Three Secrets to Becoming a Clean Stand-up Comedian

Secrets to Becoming a Clean Stand-up Comedian

Many new comedians grace the stage with full intent of delivering a clean show. They take the showcase stage at comedy clubs like Zanies Comedy Club, The Laugh Factory, Up Comedy Club or The Improv and attempt to deliver clean comedy. By performing clean comedy, whether they be funny female comedians or male clean comedians they are then able to pursue the goal of someday performing solo as a clean corporate comedian.

1)  Performing clean comedy means there should be no use of swear words, no offensive set-ups and no offensive punchlines.  It is important not to embarrass or offend as a corporate comedian.  An offended audience leads to complaints to human resources. Repetitive complaints may develop into real problems for the company hosting the corporate event.  Violating the rules of "clean" will result in loss of trust, reputation and bookings.

2)  Be aware of your own interpretation of clean comedy.  "Clean" should not be a product of your own subjective interpretation. New talent today takes its direction from Comedy Central where there are no limits on topics and vocabulary. A new comic often believes if he simply "cleans up his act" by cleaning up his four letter words, the goal of clean comedy has been accomplished. I've seen club owners shaking their heads in dismay as they watch a new talent use every word but the "f" bomb and think they've achieved clean.

Subject matter that is truly "clean" is a topic that you could deliver one-on-one to your Aunt Clara in front of her bridge club. This is assuming your aunt was never a member of Hell's Angels or senior cook on a ship. Topics involving family, sports, children, husbands, wives and corporate life are all fair game. Any talk of sex must be approached with extreme caution. After all, would you feel comfortable talking about sex to your Aunt Clara?

3)  "Customized humor" is a good way to go if you want strong laughs that hit close to home for a corporate audience. Customizing humor involves researching the company's background and core interests prior to taking the stage. Although individuals can also be singled out as fodder, it is very effective to read from the company's handbook or muse over their graphs and charts. Where there has been pain, there is gain in the laugh department.

If you want to write clean, turn off the TV and think back to your childhood. What was right and what was wrong in dialogue with adults? These thoughts will be your guide. Writing clean material is a very difficult challenge when creating a new routine but taking the high road will lead to respect among your peers and admiration from you corporate audience.

At This Clean Comedy Event, I Sat Next to a Bishop! That is Clean Comedy Pressure!

Series: Ten Funny Keynote Speakers Who Market Intelligently - Number One

As a clean corporate comedian and president of the Humorous Speakers Bureau, I know that there is a long list of "must-haves" in a humorist or funny keynote speaker to make their career a success.  A creative mind is a genuine asset but it is also necessary to be an expert marketer in order to reach your potential customers. Ten keynote speakers who seem to have tapped into this professional market in a resourceful way are as follows:  I admire their energy and drive!  This is the first of a ten-part series.

David Schwensen:  Dave's inside knowledge of the entertainment industry was earned as Talent Coordinator for the television show "A&E's - An Evening at the Improv" and The Improv Comedy Clubs in Hollywood and New York.  He also acted as a consultant for many television shows including "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "Late Night with David Letterman," "The Today Show", "Comedy Central", "HBO", "MTV" and "Disney."  Dave's comedy workshops are based on his book "How to Be a Working Comic" and he has designed and instructs courses for Cleveland State University and others on the value of humor and creativity as productive networking and team building tools.  He is a keynote speaker and a trainer, and the author of five books.

Now David Schwensen shares what he knows about the speaking industry in his seminars and keynotes which pinpoint the value of creativity and humor in communications. See: http://davepresents.com/

Keynote Speaker Dave Schwensen

Female Christian Comedians and Christian Television

I am thrilled that Christian television is now welcoming female Christian Comedians on their faith-based shows.  Yesterday I had the fantastic experience of appearing on "Voices in the Wilderness" - a Christian television show that invites guests whose lives have been changed as a result of their faith.  Having documented such a personal incident in my new book "Comedy Mom - My Funny Stand-up Life", I was asked to be a guest on the show because I bring my Christian comedy to women's groups.  My own story focuses on my early efforts to be a professional stand-up comedian who performs clean comedy.  During my years as a new clean comedian, I suffered terrible stage-fright. However, my life transformed on a Sunday morning in church the day I heard the words, "Go with the fear! If God gives you a gift, you are meant to share it."

