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Video Previews with Simple Tips
You can use in your next performance . . . even tonight:

Jim's Coaching and Co-Writing Services
Jim's Stand-Up Comedy Workshops, Lessons 1-35,
Taught live over the Internet using your home or office webcam or
Live, in person at a city near you —
Lesson 1, How to Tell a Joke, includes Microphone technique:
Comedy Kitchen 1 and Comedy Kitchen 2
Lesson 2, How to Write a Joke
Lesson 4, Editing Your Comedy or Serious Speech into an Act
Lesson 6, Topical Monologue
Lesson 10, Working the crowd and Wading into the audience: taking advantage of hecklers
Lessons 26-29, Choreographing the Joke with Professional Stage Movement, using techniques unique to the solo performer
Tips: Previews from my
Coaching & Co-Writing Services
Famous wit George S. Kaufman wrote two plays that established the Marx Brothers, won 2 Pulitzer prizes, a Tony Award, and was celebrated as Broadway's “play doctor.” As Kaufman put it stringently, "Nothing is written, everything is re-written."
Therefore, you will always be re-writing your stand-up comedy act, business keynote speech, etc., to make it better.
The problem:
Professionals know that re-memorizing your lines is literally ten times harder than memorizing your lines in the first place.
The solution:
Watch the video: actors in my theater company The Redwood Empire Players (The REP), taught me this great, time-saving tip 35 years ago. I have passed it on to all my students and clients. And now, I pass it on to you.
From one of my speeches, this video was recorded in the famous 49er gold county of Sonora, California:

(2-8-2010)
"Why get Jim's notes after you perform & before you go to sleep! " (1:27)
•iPhone/iPod/iPad version
•Computer version—that can play full screen on most desktop and laptop computers: Apple, Windows, etc. Plus, it also plays on most Android phones and tablets, Kindle, etc.; but this Flash version for computers will not play on Apple iOS devices like: iPhone, iPod and iPad.

. . . More on my coaching and co-writing services.

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Tips: Previews from my Stand-Up Comedy Workshop
Lesson 1 of 35 Lessons:
“How to Tell a Joke on a Stand-Up Comedy Stage,
During a Speech and in the Work Place”

We begin with basic microphone technique:
Don't wait until you get to the club.
How to practice mic technique every day in your home or office!

Three stories that make the point.
And maybe make you smile a bit in the telling:
Welcome to my first episode of "Comedy Kitchen"!

At my Workshops, I discuss microphone technique in much greater depth.

But what do you do if the electricity goes out?
• For the long story, and a trip down memory lane with Rob Schneider, go here:
http://www.stand-upcomedyworkshop.com/workshopPreviews/roblightsout.html
• You can also play my 3-in-1 video tip recorded in the hills of beautiful Nicasio, California.
This video clip gives you a notion of my presentation style:

(4-19-2009)
"Object as Metaphor;
Basic microphone technique;
Solve techie problems instantly: What to do when the club's sound & lights go out?" (4:42)
•iPhone/iPod/iPad version
•Computer version—that can play on most desktop and laptop computers: Apple, Windows, etc. Plus, it also plays on most Android phones and tablets, Kindle, etc.; but this Flash version for computers will not play on Apple iOS devices like: iPhone, iPod and iPad.

You can experience the real deal live, in-person or online at my Stand-Up Comedy Workshops, taught through live Internet video conferencing at the section of your choice:
• 4 Lessons repeated each month
• These insightful Lesson are taught:
1) regularly on Monday nights at 6:00 pm PST over your home or office web cam.
2) irregularly by special arrangement.
•Workshop Lessons 1-35: Described.

Back to Professional Microphone Techniques that Immediately Separate You from the Amateurs

Lesson 1: “How to Tell a Joke on a Stand-Up Comedy Stage, During a Speech and in the Work Place” Description | Lesson 1-4 register.

