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4 Compact Discs & workbook Hosted byDarren LaCroixComedian Keynote Speaker Author
8 Interviews with Comedy & Humor ProsA u d i o L e a r n i n g P r o g r a m
Do you sell, train, & give presentations ?Learn how to:
Create your own humor Make your stories funnier
Gain confidence
Get more laughs!
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Kevin Knox-You have to believe its funny!Stand-up comedian- regular at the Tropicana in
Las Vegas & Atlantic City, seen on Comedy Central
2001 The Humor Institute, Inc. www.HUMOR411.com
Disc 1
Disc 2
Disc 4
Disc 3
Bob Seibel-Get laughs from frustration!Stand-up comedy veteran of 20 years, Carnival
Cruise Lines & corporate events
Rosemary Verri-How to develop humor awarenessNationally known humorist, teaches people how to
practice Safe Stress &laugh for the health of it! NSA
Judy Buch-Enhance stories with characterization
International Ventriloquist of the Year, seen on GoodMorning America,NSA, past president of NESA
Dick Doherty-How to be intimate with an audienceComedy headliner at The Improv, Copa Cabana in
NY City & the Hong Kong Convention Center, NSA
Katie Grady-Learn the joke writing processOne of the best young comedians - Boston Globe
Stand-up comic and comedy writer
Don Gavin- Get laughs from observations!Boston comedy legend, Seen onShowtime, HBO,
Carolines Comedy Hour,Evening at the Improv
Izzy Gesell, MS Ed, CSP-The power of improvAmericas Humorologist, keynote speaker, trainer,
Author of the Improv activities book Playing Along
Make em LAUGH is invaluable. I am not a naturally funny person, but after listening to
the advice of the eight experts I find myself actually thinking in a more comedic way.- Celeste Longacre, Author & Syndicated Radio Personality
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Dear Student of Humor;
There is nothing quite like the feeling of making an audience laugh.It is a myth that you
either have it or you dont. Humor is a learnable skill.
If I can learn to be funnier, after being considered least likely to be funnyback in high school, so
can you. Now its my goal to help other people learn how to be funnier. I thought back to when
I first started stand-up comedy and what helped me the most. It came down to three things: ask-
ing mentors for advice, putting it to practice, and being willing to make mistakes onstage.
I went back and interviewed the people who influenced my performance and some true masters
I have worked with during my career. Each of these eight interviews was distilled down to a
half hour of their best advice and favorite exercises. You will get a humor education from the
wisdom of over 100 years of onstage experience making people laugh.
The workbook was designed to help you remember key points. Write the answers down along
with your own thoughts.
Heed the advice and have fun!
Humorously,
Darren LaCroix - President of The Humor Institute, Inc.
PS I still listen to these interviews before my presentations. They get me thinking funny.
Darren LaCroixThe Humor Institute, Inc.888-528-4451
Web site: www.HUMOR411.comHumor, Its not just for fun anymore !
GotHu
mor?
The HumorInstitute
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Interview 1 - Disc 1
Tracks:
1. Welcome - About this program
2. Bob Seibel live
3. Bobs credits
4. Where does your humor come from?
5. What are your guidelines for developing material?
6. What lessons have you learned during your 21 years of performing stand-up comedy?
7. How do you try out new material?
8. What separates a good comedian from a great comedian?
___________________________
9. How do you approach a corporate audience vs. a night club?
10. Do you try a new bit just once?
Bob Seibel-Get laughs from frustration!Stand-up comedy veteran of 20 years, Carnival
Cruise Lines & corporate events
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11. Is there a difference between a Friday night crowd and a Saturday night crowd?
12. Here is a scenario: Two brand new comedians perform on the same night in front of the sameaudience. One bombs, one does great. What was the difference?
Doing comedy from ___________________________
You need to be yourself up there
13. What subjects do you recommend writing about?
Is it easier for someone from the corporate world to write about it?
What bugs ya?
14. How do you find humor with a specific group?
There is nothing like comedy to ___________________________
Simple ideas to find it
15. Why do some comedians use the F word?
Did you ever use it?
16. How would you make a story you already tell... funnier?
What would you look for?
How Bob develops his material
17. What is the real reward of making people laugh?
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18. What are some classic mistakes you see new comedians make?
