I chose to perform a standup routine for my Humor project. Well, more accurately, the duty- nay, the civic responsibility- to perform a standup routine was thrust upon me by my peers. I have crafted a reputation for myself as something of a funnyman, and as such, the demand for me to do the funny live in front of an applauding audience was undeniable. Who would I have been to shun the call of duty?
Developing a standup act is as difficult, nerve-wracking and anxiety-inducing as it probably sounds. As you write, the only thing you can think about is the all-too-real possibility that the joke will fly over everyone’s heads…. or worse: that everyone understood the joke, but no one found it funny. Ultimately I decided to base my act off of personal anecdotes that I could spin into funny stories about my peers in a semi-endearing, semi-mocking way.
I valued this project a lot because, while I was already pretty funny, I became even more funny. What’s more, I learned some of the more mechanical aspects of humor, and the psychological reasons certain things make us laugh. The tenets of humor are much more scientific and calculated than many realize, and professionals in the field require immense knowledge and skill of their craft. Much like myself.
I based my style of humor primarily off of two individuals- Scott Wozniak and Michael Stevens, better known online as Scott the Woz and Vsauce respectively. Attached below is a summation of the comedic styles of the aforementioned gentlemen as well as my mission statement for this project.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QY3V1DvC9nPwFn5zJlBQNn7V0wo2U3aBh-2_aexT9io/edit
Also attached below is the script for my project, to which I loosely adhered (no standup act is complete without a dash of off-the-cuff improv).
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U2D-eEUJqpolP9th7YYg6mk5escES-m8JC3P-aDY1S0/edit
Ultimately, I’m very proud that I got people yakking. I was honestly not expecting to do as well as I did, and I was not expecting to be as transparently nervous as I was. Normally I’m pretty cool under pressure and public speaking scenarios, but this felt completely different because how much people were expecting from me, considering my reputation as a haha funny. I’m just glad I was able to meet people’s high expectations and have some fun doing it.