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(8-3-2012)
Re-enforces microphone drill that is integrated into all the class exercises (8:45)
In this video clip, I demonstrate the professional advantages of owning your own inexpensive mic gear.
Why?
So you can both:
•practice at home and
•show me your improvements during all Workshop exercises, and as appropriate during our consultations.
Knowing how to use the mic gear smoothly will:
•boost your self-confidence on stage and
•greatly impress anyone considering hiring you as a well-paid stand-up comic or business keynote speaker.

iPhone/iPod/iPad version | Computer version

Techie note that is good to know about:
Even though these instructions are unique to “Comedy Kitchen, Episode #2,“ similar things can happen with other videos (even on other wed sites you might find yourself visiting) if the "packet stream" that sends you the video gets temporarily interrupted.
•So, how the Flash video player works and
• what it looks like at various stages while you are waiting for a video clip to load is a good thing to know.
Can keep you from freaking out:

Unlike Episode #1, there is no "pre-loader" counter for this Computer version letting you know that the video is loading.
•Instead, you see the control bar for the video player eventually load. Oddly, on slower Internet connections, inside the control bar you will soon see a green-and-gray twirling line which looks like a barber's pole on its side:

Not to worry: nothing has gone horribly wrong.
•Be patient as you wait for the video screen to load into the player in the empty space above the control bar.
If you'd like to see what that looks like, I made a screen shot for you. Once you have seen the screen shot, click on your browser's Back button to return to this page. Here is the screen shot.
•The green-and-black twirling line is next replaced by a gray line (see gray line inside scrubber track pictured below).
•Once about two-thirds of the actual video loads, it should begin to auto play this video clip. However, those on faster Internet connections may actually see the video playing much earlier, and never see the green-and-black twirling line.
•How do you tell how much of the video has loaded? Just watch the gray line inside the video player control bar gradually extend the width of the player's scrubber bar.

Red circles: Pause button has changed to play button = video is currently playing, timecode playhead (white triangle) is no longer at the beginning, gray line inside video player control bar is well over 66% the width of the scrubber bar (playhead track inside video player control bar).

Lesson 1: “How to Tell a Joke on a Stand-Up Comedy Stage, During a Speech and in the Work Place” Description | Lesson 1-4 register.

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Lesson 2:
“How to Write a Joke: the 7 basic joke forms”

(9-10-05)
Story of how one very frustrated writer escaped Writer's Block! (00:54)

Sometimes trying to find simple answers to complex questions . . ..
You just end up being silly!
iPhone/iPod/iPad version | Computer version

Lesson 2: “How to Write a Joke: the 7 basic joke forms” Description | Lesson 1-4 registration.

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Lesson 4:
“Editing Your Comedy or Serious Speech into an Act”

(1-11-2006)
Where the money is! (1:22)
Discover the real math that makes the difference between the Little League standards of your local comedy scene and the Major League standards of national broadcast television.
Compare/contrast all the comics we have studied in Workshop Lessons 1-4.
What separates the character of the comic having a successful first time national TV appearance from those not so successful?
What makes these budding comedy stars so very different from the “saloon” players whose acts do not translate into the “big leagues” of national television?
In other words, by this point in our study of “The Fundamentals of Stand-Up Comedy,” what is your current personal profile of the “ideal” stand-up comic?
iPhone/iPod/iPad version | Computer version

Lesson 4: “Editing Your Comedy or Serious Speech into an Act” Description | Lesson 1-4 registration.

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Lesson 6:
“Topical Monologues: joke formats”

(5-12-2006)
What local comics can learn from a knowing study of late night TV talk-show opening monologues:
Most of these shows with the greater audience share are still hosted by stand-up comics.
What works so well on national television networks every night of the week
can give your act a much needed career shot in the arm:
Pump new life into your act by continually putting current events into witty perspective! (7:26)

Although I created this video way back on May 12, 2006, oddly not much has changed: basically, the same stand-up comics are still getting the same ratings, and still no one has cornered the national market.
•This lesson is the first in a series of lessons which show you how to effectively use the 7 basic joke forms in clearly defined traditional joke formats.
•What makes this a particularly good place to start is the fact that businesses with big money to spend are eagerly looking for local talent that can use these joke formats to compete with the men and women they see on TV every night.
•Such gigs can pay literally ten times what a comic will typically get paid for night club work.
Even more strangely, most of your local competition still fails to take advantage of this obvious career opportunity.
Well, now I will show you how to get a quick leg up.
iPhone/iPod/iPad version | Computer version

Lesson 6: “Topical Monologue: 11 joke formats” Description | Lesson 5-8 registration.