19. What advice would you give to deal with this?
The most frightening experience of his life
20. What is it that makes people laugh?
People laugh because of ___________________________
21. Any last bit of advice?
22. Which books do you recommend?
23. Bobs RECAP
1) ___________________________
2) ___________________________
3) ___________________________
Your list- Things YOUcan write about
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
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Interview 2 - Disc 1
Tracks:
24. Rosemary Verri live
25. Rosemarys credits
26. Things Rosemary taught me that I will never forget
1) _____________________________________________________________________
27. If you want to be funny, know what your body looks like
28. The problem is funny, the solution is serious
Rosemarys sister-in-law
Learn to tell your stories funny, nobody cares about your problems.- Rosemary Verri
Using humor to handle problems in the doctors office
29. People know there are ___________________________ all the time
Rosemary Verri-How to develop humor awarenessNationally known humorist, teaches people how to
practice Safe Stress &laugh for the health of it! NSA
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30. How do you refine your humor capabilities?
Remove extraneous words
Deliver it __________,_______ ,__________
A laugh is ___________________________ to the amount of words it takes to get there
31. Who influenced your humor?
32. What mistakes do you see speakers make when they are trying to be funny?
Material
Delivery
33. Videotape yourself!
It is painful to watch. Do it anyway! Those are growing pains
34. A mistake Rosemary made early in her sales career
35. A great observation - people dont enjoy funny material the same way
36. Where do you get your stories?
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37. How do you develop them?
Rosemarys garage
Another mistake she used to make
When practicing, pretend you are telling your story to ___________________________
Its a process
38. Funny material has to be practiced aloud
What to practice
39. Go back into your own life
40. How important do you feel setting is to getting laughs?
41. When making a point, it doesnt have to be funny
42. Rosemarys final advice
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43. Rosemarys RECAP
1) ______________________________________________________
2) ___________________________
3) ___________________________
4) ___________________________
Your own thoughts & Ideas:
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Interview 3 - Disc 2
Tracks:
1. Judy Buch live
2. Judys credits
3. What Judy and Darren are like offstage
4. Tell us about your characters and why
Magda- ______________________________________________________
Daisy - ______________________________________________________
5. How do you start building your characters?
6. A favorite quote of Judys
7. Where do your characters come from?
8. What do people connect with in characters?
___________________________
Attitude
Judy Buch-Enhance stories with characterizationInternational Ventriloquist of the Year, seen on Good
Morning America,NSA, past president of NESA
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9. How do you jump start your creativity?
10. How can this insight help people with their stories?
11. What kind of details are important to telling stories?
12. How do you develop your stories to make a point?
13. How do you come up with a tension release for your story?
Ask the question: ___________________________
Distance helps audiences ___________________________
14. Realize it is work to be funny
15. Why is audience involvement so effective?
Its like the banana peel - better ___________________________
Mistakes made onstage with audience members
16. Who do you use from the audience?
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17. How can speakers/trainers grab the magic of audience involvement?
18. What exercise do you use to develop your script?
The left & right column exercise:
left: right:
Cleaning bathrooms Communication
using a disinfectant eye contact
stains getting attention
two lids learn something
the toilet bowl man body language
the throne hand gestures
reading be succinct
sani-flush listening
the tank the internet
lip or rim talk at you
scrubbing brain dump
mirror lip service
etc... etc....
connections:sani-flush : brain dump reading: learn something
Wit is the sudden marriage of ideas which before their union were not perceived to have anyunion- Mark Twain
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Write one of your own:
(remember the deeper [longer] you make each list, the easier the story/analogy will flow)
left: right: (something that relates directlyto your topic, point or audience):
____________________________ __________________________________
What connections/similarities do you see in the lists?(the more the funnier)
What story/analogy could you write from this?
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19. What Judy gleaned from the exercise?
20. What is your best advice for people who want to learn to be funnier?
21. Judys RECAP
1) _____________________________________________________
2) _____________________________________________________
3) _____________________________________________________
Your own thoughts & Ideas:
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Interview 4 - Disc 2
Tracks:
22. Dick Doherty live
23. Dicks credits
24. How long have you been performing stand-up comedy?
25. What is it that makes people laugh?
26. How do you write a joke or make an audience laugh?
27. Do you think people can learn to be funnier?
28. Who do you like as a comedian?
Can you say George Carlin is better than ___________________________
Its all ___________________________
Dick Doherty-How to be intimate with an audienceComedy headliner at The Improv, Copa Cabana in
NY City & the Hong Kong Convention Center, NSA
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29. What is persona onstage?
How do you identify who you are onstage?
