Everyone can learn humor. That is just a skill that needs to be constantly practiced, like playing the guitar or cooking. But the bottom line is that nowadays, it is not enough to be good at writing comedy texts; you have to be the best. And yes, that takes a lot of time and effort. It is going to be many, many, many hours of writing before you create something hilarious, and even years before you earn some popularity. But if you are not afraid of that, I am willing to help you out with some useful comedy writing tips.
A comedian writer can succeed and get paid for his jokes only when they are great. Please remember that you are judged by the last joke you made, so your past earnings mean nothing in this business. You have to keep constantly improving your humor and refining jokes. You may feel like you are a failure and switch to plumbing at some point in your career, but it is important to never give up. We all have ups and downs in life. Be strong, motivated, and funny. There are many markets desperately in need of comedy materials like blogs, speeches, advertising, social media, etc. Just keep working, and you will get noticed one day!
You may ask me what to do if you find yourself in a creative cul-de-sac, and I will tell you that there are at least six different ways to improve your comedy writing. You may use only one of these tips, and it won’t take long to see the result!
Find a Partner
Consider working in a pair with another comedian. It will help boost creativity, generate new ideas, and get back into a productive mood. In the beginning, you may feel some inconveniences such as scheduling meetups, agreeing on what is funny, and getting used to sharing all the good punchlines with somebody else. However, in return, you will get a powerful synergy of two persistent comics, whose humor will knock them dead. Together you will exchange ideas and let one another polish them and get an incredible comedy piece in the end.
It is really important to find a talented co-writer who will inspire you to be better and develop yourself as a comedian. Besides, you will learn a lot from each other, share experiences, good and bad, and improve the strong sides.
Get an Agent
If you know that you are a great comedian, who is just out of luck at finding a decent job, you may consider hiring an agent. He will provide you with the necessary connections and keep the work coming to you on a regular basis. A good agent is hard to get; however, the effort will definitely pay off in the future. An agent becomes your best friend and almost a part of the family, so it’s your main task to find not only a hard-working and honest agent but a nice person too. He may feel like a family, but a commission still has to be paid, so take this into account. Make sure you agree to the suitable commission for all types of work in advance.
Once you made a decision to hire an agent, you may start looking for one on the Internet. There are lots of websites created for this purpose. You can also try turning for an agent of your friend and ask him to suggest a couple of worthy candidates. And one important tip here – never give your wallet to a new agent when you go onstage.
Give it a Try
In order to better understand what jokes are good and can be used in the future, you may want to test them on a real audience. The thing is that family and friends can be a bit skeptical or even judgemental, so you have to find the people who will just relax and enjoy your humor. It may be other writers or just some dudes from the Internet. The most important thing here is feedback – their reaction to each of your jokes. Be ready that approximately one out of ten jokes will probably work from the first try. But that is why you need such tests. They allow you to detect poor jokes and turn them into shining stars.
If you are going to perform publicly, I recommend you put thirty seconds of your new material at the beginning of a tested speech. That is because the first thirty seconds are the hardest, as a rule. After all, the audience is the most critical at this period. So if your new material survives that, it is really worth something and you may keep working on it. Well, jokes are like bullets and even though not all of them hit the target, if you keep shooting, sooner or later you will kill them. However, if you hear nothing but your own breathing after a joke, it’s a sign you need to get rid of it. But if there was at least 20-30% of the audience laughing, give it a chance and rewrite the joke in a funnier way.
Keep Writing
So you decided to be a comedian, that is not an easy job. I hope you understand this. To stand out, you will have to write as much as you can all day long. Some people believe that good lines can come even when you dream, therefore keep a notebook by the bed.
Experiment with the writing techniques and once you develop your own style, stick to it. Make it your unique feature. Humor styles change constantly, and you can’t always keep pace with them. You better focus on how to adjust fresh ideas to your own style.
Enjoy the Process
I once read a very powerful quote said by famous actor Edmund Kean that goes like: “Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.” Whenever I feel blue or about to give up, I remember this quote and keep moving forward to my goals. Life is brief, and you might regret giving up on your dream later. It takes years of practice and dedication to become a successful comedy writer, but in the end, it is worth nothing if you don’t have fun in the process.