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Lesson 10:
“Working the crowd by wading into the audience, plus taking advantage of Hecklers”
These examples are included in the “Improvisation, Working the crowd, Taking Advantage of Hecklers and Roasts,” Lessons block 9-12.

Cathy the camera person playing a typical audience member,
Somewhat distressed when she suddenly and unexpectedly finds herself "on stage"!!!
Introduces final microphone drill that is integrated into the last exercise described on Lesson One, page 86:
"When I walk amongst them" (2:25)
Jim Richardson and Cathy the camera person show why a 20 foot extension cable along with the microphone's own 15 foot cable combine to give you a 35-foot reach to every corner of the average night club house where the audience sits.
They also demonstrate how to more dynamically interview reluctant audience members. How to still keep them on mic (and what to do if they say something off-mic that many in the audience will not be able to hear).
All this, when going into the audience as "you walk amongst them!" Page 86
iPhone/iPod/iPad version | Computer version (2:25)

Note: video shot of the Open Mic at the beginning of Lesson One will be played back at the end of Lesson One.
This, so you can demonstrate what you have learned by self-critiquing your performance in terms of the techniques taught in the first Lesson.
See page 87.
This is often the most valuable, and enjoyable exercise of the first class!

Honest!

Short history of how my client Ross Shafer launched a stand-up comedy and business keynote speaking career from Seattle, Washington.
•After winning the Seattle Comedy Competition in 1983, he was soon hosting nationally broadcast TV shows.
In this video clip, I describe how Ross used wading into the audience with a channeled Improvisation to win that contest.
•On July 17, 2012, Ross won the top honor for business keynote speakers pictured below:

Improvisation rule number one:
"Always expect what?
The unexpected!" (4:25)
(7-17-2012)
To watch the video clip, clck one of these links:
iPhone/iPod/iPad version | Computer version

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Lessons 26-29,
“Choreographing the Joke:
Professional Stage Movement Workshops”
I have directed actors and taught them stage movement since 1970. Ten years later, I started giving the same lessons to solo acts, both:
•one-on-one as an 8-hour private training and
•as a 12-hour training to semi-private groups of stand-up comics, business keynote speakers, etc.

There are no pre-requisites for Lessons 26-29, Choreographing the Joke.
But it is assumed that students who want to jump ahead to these four Lessons will already have several well-tested bits that by now have set lines:
•Adding professional stage movement at this time can greatly help cement in your memorization of the final version.
•This is especially helpful for those bits which have undergone so much re-writing that the new version is next to impossible for you to re-memorize.

Most comics and speakers either stand down center near the audience their entire act or pace nervously back-and-forth to no purpose. In 2005, I created a half-hour video that replicates what I teach during the initial 30 minutes of these Workshops. I challenge you to begin putting these techniques to use the very next time you appear on stage.

Part One: “Upstage vs. Downstage” (6:14) plays a single chapter as one clip.
Parts Two & Three: “Body Positions” and “Stage Crosses & Dramatic Turns” (35:39) play the last 12 chapters inside another single clip:

(1-11-2006)
"Professional Stage Movement can actually double the length of audience laughter!"
iPhone/iPod/iPad version | Computer version

Lessons 26-29: “Choreographing the Joke: Professional Stage Movement Workshops” Description| Lesson 26-29 registration.

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Page last updated: Sunday, April 21, 2013, 4:25 pm PST.
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