Performers try to control other peoples ___________________________
You dont have to find out who you are, you just have to _______________________
30. What is intimacy onstage?
Intimacy is ______________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Onstage, you put it out there and offer the opportunity to ________________________
You can enjoy a comedian without ___________________________
31. What are some of the classic mistakes comedians make?
They feel like its working for them
Dont use words in your introduction that try to control how the audience will perceive
you. Keep them ___________________________
Its a lonely feeling onstage
Dont connect at any level, other than how you want to connect at __________________
Trying to make people think you are funny is the wrong thing. Trying to be funny and
offering the audience the chance to ___________________________
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32. What mistakes do you see speakers make?
Real works in the real world and the platform is ___________________________
Its not an audience, its a ____________________ you are trying to communicate with
You need to get it, that it is not a group that has power over you
I have yet to meet an audience that didnt want ___________________________
Human beings inherently resist ___________________________
33. How do you approach something new?
Im not afraid of hearing somebody say I didnt care for that
The audience doesnt have any power ___________________________
The only thing the audience is capable of is ___________________________
They are certainly not capable of telling me what I am ___________________________
When you get that then you are not ___________________________
34. You own many clubs. How important do you think setting is to getting laughs?
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39. Do you ever vary your openings based on your audience?
You cant tell how a club audience is by looking at them
You cant tell how an audience is based on the people who go onstage before you
I believe you shouldnt try to read your audience
40. Talk about getting approval from an audience
I inherently do what gives me the ___________________________
When do I realize an audience likes me? At the same time they decide if they like me
I believe human beings communicate ___________________________
Audiences want to like you, but sometimes we go ___________________________
41. How do you think alcohol effects a corporate audience?
42. What advice do you have about writing humor?
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43. What final advice do you have for speakers who want to be funnier?
Do it- and do it - and do it!
44. Dicks RECAP
1) ______________________________________________________
2) ______________________________________________________
3) ______________________________________________________
4) ______________________________________________________
Your thoughts and ideas:
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Interview 5 - Disc 3
Tracks:
1. Katie Grady live
2. Katies credits
3. Do you think people can learn to be funnier?
4. What is your writing style/technique?
Every time I come up with a great joke its like ___________________. - Katie Grady
For Katie, eight hours of writing may only equal a solid _________________of material
Every individual word is important to me
5. What are some of the exercises you use to write humor?
Dictionary of ___________________________
(Give a man a fish and hell eat for a year, teach a man to fish and hell eat for a lifetime)
Give a man a fish and ___________________________
You cant get blood from a stone ___________________________
Katie Grady-Learn the joke writing processOne of the best young comedians - Boston Globe
Stand-up comic and comedy writer
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Exercise: Name cliches some from your industry, or cliches you are sick of!
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
Now try adding your own tag lines to them
6. What other tools do you use when writing?
Comparisons example: Your ___________________________
___________________________
Darrens live example
7. Explain more about the Rule of Three
I packed everything wool socks, scarfs, ______________________ - Darren LaCroix
Why three and not four?
8. Where do you start your stand-up comedy students?
Humor is intended to erase ___________________________
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The most common issues are:
1) ___________________________
2) ___________________________
3) ___________________________
4) ___________________________
5) ___________________________
9. What other exercises do you suggest?
Set up PUNCH
Step one - write down ___________________________ about your subject
Step two - _____________________________________________________
The punchline should be ___________________________
It can be _____________________________________________________
example a list of facts for customer service could start: 1) The customer is always right
2) Customers pay the bills
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
Try it! Remember: It takes ten to get ___________________________
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10. Lets talk more about using comparisons in the corporate world
11. What are some of your other tools to create humor?
Simile - comparing one object to another object
Creating a picture in the mind of listeners
Example: The customer was looking at me like ___________________________
when I tried to explain what was going on
12. What is next?
Observation - Trying to make sense out of ___________________________
13. Now that we have the basic ideas down, how do we polish the joke to give it that extra kick?
Funny ___________________________ - examples:
Funny ____________ - examples:___________________________________________
14. Darren puts Katie on the spot and they dissect one of Darrens jokes. Why is it funny?
15. Should everyone have a humor buddy or writing partner?
16. How do you try out new material?
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17. Lets go through the process from beginning to end
Step 1 - The first thing you want to do is brainstorm ___________________________
You need to think about _______________________ and __________________
Questions to ask yourself: What are your.....
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
Pick a topic, preferably one that you are emotional about!
18. Step 2 - Write down everythingyou can think of that relates to the subject
19. Step 3 - Go back to the original tools
What comparisons could you make?
What word pictures could you create?
Can other people relate?
20. Step 4 - Polish the lines you come up with by using funny words
Darren and Katie start on polishing then they back up in the process when they get some
fresh ideas. That is how it works.
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21. Any closing advice?
