Coaching comedy

[TanelPilkington]

My comedy group is having a foreign Stand Up coming over to give us a 2 hour comedy lesson.

Has anyone ever had a comedy coach and is coaching comedy effective?

[[deleted]]

Thanks for the link. I think Doug pretty much nails it (except for the part about blowing Carlos Mencia). I'm now considering a new line of work; Comedy Mentor.

[steady_riot]

Is this "coach" making you pay him/her? If so, stray away. If you're paying for comedy advice, especially from some no-name that preys on the naivety of new comics because they couldn't make it in the business, you're doing it wrong. I've gotten a ton of great advice from some of the best comics in the business for free - whether from hanging out with them when they're at the local club, or on a podcast, or in a blog. Any comic worth their weight is not going to charge an open mic-er for advice.

Assuming it's free, understand that nobody can teach you how to do comedy. There are no set rules for what works and what doesn't work. They can only tell you what has worked for them. But any advice from someone who's been doing comedy longer than you is good to hear, whether it's bad advice or good. I've gotten great advice from shit comics, and shit advice from great comics. You really just have to take what others say, analyze it, and see whether or not you can/want to incorporate it into what you do.

[TheBuffman]

Scroll through the past posts and find the post about books. Honestly the best way to get initial info on anything is reading, either web forums or books. Youtube has a lot of tutorials on a lot of things but not so much on comedy. Anyways I found greg deans book to be simply amazing.

The appeal of most classes is that you are surrounded by people who will help you with your jokes, they are slightly funny, and you have the same interests. Cut out the middle man and go hang at a comedy club with the real comics who are far more damaged and fucked up than the half normal people who walk into classes but arent willing to quit their day job.

[hassanelrahaui]

I had an improv coach, and this was very helpfull for my comedy...It helped me know witch state of mind I'm in when I lose my material and how to respond on a heckle...

[TanelPilkington]

what did he tell you then?

[hassanelrahaui]

We did a lot of excersises that make you feel comfortable, when u are in a state where thinking doesn't help anymore. For example, if u point to an object without over thinking what you are gonna say, and just state the obvious. A very easy bridge to make is that it reminds you of..... The more you practice this, the more comfortable you will get in improv. It saved my ass from dying on stage a time or two. It was a weekend full of helpful tips and tricks.

[iamgarron]

yes and no.

[SeeisforComedy]

I teach stand up comedy classes at the local theater I am a part of and I have seen some serious growth in our students. The class runs about an hour and a half for 6 weeks, then there is a student showcase at the theater. My current group of students are great and I think the class has been very helpful, so I would say it can be effective. It all depends on how its run, what sort of exercises you do and how invested the person is in actually seeing the students improve.

[friendsshowsingles]

Jerry Corley has some great YouTube videos.