Stand-up comedy

Here is my first attempt at stand-up comedy. None of the material is related to blackjack, but I'm hoping you'll give me a free pass as a regular poster on this forum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-564hv3W_uU

Glen Wiggy
Author of 1536 Free Waters and Other Blackjack Endeavors--Finding Profit and Humor in Card-Counting

Wow -- you're good! Your material is solid, clever and personal. The last is most important, you have to make it personal. And you certainly did that.

One of my axioms of humor is that good jokes (or punch lines) get funnier the more you tell them. You used this recipe several times by repeating punch lines in a new context. Be careful overusing this device; it worked great the first time. If you don't mind, one small fix. Be mindful of your tendency to pace.

Stand up comedy is the *hardest* performance art. Nothing else comes close. It's poetry, timing, acting and over-confidence mixed with total humiliation and gut wrenching fear. Great job!

Glen,

I thought you were pretty good. High point - Jesus (won't spoil it by saying what, but the last "attribute" got a genuine laugh out of me - sitting alone, I don't do that often). Low point - Lady Gaga (didn't get it, or at least why you referenced her). You sound like you have some talent for changing your voice range and accents; you might work up more material where you do that.

I agree about the pacing. I saw a stool there; if you don't want to sit on it, perhaps put a foot up on it, or make yourself touch it with one hand to the side? I think it would focus your delivery and your audience to stay in one place if you can. If walking feels good, though, maybe if you make it purposeful, like diagonals towards different parts of the audience, rather than random points on the stage, it will serve you well.

I never did any stand-up comedy, so I'm not an expert, but I did do some singing (w/guitar, thank God, it's a lot less lonely up there with a prop in your hand) and some comedy plays; I mention that only to say I do appreciate how hard what you did was. Not much more vulnerable than stand-up, especially since they pay you in laughs, which really can't be forced. Keep working on it and building your repertoire, and have fun!

I loved it. The last time I was on stage besides doing a play was Theatre Sports in high school.
Re: Lady Gaga: watch this music video.

Quote: miplet

Re: Lady Gaga: watch this music video.

That is exactly what I missed, thank you so much! Looking at the post date, I had just started working in Hawaii full time, plus full-time consulting on the Mainland for 6 months, and didn't have a tv for almost a year; probably the busiest year of my life. I completely missed that song hitting. NOW I get it. lol...glen.

Normally the word "pacing" in relation to comedy relates to taking pauses between jokes, but for you it seems as if you were tethered or felt that way.

Every time you reached the end of the tether and turned, voice volume changed a bit, perhaps because you were moving in relationship to the microphone. So I''d practice standing in one place and staring straight forward as well as standing in one place and turning to scan the audience slowly, just so you are comfortable with whatever your next gig might require.

Do you have a black jack jokes? Why not tell the audience 'this is just my hobby, professionally I play blackjack" When I tell the dealer my name is Wiggy he laughs and never thinks I'm counting cards. Can you come up with a joke about how traffic cops react to your name? Or at least how you tend not to use your usual line when dealing with a traffic cop?

Do you have material for special audiences? Or special occasions?

As you can tell, I've never done stand up... except in chat rooms where it is totally different because the jokes there must be old ones.

Use stories from your book. It was absolutely hilarious.