SHANNON KELLY
Perspectives Editor
Imagine stand-up comedians’ nerves; standing on a stage, grasping the mic and crossing their fingers as they hope to get a rise out of a critical audience. It seems like the most intimidating type of public speaking imaginable.
As I sat among an unsympathetic audience at the Hollywood Improv comedy club Sunday night, I started to pick up on what really caused the laughter in that small room – confidence.
Seven different people braved the stage and with such a variety of faces, the similarity in their routines was shocking. But while their jokes shared many themes and ideas, their confidence levels all varied immensely which really set apart the best from the worst.
The night was tagged “Hot Chicks in Comedy,” even though the club threw three men in the mix. I had never seen a woman stand-up perform live and looked forward to the experience, but was unfortunately let down by many of the “hot chicks.” I felt bad trying to laugh at some of their jokes as I impatiently waited for one of the buffer men to intervene.
Interestingly, the women did actually have better jokes (not surprising though). It was their presentation of the material that caused them to crash and burn where the funny guys used a cocky demeanor to mask meager material. Come on ladies, we’ve got a leg up on just about everything else, why are we falling behind on the stand-up stage?
A gorgeous woman stood in front of the crowd and she acted like the audience was pointing guns at her. Her jokes were good, but nobody laughed because she didn’t expect anyone to think she was funny. After 5 to 10 minutes she looked at the ground and slowly stepped off the stage as if she’d just been defeated by her worst enemy. It was a downer in a room where the mood should have been cheery regardless of any single performance.
The next comic, a male, followed her with an attitude she couldn’t touch. He demanded laughs even though there wasn’t much humor in what he said. His charisma and conviction won over the crowd. Not that size matters in most cases, but he was less than five feet tall.
His confidence made up for what he lacked in size and humorous material. (Although I’ll give him that one joke where he said he should quit comedy and become a live cereal box toy even though he’d only fit perfectly in a Costco-sized box.)
Confidence can be used to anyone’s advantage, and it is definitely not limited to the comedy stage. If someone powerfully commands a certain reaction from another person or an audience of any kind, they’re guaranteed to, at least, get a portion of the respect they anticipate.
I might have to test this hypothesis since I hate all talk and no game (and I refuse to be hypocritical). I’m no class clown, and I’ve got nothing in terms of jokes. I am, however, a little over-confident in public speaking situations, and I’ve got stories so I might stand a chance.
With the confidence and stories I’m prepared to see if my theory rings true. It’ll have to be low-key. I’m thinking the HAWC and a short segment concentrating on brief tales of my driving issues (my friends don’t need to come since they’ve heard them all). I’d say, loud and proud, “It’s true, I’ve gone pro at crashing in to inanimate objects; trees, mailboxes, posts, other cars – more specifically parked public safety cars,” and I’d go from there.
It’ll be a one-hit wonder thing for sure (well, hopefully since my material relies on crashing my car), but the HAWC will never forget the day I confidently tried my hand at comedy.
03-30-2006