Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy

As someone who has been a lifelong stand-up comedy aficionado - either as an audience member or on-stage performer - I am very thrilled to have finally found a resource which offers a viable, understandable method for creating new stand-up material, on any premise of your choosing. As an added bonus, Greg Dean's method has also helped me to understand WHY funny material I `happened' to come up with previously IS indeed funny, making me feel more in control of the process, and providing the inspiration to create a wealth of new material I never otherwise would have. (So much so, in fact, that my index card and legal pad purchases are probably keeping Staples in business!)
Specifically, what I have found most helpful are: Greg Dean's instructions on how to perform material both from your own point of view (the `narrator POV') and from other characters' POVs, and how to keep the various POVs clear and distinct when performing; his explanation of how best to rehearse your material, so that during a show, you're not just aping material form a script memorized verbatim, but are instead recounting real, vivid experiences as though they were actually happening - much more liberating for the comic, and far more interesting and funny for the audience. The rehearsal process also allows you to modify or add to your routines as you rehearse, or even ON STAGE.
To paraphrase an old adage, Greg Dean truly does teach you HOW to fish, unlike so many other books on stand-up which just toss fish at you, or - worse still - merely describe what a fish looks like, and how to differentiate the various species of gilled ichthyic vertebrates. O Dean of Comedy, thank you!

A bit about me and what I think about comedy books in general:
I've been doing comedy for about a year now and this is the first book I read. It is not perfect, but that is not the fault of the author. To write a perfect book on comedy would probably be very difficult and probably beyond the talents of even a very famous comedian. The problem is people who know how to do things do not always know why it works or can explain it to other people. Comedy, or any type of performance, is especially tricky because it is something that is learned with experience and things learned in this way are often difficult to communicate to someone who does not have the relevant experience.

What this book tries do:
First of all Dean gives you his joke writing method. It is formulaic and unnatural. However it does have a number of virtues. In the first place it forces you, a neophyte, to begin to think analytically about what goes into making up a one-liner. This is a very important first step - it is not good enough to intuitively know when things are funny, you have to learn to analyze what the elements are which make it funny. In the second place Deane's method does something important, which I think any good writing method does, it forces you to ask questions about what you are writing, and the answers to these questions give you the seed for the ideas for the next thing you write, or for editing what you have already written. Again this is a bit unnatural, but if you've ever written anything and tried to seriously edit it, you will know what this is like. It involves taking a critical look at your own creation and crossing out the things that don't work or trying to improve them.

Secondly Dean gives a lot of great pointers for creating material and performing and rehearsing. This is where the book really begins to shine. It is also stuff which you can come back to after you've been doing it a while. The bits I like the most were this: Firstly, using the point of view of a character to help you write, i.e. asking questions about how that character would feel. This goes all the way to personifying things such body parts or abstract things like air, in order to write from their perspective. It's a great way to produce material or enrich material you've already written. Secondly getting rehearsal right - if you rehearse something with interruptions or other problems, those problems will likely manifest themselves on stage (at least in the early days). Thirdly, whatever emotional/mental state you are in the, the audience is in. This bit is gold and very deep. It is worth pondering as you progress.

What was left out, what can be found in other books:
Writing:
I think any comic can learn about writing by reading material that is meant for any sort of writer and not just comic writers. For example one bit of useful writing advice is to show people and not tell them. E.g. you don't tell someone "she was afraid" instead you show them: "She felt goosebumps on her skin and her heart began to beat faster". Secondly, detail is important and brings something to life. Thirdly, don't say more than necessary, keep it as short as possible. Fourthly, edit, edit, and edit.

A more specific point is why things are funny. I think very few authors deal with this topic properly. Only one I know has nailed it, and he isn't even an author of a comedy how-to-book, it was Ricky Gervais when he was talking to Jerry Seinfeld, Louis CK and Chris Rock. (It's on youtube). He said he thinks comedy is about empathy. In other words the audience has to be able to relate to the plight of the characters in whatever you are telling them in some way. But more than that, they also have to be able to detach themselves from that plight and see it from a birds-eye-view, so to speak. This is because if they don't, then what you've got is closer to tragedy or drama. In comedy, it's ok to laugh at trouble, and that's because of this element of detachment. In summary: comedy = empathy + detachment (if that sounds like a paradox, then welcome to the world of comedy).

Performance:
This is the toughest thing to learn. Here I think Franklin Ajaye's book is probably the closet to the mark. Somehow your delivery needs to seem natural - like when you are funny around your friends or family. It can not seem forced or like you are trying to be clever. The reason is that then the audience will not relate to you, i.e. that will not empathize. I could write a lot about how to do that, but I think the key point is to "get out of your head" while on stage. One way to do that is to yell or at least talk very loudly and used exaggerated gestures. In any case I doubt I can give good advice on this as I'm only just beginning to discover how to do it myself.

Well I hope that helps any people who want to start in comedy. It's a tough game - you start at the bottom on the open mic scene, and the key is to persevere and be nice to people you meet. You may well find that few people will talk much to you in the first several months - that's because there are heaps of people who give it a go once or twice, and the veterans don't see it as being worth investing time getting to know someone who won't stick around. But if you keep at it, some of the folks who've been doing it for a while will slowly get to know you.

