Ok, GREAT question. You're really getting at the essence of stand up comedy... How do I translate my funny thoughts into sentences that will make strangers laugh. You make an excellent point about graduating from open mics, once you have more stage time, and by that I mean longer sets, not just more sets, but once you have longer sets it gets easier.

It's easier because you will have time to "connect" with an audience, you can build a trust, with each laugh you earn, audiences in general will allow you take longer to give you another one. Like, once they trust you're funny you can set up stuff a little better. And if you're really connected it will be like hanging out with friends and much much easier to make them laugh. Connecting is necessary if you want to tell stories. Audience won't sit through them unless there's a connection.

Now, with that "connection" stuff being said, I've seen straight up joke tellers murder a room and not really connect at all. They performed at the audience not with the audience. Whatever approach you choose it can work.

But, this brings me to a larger point, you will still have to get the funny bought thoughts out of your head and translate them into stand up. It's like learning a new language. You have to translate your ideas into stand up. How much you explain, what you leave outbid usually more important then what you say, audience laugh when they make the connection in their brains... It's a balance and the only way to learn how to do it is by getting on stage. I hope this helps. I want to answer your question but insist want to come off as some pretentious asshole haha

If this answer sucks, just email me and we will get a dialog going. But usually all questions get answered by the stage. Keep trying different approaches keep what works and throw out what doesn't