and be brutally honest with answers to these questions in the following categories:
Personality: How would you describe yourself? (include physical traits, your personal style, and sides of your personality: what is the first thing people notice about your looks, do you have an accent, a disability, etc. What is your fashion sense? Character wise, are you inpatient, smart, dumb, blunt, easily irritated, etc.)
Background: What is your ethnicity, religion, your social status and diversity? How was your childhood? (examples: your relationships with parents, the best childhood memory, things your parents taught you, family conflicts, etc.)
Career and your social status: What is your job, your relationships with coworkers and authority figures, how are you at social events, are you reserved or a social butterfly?
Romance/relationship: Are you single or married? How would you describe your relationships? You can also describe your partner (or your ideal partner) in great detail, what was the reason for ending some of your past relationships, what is your pattern in relationships? Do you like yourself, would you date yourself, what don't you like about yourself?
World and social views: Write about things that bug you about our society, politics, regime and world in general.
Inner scapes: Write down your pet peeves, phobias, fears, nightmares, confrontation, and what you daydream about.
Special talents: Are you able to sing, dance, rap, play instruments, do impressions, accent, etc.
Likes and dislikes: Try to think of the things you enjoyed as a kid and how that changed now that you are an adult: your favorite games, snacks, TV shows, activities, etc.
Take your sweet time to go through these categories because it will tremendously help you realize what your triggers are, where your patterns exist and how you view yourself, and the level of projection you are resorting to on a daily basis. You will notice that you are working with many different facets that can even be conflicting but they all shape who you are, and you have to own them all. After all, comedy comes from creating conflict. You can be more than one thing and you should combine that. All your facets can have their turn in the spotlight.
BLOCK 2: PERCEPTION
Surprise is an important element of stand up comedy and it’s how you get your audience to laugh. They are assuming a familiar path but you surprise them by taking a different one. Unique point of view can really make you stand out as you see things your way. The key is to act like your point of view is as perfect as you are.
Your perception may or may not be the same as your friends. This is why we all have different personalities and the way we see the world around us. You can practice different points of view by responding to the same question/topic as the person you know well and can anticipate what they would say. This way you can anticipate some of your audience’s reactions and figure out how you can incorporate surprising elements.
To understand perception we have to acknowledge the existence of the most common personality types used in stand up comedy:
Opinionated - the one that expresses judgment. The best way to approach your set is to state your opinion about an outside fact then relate it to something personal in your life. It’s important to follow-through, as each opinion relates to your world, whether people like it or not. If this is a forefront of your personality go for it.
Observationalist - this personality type is close to opinionated but less emotional, you just state facts. It could be day-to-day events, my two cents type of humor (think Jerry Seinfeld), events that we’re all aware of but never really take the time to articulate.
Sarcastic - this type uses ironic and satirical language and bitter remarks.
Egocentric - everyone has an ego but if you make fun of yourself having an ego people will like you because the attitude beyond the ego matters.
Underdog - usually a victim of social injustice, and the audience feels sorry for them.
Victim - the more cynic version than an underdog. The underdog doesn’t know any better, but the victim mentality makes you angry.
Shy/Reserved - this type is very self-conscious and it’s hard for him to establish personal relations with others.
Here’s an example of how all these different personalities would finish the same sentence.
Sentence: I’m really smart because …
Opinionated: I work with idiots.
Observationalist: I study a lot.
Sarcastic: I’m a woman.
Egocentric: I’m a genius.
Underdog: Everyone in my family excels.
Victim: I was forced to get the best grades.
Shy/Reserved: Well, I’m not sure why.
If you study famous comedians you will notice that they have one strong trait or are a combination of about 2 different personalities and everything they write goes through that perception. Bill Burr is opinionated and sarcastic. George Carlin is an observationalist, Larry David’s character in Curb Your Enthusiasm is a perfect victim, Andrew Dice Clay is ego driven and opinionated, etc.
Look at your material and see what are the jokes that are performing the best. Then ask yourself why that is. The answer might be the perfect combination of personality and perception which determine your ATTITUDE. Your attitude is formed by your past experiences, your current situation and your wish for the future. One thing that is crucial is to be CONSTANT with your attitude as that will determine your character on stage. You have to be constant in your views on life, your prejudices, and have a tunnel vision about it. We all have our different moods off stage but on stage you have to have the SAME ATTITUDE EACH TIME because that’s what your audience expects from you. Just think about your favorite comedian and how you would describe them. For example, are they grumpy, egocentric, opinionated? Now ask yourself - have they ever changed their attitude? The answer is likely no, their attitude remains constant and they are committed to it. When people go to their shows they want to see a familiar attitude, the one they expect from their favorite comedian. You are presenting yourself to your audience through your attitude. Your attitude is your truth and what makes you memorable.
BLOCK 3: PASSION
This is the step when we are identifying things we care about and topics we feel passionate about. Talk about topics that interest you, that you understand and have your own thesis on it.Don’t worry too much about what others do. Think about the first two blocks, your persona and your perception. Go through your notes from the PERSONA block and see what aspects of your life you gave the most attention to. There’s a reason these categories speak to you the most. You will also notice what’s your energy behind those answers which can give you an idea of how you view yourself and what is your PERCEPTION.
From there you can go into any topic, it can be a trendy topic, world news or a personal experience. It doesn’t matter. Once you figure out those first two blocks everything else will be much easier because now you know what’s your attitude and what energy you're working with the best. The topic is not so important as long as you are emotionally attached to it cause that’s the only way you will create a connection with your audience.
I hope these building blocks provide some clarity when it comes to shaping your stage persona and embracing your uniqueness. Go back to these blocks anytime you feel lost and need focus and direction. With time it will become a second nature and writing jokes will be so much easier.
Let me know in the comments what are you most excited to work on and if you’ve already discovered some of your unique traits that your comedy benefited the most.
SUPER HELPFUL SONJA. Thank You!
These were great. Thank you!