Erect-A-Set!

I was going to do a set of some of my strong stuff and some new stuff; that all changed when I found out that the judges would be booking agents. Now I have to do a ‘showcase’; which is just the highlights of the best of your material, done to the best of your ability! Hmmmm ...material and ability? I’m a little short on both; it’ll have to be a Spartan showcase. But, I have gotten it together ...all that remains is to knock off the rough edges ...and add a lot of spit and polish!


Putting a set together is pretty simple. You have to, (to my mind), establish a premise and a point of view. Comics who do a series of ‘one liners’ are a little different; they have a series of premises, but generally a consistent point of view. The ‘POV’ is, in my opinion, essential; it streamlines your ‘set-ups’, because the audience is familiar with the way you look at the world.

Next, you should try to establish a rhythm; it’s, I’m afraid to say, much like boxing, feint, feint and Punch! The, ‘Feints’, are your set up lines, and, like in boxing, they don't just distract and keep your opponent off balence; if a boxer can draw blood with a feint, he will ...it gives impact and panache to the ‘Punch!’ Same for the comic; if a set up line gets a laugh ...so much better for the punch line!

Now, say you have 8 minutes, here’s the way to look at your time ...minute by minute. You have to allow time for positive audience response, (laughter), it’s all part of the timing. To be a good comic, you really need 15 seconds of laughter per minute; that leaves you 45 seconds per minute to talk. Make your sentences 6 – 8 words max! Two sentences will be your feints, (set ups), and one will be your punch line. My aim is to say about 60 words per minute, so that gives me three combinations of 15 seconds each, or, twenty words a piece. In layman’s terms, that means I should aim for three jokes per minute ...every minute. Never underestimate the importance of rhythm; you train your audience to laugh, and they’re easier to train if you say something funny every 15 seconds, or, every twenty words. You can just as easily train them not to laugh if you don’t give them time to respond ...even if you’re funny, they’ll shut up and listen.

So, that’s it; follow those instructions, and you’ll blow them away, every time ...guaranteed! First though, you have to come up with the right 20 words for each 15 seconds, and ...I’m afraid I can’t help you there. The ‘outline’ is ideal, of course; and most of us never hit it. But, the closer you can come to it ...the better. If you follow my math you’ll have noted that eight minutes should require a grand total of 480 words. For my set I came up with 580. If there are fewer laughs in the first couple minutes, I can use more words. If there is more laughter than I anticipate, I’ve put it together with three ‘break off’ points close to the end; places where I can finish if I run out of time.

My premise is, “Getting Old Sucks!” My Point of View is, “When the going sucks ...the suckers get Kinky!” And my material will reflect the fact that, at 50, you have the experience and imagination but ...little physical ability. “At 50, the male mind turns to, RRSP’s, Stocks & and Bondage!” By the way, this article is 606 words.

PS: It's always a good idea to give your audience any vital information in advance, but, don't necessarily come out and tell them. If I'm doing much, 'word play', I want them to know that right from the beginning. If I just announce the fact it will set up their resistance, so, I usually open with a couple blatant puns ...that get a laugh! It wouldn't do any good if they didn't get a laugh. Now, even if only unconsciously, they will be looking for word play throughout. If they don't know right off the bat, they may not realize it till deep in your set, or not at all. I haven't seen many comic do word play out here.