This singular message gave me the strength to return to the comedy stage as a Christian woman comedian and conquer my stage-fright.  For years, it was a continuing constant challenge.  Eventually, my fears gave way to strength and I am now a very successful funny clean Christian Comedian and I have been performing clean comedy shows for over 20 years.  I urge everyone to listen to your inner voice and share your gifts even though it may be a struggle.

Many thanks to my gracious host, Maria Goldstein, for her own strength in helping others with her shared gift of a wonderful faith-based Christian television show.

Maria Goldstein and Funny Female Christian Comedian Sally Edwards

Female Christian Comedian - A Sampling of Clean Comedy

When performing as a Christian Comedian, it is important to keep comedy "squeaky" clean.  Christian comedy requires family-friendly premises and punchlines that do not offend regardless of age.  I have pursued Christian clean comedy because it is a challenge. It is important to me that jokes are funny based on their own merit of cleverness and creativeness.  Enjoy!

Five Secrets to Booking the Funniest Comedian for Your Christmas Party

Five Secrets to Booking the Best Comedian for Your Christmas Party

Believe it or not, it's just around the corner.  The Christmas season will be here before you know it and you will want to have the most memorable and fun Christmas party.  Booking a comedian to perform stand-up comedy is an ideal way to entertain your business associates but there are five secrets to making sure the performance will make your corporate audience happy.

1)  Think "Clean" Comedy for Your Christmas Party - People love to laugh but they do not want to feel uncomfortable around business associates.  It is very important that a clean comedian be booked for an office party so that no one is offended or embarrassed by the comedian's material and jokes.

2)  Hire a Professional Clean Comedian - The word "clean" is interrupted differently by everyone.  A comedian's parameters for "clean" can mean simply "no cursing."  This will not be clean enough for your office Christmas party because a joke's set-up, content and punchline can also be completely off-color.  It takes many years to develop a strong "clean" comedy set.  Professional "clean" comedy is a true art form.

3)  "Audition" Your Clean Comedian by Going to a Comedy Club such as Zanies, The Improv or The Laugh Factory and Watch Their Act - A comedian may tell you that he or she can stage for forty-five minutes.  "Staying on stage" is not enough.  A true clean comedian keeps their audience laughing and engaged for forty-five minutes to an hour and even has a very strong closing comedy bit that will leave the audience teary-eyed from laughing.

4)  Get Referrals - In Person and Online - If you don't have time to go to a comedy club, look on your comedian's website and see where they have performed.  Call that business or place of worship and get an off-the-cuff referral.  An alternative idea would be to go to a "speakers bureau" website and look at videos of clean comedians performing.  Two well-known sites are The Humorous Speakers Bureau, GigSalad and Gigmasters.
 

5)  Listen to a CD, watch a DVD or read a book published by the comedian your want to hire.  All of these promotional materials have value and give testimony to the comedian's background and method of communication.

Sit back, relax and have fun.  Now you know you've hired the best clean stand-up comedian and your Christmas party will be a success!

Funny Clean Female Comedian - Sally Edwards

Top Ten Clean Comedians

As a clean corporate female comedian as well as a regular at Zanies Comedy Club, I am fortunate to perform regularly at corporate events because my humor is clean and my jokes and premises are non-offensive. I perform clean comedy because I love the challenge of discovering whether or not something is truly funny.  I enjoy knowing that a joke can be funny on it's own merit and creativeness. Over the years I have been inspired and influenced by other clean comedians. I admire their genius.

Top Ten Clean Comedians

1)  Brian Regan - For many years, Brian was a "Comedian's Comedian."  He was a well-kept secret among professionals who knew great clean comedy.  Eventually top management caught up with his talent and he went on to perform on the largest stages for comedy in the country.

Clean Comedian Brian Regan and Female Clean Comedian Sally Edwards

2)  Jim Gaffigan - Jim's new book "Dad is Fat!" is taking the comedy community by storm.  Jim's stand-up comedy is as funny as his written word.  Jim Gaffigan's clean comedy fills the seats and he is a familiar face from coast-to-coast.

