One of my many new years resolutions was to get back on my stand-up game! I felt the best way to do this would be to take a class. That way I’d be forced to generate material weekly and also have motivation to attend open mics on a weekly basis!
A lot of comics will criticize classes and excoriate teachers as hacks, but those tend to be the same comics who aren’t doing so well themselves and don’t respond well to suggestions for improvement.
Coming to stand-up from improv, I really missed the sense of support found in ensemble work and any semblance of gender balance (The majority of comics at open mics are fellas!). So, I decided to sign up for a women’s stand-up course: The Feminine Comique. So far, it has been AMAZING. The course is taught by Kelsie Huff, whose feedback is incredibly specific and wonderfully on point! She picks up on just what we are doing that makes the joke land or not land, whether it’s because we leaned in to the audience and changed our tone or a need to edit wording – she’s on it!
Girded with courage from my class, I went to a local suburban open mic at The Alley in Highwood on Thursday with a couple of friends and did a killer set! I pulled off a ten minute set, and even though the crowd was small, they were laughing! Since I brought my parents, the fellow running the mic was sweet and gave me the headliner spot :p
