Stand Up Comedy 2024

2023 has been a great learning experience for me when it comes to stand-up comedy. I did approx. 48 open mic gigs in 6 different towns/cities. Some shows had 100+ audience members, and some shows had no audience at all! I’ve met some great people, and I genuinely think it’s kept my brain healthy and young just by putting myself in to all these weird situations.

Going forward for 2024…

I’m going to do fewer gigs, but I’m going to rehearse more. A typical gig can take up to 8 hours of my time, and cost me around £75 if it’s in London. For 5 minutes!

There’s also the health factor, because that’s a lot of confidence beers!

Previously my strategy was that I needed to boost my confidence by grinding out stage time. And that inside of me was this dynamic showman just waiting to come out. However, If I’m honest with myself, I don’t think there is. I am never going to be that comedian chatting with the audience member and asking them what they had for their Tea.

So I’m not chasing stage time anymore. The confidence will come from turning up with good jokes and being well rehearsed. I know this can work because I’ve felt it.

I’m going to change my writing style too. I’m going to focus on writing shorter bits, 3 jokes on a topic and then move on. This will allow me to shuffle and reuse material more easily. And I think it will be easier to remember than a 2 min story.

The shorter bits will also make it easier to post clips to Instagram. For some reason I never considered posting clips. For me it was either the full 5 minute set or not at all. And 5 mins is a long time to go without screwing up!

I had been toying with the idea of quitting stand-up and moving onto another hobby. But I’m excited by this new plan and I can’t wait for my next gig on the 21st.