Friends Don’t Make You Funnier

Friends don’t make you funnier, testing material does. Make friends later.

Don’t bring friends with you to test material and don’t stress making friends with other comics. Testing is easier when you start with an indifferent audience anyway because if you make them laugh, its not because they know you.

Keep in mind that comedians at open mics are a bad test audience. Most of them are either too busy socializing or thinking about their own set to give your material the attention it deserves. Try look for the real audience (a.k.a. “Civilians”). Even if there are only one or two “real” audience members you can still test material. Keep your interactions professional and don’t engage in gossip, but make note of those who do. If you’re funny some comics will like you and others will feel threatened and immediately hate you. This is unfortunately normal human behavior. Many comedians are also introverts and feel super threatened by outgoing people. Approach them with caution and just remember what you are there to do… test material on a REAL audience. If you want REAL friends there are way better places to make them than an open mic. Lastly, if you find you aren’t accepted into the hivemind of scene life, count it as a blessing. The journey of finding your own outlets will probably benefit you more than a legion of fake friends ever could.

“Good set”… *sigh* You’re going to hear this a lot. Sometimes its real, sometimes its fake, sometimes the person saying it mistook you for someone else. The recording of your set is what determines how good it was… not what people tell you. You can hear how good it was or not.