# Stand-Up Comedy



## JDowning (Jul 4, 2011)

I struggle with SA but one of my goals is to one day try stand-up comedy. People who know me well say that I am funny and I practice routines in my head when I'm bored. Does anyone have any tips on how to start working towards being able to do stand-up in front of people?


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## SPC (May 14, 2011)

i dont have tips for you but this is one of my far-off goals as well. i suppose the best advice i hear on this is to keep going with your material even if the crowd is dead. if mitch hedberg could do it with his anxiety problems so can we perhaps


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## shadowmask (Jun 22, 2009)

Have you ever done a routine for friends/family? They probably wouldn't give you a genuine, unbiased reaction like a crowd of strangers would, but you'd get some exposure performing in front of people instead of keeping it all in your head.


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## TheDaffodil (Jun 20, 2009)

I would treat the social anxiety as a separate issue and treat stand-up comedy as a separate career aspiration. Even after you get the social anxiety under control you still have to learn to perform, you have to find your own voice, your own unique point of view, play with pacing, all these other things. If you try to do it all at once you get overwhelmed. I don't have any tips beyond that. I would just be careful in how I pursue it, and I would put my mental health first. :yes I would suggest listening to WTF with Marc Maron. Just as a person who really enjoys other people's art, I've learned a lot about stand-up from the business of it to the personal attachments made to it. You could learn a lot from that podcast (and not just about stand-up - about anxiety and depression and the human condition, too).


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## RockBottomRiser (Jun 5, 2011)

Toastmasters, they have that in the US right? 

From what i understand, toastmasters is always full of people trying to conquer their fear of speaking on front of an audience so they will be more understanding than a group of pissheads you might encounter at an open mic night.


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## tomcoldaba (Jul 1, 2007)

Try toastmasters to get the butterflies out of your system. For comedy, you have to appear confident. If you come across nervous, the audience may not be understanding. Every fall, Toastmasters hold a humorous contest at each club. Give it a try at a local club.


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## thespider (Jun 27, 2011)

i would love to be able to do this one day. just to try a 5 min set on small crowd.


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