What I learnt after performing standup comedy 5 times
How some times I felt like an idiot, and some times like a star
Once at a corporate offsite by Booking in Amsterdam, after I performed on the stage, I got feedback from our vice president: “You are doing the wrong job“, referring that I need to do standup comedy, rather than working as a data scientist. Few people mentioned to me that I look natural on the stage. That made me want to try standup comedy.
I had a personal goal in 2024, to perform five times. In no way I am an experienced comedian. I do not have any formal education on how to do it. I have done it two times in Amsterdam at Boom Chicago, two times in Berlin at Wall Comedy, and once in Barcelona at Comedy House. Here are few observations:
The bigger the crowd, the more receptive it is. The bigger the crowd, the higher the chance someone would laugh out loud. As soon as someone is laughing out loud, more people are laughing (may be because of this they add laughter to TV shows). Performing in front of 100 people felt to me very easy and natural. Performing in front of 20 people was tough.
Stage performance is more important than stage material. I had a relatively risky material on sex, and I performed it in Barcelona feeling a bit shy about the jokes. It was a disaster. Later I presented the same material, but decided to fully embrace it, and deliver it in a much more artistic way - It was received much better. There was a guy once in Berlin at Wall Comedy, that just jumped to the stage to perform, and in 20 seconds he did not even say a word, but because of how he was dominating the space, the crowd was amazed. I was in awe. I was laughing out of a confusion: what the fuck is happening!
Comparisons / analogies seem to be a reasonable way to generate jokes. I consider finding things which are usually not comparable rather funny. X is like Y. A girlfriend is like an airplane chair - then you can make analogies with economy, vs business class, and the first class. You might be speaking about the middle row. You might be speaking about the fact that usually there are three chairs in a row. You might find some analogies with the aisle seats, and window seats. The Netherlands is like a can of peas. A country president is like a wig.
Comedians in the green room are very different from comedians on the stage. Often before going on the stage comedians seat in the separate room called a “green room”. While on the stage performers often look very alive, dynamic, friendly, and confident, I have seen enough examples in the green room how they are depressed, insecure, and stressed.
Standup comedy is a great way to practice what we are afraid in daily life. I find doing standup comedy very therapeutic for myself: I get to play a man in rage, I can scream, I can shout at people, and can wear hats of very different personalities. Every time after the performance, I felt self-expressed. Sometimes I got validation by other people too. Both are pleasant. It could be dangerous though to become dependent on social validation.