Stand-Up? Sit Down!

I spent a year trying to be a stand-up comedian. I wasn’t terrible. In fact, at my first gig, I received a very nice ovation after my set.

I wasn't very successful though, and I know exactly why.

My first gig, at The Stand in Glasgow, went great. The next gig, at The Stand in Edinburgh went awful. After that I probably had six or seven more gigs, at stag-do's, work events, pubs and special events, with varying results.

Why were my results not consistent? Why did some gigs go really well, and some left me feeling nothing but embarrassed?

The reason was simple. I changed my set every single time. In preparation for each show, I would write an entirely new 10-45 minutes of material. New jokes. I thought that was what comedians did.

It's absolutely not!

Comedians (and other performers) write an act and then perform it. If a certain line gets a laugh, it stays in. If it doesn't it's reworked, reworded or replaced. Professionals have honed and refined their act over and over again.

That's why you'll sometimes find Jimmy Carr or Michael McIntyre working somewhere small and relatively cheap. They want to try out their new material in front of a smaller crowd, before trying it out in a theatre or an arena.

When I go out and perform a kids show, I know exactly what I'm doing and when. And that's because I've been doing it for years, and I have refined it.

I still have 'bad gigs', but they are incredibly rare.

Whatever it is you do, keep doing it. Keep what works, replace or lose what doesn't.

That's the ethos of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune-do, and I think it's perfect for us performers too.

Oh yes, I must tell you my Jimmy Carr story someday…