It's amazing how many books there are on writing and performing comedy, and how bad many of them are. I collect books on comedy and performers and I can say that FINALLY there is a book on comedy writing and performing that can TRULY make a difference. Greg Dean's system clears away a lot of the mystery and, step by step, can help you WRITE funnier, VIEW things funnier, and BE funnier. He clearly has spent years of time and thought on his system...and it W O R K S. How do I know? I'm a performer (ventriloquist -- I work with a dummy but he is not running for president...Greg is NOT responsible for that joke, folks..). His system has already helped me in countless ways. In fact, I will say it changed my whole way of looking at, writing, and performing humor. This book is not only one that I like for myself, but one that I'll be ordering for other people who are interested in comedy as GIFTS. This is NOT your usual how-to comedy book that you read and stick on a shelf. You'll use it -- and be influenced by it.

Greg's book has really helped me on 2 independent fronts: The effective performance of stand-up comedy, and COMEDY WRITING! This is an important point for those who are writers, not performers. Of all the books I've ever read on comedy, this is the first one to actually outline a concrete process for quickly generating a significant volume of humorous material. This should be very useful for anyone doing any kind of script writing.
Naturally, the writing methods described in the book are also quite helpful for performers, as are the in-depth instructions for actually doing stand up comedy. I've used this book as a constant source of inspiration in rehearsing and to raise my spirits right before performances. It's literally the kind of book that I can open to just about any page, read for 10 minutes, and come away with renewed energy and enthusiasm.
Some books I've read on this subject have a few good parts, but this one has high-quality material from start to finish. If you're looking for a true textbook on comedy (both writing and performance), this is the only book you'll need.

An excellent book but not as good as: The Comedy Bible From Stand-Up to Sitcom : The Comedy Writer's Ultimate How-To-Guide by Judy Carter. It is still worth reading after or with the Carter book. Both books breakdown joke structure (Setup +Attitude +Topic +Premise +Act out) but Carter does a dramatically better job-especially on attitude. Carter's book is twice as big and at a lower price. It has more content or specificity page for page. There is more energy and conversational feel to the Carter Book. Dean regularly gets wordy and does not have Carter's to the point and hard hitting style. There are plenty of reasons to buy both books. Dean has an excellent chapter on playing points of view and two good chapters on rehearsal. Initially, it feels like his method turns rehearsal into an ordeal. His goal is to help separate your internal critic from the creative flow. For those that have used a microphone sparingly, that chapter may be helpful. Excellent chapters on performing and improving your act read well. The book ends with an upbeat emphasis that in comedy-rehearsal, editing and performing (with or with out compensation) are the enduring keys to success.

"I guess if you wanted diagram jokes like an english teacher this is a good book to learn from but, don't expect to get any laughs..." says an earlier reviewer. This book is to help joke writers write better jokes. If you're looking for laughs pick up Calivin and Hobbes. Every negative review that says that this book is it's too technical. Well that's why this book is excellent. It boils jokes down to a formula that will allow astute writers to write better jokes. Yes, you will have to wade through some linguistics to understand exactly what Dean is trying to say. I had to read it twice myself. But once I understood it was well worth the extra time.

Whoever Greg Dean is he's to be commended for an excellent and incisive tour through the joke-writing (and performing) process. This thing is a real soup to nuts guide, takes you from the beginning of how to formulate your funny ideas and then coaches you every step of the way along in order to realize them, rehearse them and perform them. They say there's a glut of stand up comedians out there. What there really is is a glut of BAD ONES. But people who are trying to be funny should get ahold of this no-nonsense guide to making plenty of nonsense. If you've got good ideas, this ought to help you develop them. Then you can be one of the GOOD ONES.... and god knows we need as many of those as we can get!

I loved Greg Dean's book. I've read other comedy books that talk about what it's like to write jokes but this is the only book I know of that actually walks you through the steps of writing jokes. It helped me write new jokes and gags for my act and it helped me polish the stuff I already was doing to make it better. The exercises make you actively do the work as opposed to just reading about it. I loved it.

This book is just poorly written and pales in comparison to The Comic Toolbox and the Comedy Bible. Although I do think that everyone learns differently and that some might find this appealing, I would imagine that anyone picking up a BOOK about comedy wants the author to write well and this book reads like it was thrown together.

Greg Dean's "Step By Step To Stand Up Comedy" is like good-tasting yet powerful medicine. His uncommonly simple and sensical way of explaining the structure of comedy and the strategy for creating great comedy, is brilliant. I find this book an instant and constant idea-generator for me. As the author of the book, "Jack and Jill, Why They Kill," my subject--kids killing kids--could be perceived by those not wearing sunglasses as a dark topic. However, with "Step By Step To Stand Up Comedy" as my constant coach, I have been able to illuminate and elevate my topic so much that people don't exodus the hall when I am introduced but actually stay for my entire presentations, as much for the jokes they contain, as for the vital message of how to rear violence-free, bully-free, and gun-free children. Bravo, Greg Dean...and thank you!