Tomorrow night is the sixth week of the summer amateur comedy program that I’ve helped to develop and present to Calgary’s new comedians. So far, it’s gone exceptionally well. Last week was the first of three summer shows meant to give everyone some stage time. I must say that almost all the performers had great sets and several showed a huge improvement since the last time I had seen them on stage.

Part of what I’ll be talking about with my new group tomorrow night (as the other instructor and I are switching groups) is my recommended reading list for all comedians (regardless of level in the industry). I figured that posting it on here as well would give the attendees easy access to the list, help those that can’t make the workshop, and give any random Internet searcher a good list of reference material.

It’s pretty much an industry-standard that all new comedians start with Stand-Up Comedy: The Book. It’s written by Judy Carter and is a truly exceptional way to begin reading about comedy. This book will cover many fundamentals as well as some more advanced topics. While it was written two decades ago, I believe that the fundamentals still hold true. However, if you’re looking for a more recent edition of this book I’ve heard that Carter’s, The Comedy Bible: From Stand-Up to Sitcom – The Comedy Writer’s Ultimate “How To” Guide, is basically an updated version (but can’t comment on that personally as I’ve only read the first “edition”).

Once you’ve read that book you’ll want to pick up Zen and the Art of Stand-Up Comedy by Jay Sankey. This publication is more philosophical in nature which makes it a great companion to Stand-Up Comedy: The Book. Where Carter focuses on a more scientific approach to the industry, Sankey shares a more emotional perspective while expanding on many of the same topics. This is a great book to read once you’ve been on stage more than a couple of times, because you’d probably get more out of the material covered.

Next on your reading list will be Comedy Writing Secrets by Mel Helitzer. This books covers a lot more writing styles than just stand-up comedy. There’s advice on how to create different types of humorous and funny content. If you’re not willing to take the time to do the recommended exercises in the book; don’t bother buying it. Just reading this one likely won’t help you out that much, but doing the recommended writing exercises will help you to become funnier on paper. (Hopefully this will also get you used to a more regular writing routine.)

Comedy Writing Secrets is also somewhat “scientific” in its approach, but that shouldn’t dissuade you. While stand-up comedy is an art form, there are many concrete things that you can do to get better. This book gives some great overviews of the types of comedy and also shines a light on some unexpected places where comedy writing is required. If stand-up isn’t for you, this book may have an example of another career you can pursue and still be funny.

Finally, while The Eight Characters of Comedy by Scott Sedita wasn’t intended for stand-up comedians, there is a lot of information that stand-ups can learn from it. This was written for sitcom actors and writers. The bulk of the book defines the eight character archetypes that exist in all successful sitcoms. It talks about how to act and write for each of these types of characters, but I’ve found it useful for new comedians to use as a way to simply define their own characters. Most stand-ups can easily be slated into one or two of these detailed archetypes. That’s not to say that everyone shouldn’t be unique, just that the basis of most characters is finite and, if Sedita is right, then there are only eight possibilities to form the basis of all comedy performers.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in stand-up comedy then these books could easily be the bulk of your “off-stage schooling.” You’ll still need to invest a lot of time in writing and performing (that’s the one way to really learn how to do it), but with this reading you’ll head in the right direction from the beginning.

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For bonus marks: I also highly recommend Born Standing Up, Steve Martin‘s autobiography, and Last Words by George Carlin and Tony Hendra. While Martin’s book doesn’t cover the “how” of comedy, it’s a great look into the mind of a master of the art. The same can be said for Carlin’s book (published posthumously), although at times it does answer the question of “how.” (Even though some of this thoughts on comedy are well beyond my understanding.)

When most people think about stand-up comedy they picture a comedy club. Something that runs on the weekends with drinks and a brick wall. While that image of stand-up is technically true, it’s really less than half of the industry. Most of my touring doesn’t happen in clubs that were built for comedy, but in bars, lounges, restaurants, and hotel meeting spaces, that just happen to have comedy (or a private show) on a night or two during the week. Those sorts of venues are not exclusive to the smaller centres that I visit. In fact, several local comedians are working hard to create and maintain the vibrant comedy scene that exists in Calgary.

There are four rooms that run in Calgary that are independent of any full-time comedy club. These are places where everyone can gather regardless of affiliation to any organization. It’s in rooms like these that new material and new comedians develop. Without such places comedy wouldn’t move forward. All of these rooms run on the local clubs’ “off nights” (Sunday through Wednesday) and each do a superb job of supporting local talent.

In looking at all the selfless work that many of these producers do, I decided that it was time to celebrate those contributions in one place online and make it easy for fans of the art to find the shows and get updates on comedy in the city. The easiest way to do this was to launch a new website, so that is what I did.  Check out:

www.CalgaryComedy.ca

Within the site you will find information on the four local comedy rooms as well as be able to join a “Calgary Comedy Newsletter” which will send out a monthly update about these venues (and which local, national, and international performers will be featured there).

I hope that you will take the time to check out the website and then the various comedy rooms that it details. So many amazing comedy performances happen in the city and we’d love for you to be able to see them all!

CalgaryComedy.ca Screenshot

Even before Egolution had wrapped up my friends were asking what I’d be doing “next.”  When I hear that question part of me thinks, “take a vacation,” but I think my friends know me too well and know that’s not really an option.  As of last Wednesday night I’ve taken on a project for the summer that will hopefully help the local comedy scene and teach me a whole bunch of new stuff along the way.

The thought process on this began last April when I was bumped from an “Amateur Workshop” that I was scheduled to present at The Calgary Yuk Yuk’s Club.  I was disappointed primarily because I was really looking forward to running the workshop.  After the one that I ran last November (and the good reviews that it got it), I had put a bunch of work into a new presentation and I didn’t want it to go to waste.  Rescheduling for another Wednesday night was not really going to work with my performance schedule and then the Amateur Nights were to go on hiatus for the summer.

Many of the local “up and coming” comics were also disappointed that they would be losing such a valuable learning tool over the next couple of months.  Turns out that I wasn’t the only one that felt bad about it.  Both my friends Marcus Beaubier (a comedian) and Scott Robertson (the Calgary Yuk Yuk’s club manager) wanted to keep it going, but it was clear that it wouldn’t work for these summer months the way that it had been running.  So the three of us got together and created a new structure for the evenings and agreed that we would work as a team to try and help make the whole “new comedian scene” even better.

Last Wednesday night we took the first step with a room full of comedians at Yuk’s Calgary.  Every amateur comic in attendance did a short three minute set and was given feedback from both myself and Marcus.  I think it’s reasonable to say that everyone learned something and had fun doing it (including Marcus and me). That’s really all the information that we needed to decide to keep it going.

We’re going to spend the next several Wednesday nights (possibly right through until September) running various workshops, coaching sessions, and the like, to help everyone become better performers and comedians. This coming Wednesday, June 2, we’ll split up the amateurs into groups based on what we think they need the most help with.  Marcus and I will each take a group to ensure that our feedback and suggestions are slightly more personalized than within the large group (click here for the Facebook event).

There will also be a couple of shows featuring the Amateurs throughout the summer.  The first such show will take place on June 23 and be hosted by myself (click here for the Facebook event). Should be a fun evening of getting to see these people take some of their first steps into comedy.

What’s in it for us?  While I’d like to claim altruism is our primary intention (and that is a part of it), I have always enjoyed sharing my knowledge and experience for the simple fact that it reinforces those lessons in my own head.  Just by the act of teaching, I learn, and that’s a pretty good way to spend the summer.