80s Jokes - Part 4

(If you're just joining this series already in progress, please use the links at the right to jump to the intro.)

There were about 30 people in the crowd Saturday night at Joe Franklin Comedy Club, which is great turn out for that club. They were a real challenge. I've gotten more laughs in that room from a crowd half the size. And boy oh boy did I learn a lot.

80s Jokes -- Version 4.0 -- Transcript

As you can tell by my hair the 80s are back. {N}

Which is a big relief for me because I've been listening to the same Duran Duran and Pet Shop Boys albums for 20 years. But now that it's come back 'round. I'm cool again. The New York Times said so. {N}

I love pop music. Vapid Boys Bands, Boobalicious Britney, Christina Skank-u-lara. {N} Whatever her name is.

I like my pop stars thin, gorgeous and without a single thought in their pretty little heads. {C}

As far as I'm concerned, the most brilliant song lyrics ever written, Samantha Fox, Naughty Girls Need Love Too. {N}

So when grunge and rap took over 15 years ago, boy was I pissed off. This was me during the 90s....

[fingers in ears, eyes clenched shut ... chanting loudly like a kid who doesn't want to listen]

"LA! LA! LA! LA! LA! LA! LA! LA! [singing] I know what boys like. I know what boys want." {N}

RUNNING TIME -- 0:55

Notes

I'm not posting the sound file because, well, there are no laughs on it. As you can see from the transcript, the bit got only one small chuckle. By the end of the act out, I felt like I'd walked the plank. So I ran as fast as my little comedy feet would carry me back to proven material, which started getting the laughs.

So what happened?

The crowd was one of the youngest I've ever played. Table after table was full of 18-22 year old kids. And the kids don't go for the 80s jokes, at least not these kids. Which isn't surprising. Just looking at them I could tell they all listen to rap and hip hop ... Puff Daddy, or P Diddy, whatever ... M&M and Biggie Smallie. Even though I don't think the bit requires a love or even knowledge of 80s culture, they simply didn't relate to it.

Connecting to very young audiences is much harder because they don't have as much life experience and therefore don't relate to as much. They know music, getting drunk and trying to get laid ... and for a lot of them, that's it. And they have very short attention spans.

The previous audiences for these jokes were more late 20-somethings and 30-somethings. I think they're the right people for this bit.

I conceived this as an intro bit ... something light that's about me ... that I can do before the heavier stuff about my childhood. While I think the bit is good, I'm starting to think it may not be strong enough to be an intro bit.

An intro bit must work reliably with all audiences. This bit seems to be more of a niche bit.

The good news is that all three of my other new bits killed with the young audience. One even got an applause break, one of the only ones of the whole nite. They especially loved all my computer jokes. The kids always do. And my new Gay is Trendy bit did very well with them. Because it connects to their current pop culture. So it actually turned out to be a great set.

Conclusions

Leighann Lord (www.veryfunnylady.com) headlined the show Saturday. She's a brilliant lady who just oozes class. We were talking shop after the show and she said of our somewhat stingy audience, "They were facing the stage and they were paying attention. I can work with that." What a perfect attitude!

I've seen comics on stage who are doing badly start bitching at the audience. They then wonder why they bomb.

It's easy when they're drunk and boisterous. It's harder when they're subdued and skeptical. Saturday was a challenging show. Several comics did very badly. But I made it work, as Leighann did after me. And for that I'm pretty proud of myself.

These 80s jokes are cute. They aren't devastating brilliant. But they're effective with certain audiences. They should probably go later in a set, not at the beginning.

I have a certain fondness for these jokes. But being fond of one's own material is a deadly trap. This writing excercise is really helping me be much more objective about these jokes.

I will try this block again when the crowd seems right.

Bonus Lesson

Another thing happened that was a nice bit of progress for me.

Because my stage time is so precious, I tend to rehearse and plan quite a lot. If I'm rambling and unfocused, I can do maybe 4-5 bits. If I'm focused and tight, I can do 7-8 bits.

So I did my set, exactly as I planned, and then something happened for which I wasn't prepared. I didn't get the light (the signal that time's up) and I fell off the end of my set. When this has happened in the past, I've had a tendency to panic and just leap off stage.

"Uhhhhh ... thank you, goodnight!"

But I looked at the producer, she was paying attention and smiling, I kept checking and she wasn't signaling. So I kept going.

I started doing old bits I had taken out to make room for the new bits. After each one I checked again, still no signal. So I'd do another. The transitions were a tad rough for my own standards. But that's minor. The audience didn't notice or care. And I had a few too many um's and ah's while I quickly decided what to do next. Again, minor. They didn't care. And because they were proven old bits I was doing, they were working nicely.

So by keeping my cool I got to do three extra bits and had a great 10 minute set.

I don't know if the producer left me up longer by accident. Or because I was doing well on kind of a tricky night so she wanted to give the audience a few more minutes with me. But it doesn't matter. What matters is I am learning to be aware of what's happening and adapt rapidly on stage.

I can feel the pace at which I'm learning accelerating. All these little light bulbs are starting to click on in my mind. Books I've read and advice I've received are coming into focus in new and exciting ways.

For example, I've long known that the order of bits matters. And that certain subjects do and don't work with certain audiences. But until recently this has been an abstract concept. I'm starting to learn how these concepts apply directly to me, my audiences and my bits.

It's thrilling.

But it's also a little frustrating. I need stage time. The faster I can get it, the faster I'll learn.

Most importantly, I'm starting to get a certain confidence in what I'm doing. I'm starting to feel like I have some control over what happens when I'm on stage and that I can reliably deliver the laughs.

Like I said ... it's thrilling.