If you are trying to work out how to start stand-up comedy, you are probably stuck on the same question as everyone else: what do I actually do first? Not in five years’ time. Tomorrow.
On Hop For Pop we spend most of our time asking working comedians how they got where they are. In this short video, Kishan, who runs Hop For Pop, takes the very beginning and breaks it into five steps. No theory and no shortcuts. Just what to write, how to say it, where to go, and what to do with what happens there.
Here are the five steps, in order.
Step 1: Write 20 actual jokes
Your first open mic is not the place for a long story. The advice here is simple: write jokes, and write at least 20 of them before you go on stage for the first time.
They need to be actual jokes, not anecdotes. A funny thing that happened to you last week is not a joke yet. It might become one, but only once it has a shape. That shape is step two.
Step 2: Learn the three parts of a joke
A joke has a proper framework and you need to follow it, especially in the beginning.
Every joke has three parts: the premise, the setup and the punchline. The video builds one from scratch so you can see each part.
- The premise is the base of the joke, the situation everything else stands on. In the example: my friend told me not to do stand-up comedy.
- The setup takes the premise somewhere and points it towards the laugh: because he thinks I’m funny only when I’m five shots down.
- The punchline is the payoff: well, I guess he was right.
Written down like that, it does not look like much. The video admits it straight away.
Okay, this doesn’t sound funny, I know.
That is not a flaw in the joke. It is the reason for step three.
Step 3: Voice modulation, pause and body movement
The same joke is then told again with the same words. This time the voice changes, the body moves, and there is a deliberate pause after the setup. Nobody laughs at a setup, so you have to be comfortable standing in that silence before the punchline arrives.
Now, you wait for the pause because no one is going to laugh at that.
Then the punchline lands, and the joke that looked flat on paper suddenly works. Same words, completely different result. That is why delivery is treated as a step of its own, not an afterthought.
Voice modulation, pause, and body movement is as important as writing the joke.
Step 4: Do as many open mics as you can
An open mic is a night, usually at a comedy club, where new comedians get a short spot on stage. At many of them you pay, and in return you get around five to seven minutes of stage time.
Paying to perform can feel strange. But stage time is the one thing a new comedian cannot get any other way, and it builds the thing that matters most at the start: being comfortable on stage.
If you’re not comfortable on stage, none of your jokes would work. And the only way to achieve stage comfort is by doing as many mics as you can.
How many is “as many as you can”? Aim for one open mic a day. If that is not possible, five a week. When you are starting out, do no fewer than four a week. Take all 20 of your jokes to every one of them.
And keep a recorder with you. Every set, every time.
Record every single open mic you do.
Some of those nights will go badly. That is normal. If you want proof, read how 21 comedians survived their worst nights on stage.
Step 5: Review every recording
After five to ten open mics, sit down and listen to all of your recordings. Two words help here. A joke kills when the room erupts in laughter. It bombs when it gets no reaction at all.
Say five of your 20 jokes kill on the first night and the other 15 bomb. The next night, a different five kill. One night on its own tells you very little. The recordings, side by side, show you which jokes keep working and which keep failing.
For the jokes that keep bombing, do the work. Change the tone. Try different words. If a joke still does not land after all that effort, drop it and write a new one.
For the jokes that kill, do not stop there. Keep performing them until you know they are reliable.
Perform them 20 times with the same text, same voice modulation, same body movement and make sure that those jokes are getting laughed every time.
How long does it take to build a tight five?
A tight five is five minutes of material you are confident will work at any venue. It is the first real goal for a new comic, and the honest answer is that it takes a while.
If you have a natural gift for stand-up, expect at least 70 open mics. If you do not, expect around 100. At one mic a day, that is roughly three months of steady work. And not having a natural gift does not rule you out.
And if you don’t have a born talent for stand-up comedy, you can still do it.
By the end of those 100 mics, you should have a solid five to seven minutes of material you can rely on.
The five steps at a glance
- Write at least 20 actual jokes, not stories.
- Build each joke on the premise, setup and punchline framework.
- Add voice modulation, a pause and body movement to every joke.
- Do as many open mics as you can, ideally one a day, and record every set.
- Review the recordings, rework or drop what bombs, and repeat what kills until it becomes your tight five.
Watch the video
Want to hear how working comedians did it for real? Start with how 28 comedians remember their first laugh, then read all our comedian interviews. For more, follow Hop For Pop on YouTube and Instagram.