Being on stage – What 5 minutes as a stand up comic taught me

 

Back in 2009 I was between jobs and living in Hoboken, NJ…probably one of the coolest places you can live in your twenties.  

I moved there with a college buddy to live the good life of living in a town built within 1 square mile and 150 plus bars all within walking distance.

Every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were reserved for unloading the paycheck at the local establishments, which probably wasn’t the best move….but at the time it was the best move!

While I was looking for new opportunities in NYC across the Hudson river, the entrepreneurial part of me rose to the surface and I made a decision to start doing some stand up comedy in the city.

I was hopeful that I could be the guy who absolutely “kills it” and then not have to worry about getting a job because I would be on the path to stardom.

That was my half baked idea at least.

Didn’t happen that way of course, but I did “check a box” I think a ton of people have not…which was get 5 minutes of stage time at a legit New York Comedy Club.

Last act to go on….5 minutes and done.

Thinking back on it, the experience has allowed me some new perspective around general rules of connecting with people, and attacking any uncomfortable situations head on…because I do believe this is where most of us can realize some true growth.

I “winged” the 8 week course and certainly didn’t prepare the way I should have.  

A good comedic set is rehearsed and tweaked time and time again until the comedian has a solid formula of success until they are confident in their delivery, and the reaction they get from the audience.

Every Thursday I took the path trail from Hoboken to the East side of Manhattan, walked into the comedy club and tried to drum up things that I thought would be funny.  

It was a great format to get some real feedback from industry pros but I wasn’t as invested as I should have been, the passion wasn’t there I guess.

I liked the idea of “killing it” on stage but I wasn’t willing to put out the effort to perfect my set, so the results were mediocre.

At the end of the 8 weeks it culminated in a live Friday night performance.  

Four of my buddies came, and while they enjoyed a table in the crowd I had some drinks at the bar….I was the last comic to go on.

It was 1230 AM when they announced me to the crowd as a first timer….which was a bit weird I guess, nothing to lose right.

I walked on stage, went right to one of my staple Tony Soprano impressions, and ended the set with my Bob Shephard announcer impression who was the old Yankees and Giants stadium announcer.  

His voice was unmistakable, it just sounded old and was “god” like some people said.

His tag line used to be…..”please rise and honor America as Kate Smith performs God Bless America”.

I casually told the audience that we live in modern times, and wouldn’t be surprised if the next game we went to it was

“We ask that you please rise and Honor recording artist Jay Z as he performs 99 Problems but a bitch aint one”

Kinda funny right? Some thought it was, that’s whats important.

Anyway……I got a nice rumble! The red light came indicating my 5 minutes was up, I said thank you and walked off stage back to the bar.  

We drank the night away with friends, and I never returned to the stage.

People would ask for the next two years…”when are you going back on stage” and for whatever reason I just didn’t have it deep down enough to want it.  

The lessons of stand up comedy have stayed with me, and I always go back to that time and re-think things.  

How they went, and how they could have gone.

Like in many aspects of life and business, people respond to others when they feel connected, when they feel comfortable.  

I had many times on stage where I didn’t feel the connection, and the audience picks right up on that and puts them in an awkward position.  

Very hard to drum up laughs when it gets weird.

The best comedians are like good sales people.  

They build up the joke with a connecting story, and then close the deal with the punchline.  

If the punchline sucks, they lose the deal…in this case a real connection being a laughing audience.

It’s also having pure confidence and delivery with conviction that an audience and prospect reacts to as well.  

They can detect if someone is nervous, and that gives them no confidence in pursuing any sort of relationship, ore deal. 

In my world of being in Sales and relationship building, I personally try to mix a little comedy in with my business chatter, because if you can make someone laugh they are that much more closer to saying yes!

Here is a photo of my 5 minutes of fame at New York Comedy Club.  

Lessons learned, and a chuckle gained.  

At least it wasn’t crickets!