Comedian Jim Gaffigan

3)  Carol Leifer  - I first saw Carol Leifer when she was performing at The Comic Strip in New York City. It was suggested by Ritchie Tienkin that I move to New York when he saw me performing at The Comic Strip in Florida.  I was new to New York but Carol was a seasoned pro. She eventually moved to L.A. and became a top writer on the Seinfeld Show.

Comedian Carol Leifer

4)  Jay Leno - Before Jay Leno hit The Tonight Show stage, he was a young comedian who claims to have slept in his car before achieving any success.  I first saw him in Elmhurst, IL wearing his motorcycle jacket and boots and delivering edgy clean stand-up comedy.  We all know where that led him.

Comedian Jay Leno

5)  Jimmy Brogan - Regarded as the best emcee in the country by comedians who know him, he was Jay Leno's head writer for 10 years.  The night that I met him through a friend at St. Mary's of Notre Dame, I told my sister that I'd met the funniest person in my life.  Good instincts!

Comedian Jim Brogan

6)  Paula Poundstone - I never actually met Paula Poundstone when she was on the road working as a comedian.  However, I did see her from afar as I stopped by the club where she was performing when we were in the same city.  Another gifted comedian, she excels at audience interaction.

Comedian Paula Poundstone

7) Jeff Allen - I started doing comedy just a few years after Jeff Allen took the plunge.  He was dynamite at The Comedy Cottage in Rosemont and he's never slowed down.  Christian audiences who appreciate clean Christian Comedians welcome his clean humor with open arms.

Comedian Jeff Allen

8)  Mike Toomey - Playing "Skip Parker" on the WGN Morning News, Mike Toomey demonstrates his ability to appear as numerous funny characters.  What the WGN audience was not initially aware of was the fact that Mike Toomey is a well-known and brilliant clean comedian in the Chicago area.  He is now a permanent part of the WGN morning news show.

Comedian Mike Toomey

9)  Ellen Degeneres - When you're known by one name, you have made it.  ... Just call me "Sally."

Ellen

10)  Steven Haas - O.K.  I'm biased here.  Steven Haas is my son and he is taking L.A. by storm.  A new L.A. clean comedian, he came in first-placed in the Flapper's Comedy Competition last Sunday.  He is getting top reviews and I am so proud of him!

Comedian Steven Haas

Stand up Comedy - Your First Appearance on the Comedy Stage

Tips for Performing Stand-up Comedy

You think you're a funny guy or girl and you've gathered enough courage to perform on New Talent Night at a local comedy club. How should you prepare to face a room full of strangers and make them laugh? First, you need your arsenal of funny material. Take time during the day to sit down and write a joke with a simple joke structure. The simplest and most basic form of joke writing is "set up and punchline". "Setting up a joke" is providing basic information about an experience or topic. It establishes a place, a feeling and a presence. The punchline element produces the surprise and the unexpected ending. A genuine surprise elicits laughter from an audience which proves your joke is effective. 

 Memorize your jokes and rehearse them either mentally or verbally. Create a visual picture in your head of the subject matter and your first jokes will be more easily committed to memory. Continue rehearsing your jokes daily until they can be recited out loud and with confidence. Achieving a relaxed conversational tone will demonstrate command of the stage and put an audience at ease. Many new comedians assume they can stand on stage and be an "off-the-cuff" guy or girl. This can be a dangerous assumption. The first time on stage can be intimidating and it is very possible that increased nervousness will steal your mental reflexes and response time. You will be facing lights and strange faces as the audience stares at you, and you alone. Most likely, you will feel robbed of your humorous creativity as you know it. Having a solidly memorized "set" of material will give you a performance safety net on stage. It is better that improvising skills are utilized once an audience is engaged and laughing. 

 The first time on stage triggers the primal fear of facing a roomful of unfamiliar faces. You are taking on a very formidable challenge when standing on the comedy stage. Don't be too hard on yourself. Congratulations on conquering a fear that is only second to death. It does get better and more fun as you feel more comfortable on stage and as you get to know your "character". Performing on a weekly or nightly basis will make the joke writing easier and the performances will appear more natural. Taking those first few steps on the comedy stage are giant leaps in terms of personal goals and a lifetime of effort and enjoyment.    

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