4 Storytelling Tips You Can Learn From Standup Comedy

It also helps in making interesting conversations

Being a stand-up comedian is hard. I am not one, but when I think about all the effort that goes into it, it can become more severe than fun for me.

A relatable TV series

Recently I finished Bhaag Beanie Bhaag on Netflix, where the protagonist quits her job to become a stand-up comedian. She did not have a paid gig when she left the job. She told her boss about quitting via text message in a drunken state.

After watching that show, I realised I wouldn’t be able to put that effort into becoming a comedian. I do it for fun. Involving money will ruin the fun and pressurise me instead. But the common element which I found in a blogging career is that the latter is also equally challenging in a similar way.

State of blogging in India

Blogger as a job is not well-established in India. How many people did you see who call themselves a blogger? I am 23, and I’ve seen no one say it except me.

Some times even I forget, then my roommate reminds me because he thinks I am doing well and it is worth mentioning. That is the level of unconditional support a person needs in a new career when the entire community feels of newbies as losers.

Although I don’t want to become a professional standup comedian, there are important lessons I learned (and still learning) from the shows I apply in my writing.

The comedians also have a joke book. This article is a 4-minute read. Their open-mics are also like that. But instead, they write, rehearse and perfect.

Here are the lessons I learned from stand-up comedy that I think will make your story interesting and leave a lasting impression on the audience. It will also help in making humorous conversations.

1. Ending

I know the introduction comes first. But the way the comedian connects the dots, in the end, is an art in itself. Dots you wouldn’t expect. Dots you’re dying to see again, dots that start a spurt of laughter.

I did a similar ending in my previous blog. It is a prank I did at an airport during the pandemic which will give you some light laughs. I am still practising humour writing, and one day those soft laughs will amplify.

2. Limited time

Constraints challenge us to push harder. The limited-time restriction gives us a target to work at our best self. It is like daring to speak the truth on the stage with a thousand people paying to listen to you. It is about expressing your opinion about topics others might find condescending.

But the guts it takes to use that limited time, I admire that talent. If I hadn’t been respecting my time when writing blogs, I would spend hours finishing the first draft and still have nothing to publish.

To make the best use of time, I type continuously without backspace (ok, there are some) against a 30-minute timer. When the timer ends, I have an article of 4-minute average read; then I do the required editing and grammar fixes to polish it.

3. Guts

Topics like sex, religion, politics, racism, porn are sensitive to a group of people. Fortunately, the audience in a stand-up comedy is mature enough to understand that whatever performance they see about sensitive topics is intended for entertainment.

The same happens in blogging too. When I want to make a profound statement, I do proper research before expressing my ideas. That’s what I am doing for a future article. It is about a scientist who went to jail for doing experiments with monkeys. Don’t take the title too seriously, especially if you have a monkey because my research is not complete yet.

4. Peak reaction

Emotions primarily drive our actions. In every stand-up show, you’ll come across a moment that you’ll remember for life. That’s because it makes you laugh so hard, your teeth fall out.

Laughter is also an emotion. The one that we crave because it makes all the pain go away for the time being. You’ll see a clip on repeat, see in memes, see in conversation and also use them in your social circle because of the light and calm feeling it gives you.

The above kind of instantaneous reaction is hard to develop in writing as reading requires more patience and attention that watching a show. That’s because comedy shows have a visual element that is missing in blogs. You can make faces, voices, postures, gestures, etc. In writing, all the author has is get hold of the readers’ imagination and show it something new. Still, I try my best to create at least one Aha! moment in my article that will remain in the mind of people long after they’ve read the article.

Final words

I watch stand-up comedy in phases. I mean, I see a random video, like it and the YouTube recommendation evades my head. One thing leads to another, and I watch hundreds of videos until I am bored or desire a new kind of content.

The last phase ended one week ago. It happened after I finished Comicstaan on Amazon Prime Video.

I am still learning the lessons from stand-up comedies because I want to become a storyteller. I want my humour to have a lasting impression on the audience, which will take years to develop. But that’s what practice is for, right?

This blog is 147th in my streak of daily writing since March 25, day 1 of the nationwide lockdown in India. There was a big break after day 125. The next target is 150, and here is the first one that started the best habit of 2020.

Thank you for reading!

~ Sanjeev