Write as often as you can
22. Katies RECAP
1) ___________________________
2) ___________________________
3) ___________________________
Your thoughts and ideas:
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Interview 6 - Disc 3
Tracks:
23. Don Gavin live
24. Dons credits
25. What are some of the lessons you have learned in terms of making people laugh?
Poke fun at ___________________________
What you are actually saying is its not just me, ___________________________
This is the same principle as ___________________________
26. How do you handle the anxiety?
Do your homework! The more homework you do, ___________________________
27. How important is setting and the situation to making people laugh?
Type up ___________________________ and get it to the correct person way in
advance, and bring it along with you as well
28. What tips can you offer for developing material for a specific audience?
Don Gavin- Get laughs from observations!Boston comedy legend, Seen onShowtime, HBO,
Carolines Comedy Hour,Evening at the Improv
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29. What do you think makes people laugh?
The ___________________________
Observations
___________________________ : combining ideas
I think comedians are ___________________________ - Don Gavin
Its the ___________________________
30. How do you test new material?
Ive done things that just didnt go anywhere. Then examine I whyit didnt.
Sometimes you find out, ___________________________
Other times you realize the audience didnt know because something missing or the set up
wasnt clear
You can overcome that by _________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
31. What are some of the lessons you have learned about the professional speaking world?
Dont try to ___________________________
Dont tell ___________________________
Do your homework
Spend some time talking about _____________________________________________
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32. How important is stage time?
Your homework is that you have been in front of audiences
Talk about the physical surroundings - whether it be the town, the hotel, the stage
Address what is there
33. Example: A sports hero was thrown off by setting
Questions to ask yourself about the setting you are in
How would Don Gavin have handled the same situation?
You have to look at the ___________________________
Every time you speak it is not going to be the same as before
Be willing to be ___________________________ to the situation
34. Go with your strengths and go with your weaknesses
Often times your weaknesses ___________________________
Always identify with ___________________________
Key into their ___________________________ (at work and during the meeting)
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35. Do you think people can learn to be funnier?
Yes, and they can learn to ___________________________
36. Were you a funny teacher?
The wrong audience for the wrong teacher
If they dont understand what you are talking ___________________________
You have to get to ___________________________ and then you can be funny
Try to identify with ___________________________
37. Scenario: Two or three new comedians go onstage and they bomb. Another new comedian goes on
and he/she lights up the crowd. What is the difference?
___________________________
___________________________
Even how you take ___________________________
Sometimes Ill do a bit just for the people ___________________________
He may have been more aware of ___________________________
The audience is judging you ___________________________
Its not ____________________, its not ___________________, there is a difference in
the way you present yourself to those people.
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38. What do you think is the difference between a good comedian and a great comedian?
A great comedian gets the audience ___________________________
39. Any final advice?
Find out your audiences _______________________, their ______________________
Find out what they are ____________________, really _______________________,
and what they are ___________________________
40. Dons RECAP
1) ______________________________________________________
2) ___________________________
3) ___________________________
Your thoughts and ideas:
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Interview 7 - Disc 4
Tracks:
1. Izzy Gesell live
2. Izzys credits
3. What is a Humorologist?
4. What makes people laugh?
Generally what makes people laugh is a ___________________________
5. Can people learn how to be funnier?
6. Who are some of the people that influenced you?
Improv is really about ___________________________
7. What are some of the classic mistakes you see speakers make when trying to get an audience to
laugh?
Its only a myththat you have to ___________________________
The reason jokes are valuable is because they ___________________________
Another common mistake is that people think if something is funny in one situation it will
neccessarily be funny somewhere else
Stepping on your own laugh comes from ___________________________
The hardest part of performing stand-up comedy is _____________________________
Izzy Gesell, MS Ed, CSP-The power of improvAmericas Humorologist, keynote speaker, trainer,
Author of the Improv activities book Playing Along
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8. What was your book Playing Alongdesigned to do?
With improv the audience is ___________________________
9. Most of the greatest improv lines ARENT!
Tape (audio or video) as many presentations as possible to capture yours
10. Examples of stock improv lines
Prepare lines for what will inevitably happen to you
Quick confident responses to unexpected happenings win the audience over
People want to see you ___________________________
By admiting a problem with an improv line you are saying:
_________________________,___________________________,_________________
11. How do you teach your students to practice spontaneity?
We all walk spontaneously
It is the same as learning to play tennis
12. An exercise that could help people work on their improv
Radio Announcer - Try it, have fun with it, make it a habit!
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13. What other activities would you recommend?
Watch yourself when ___________________________
The basic rule of improv is ___________________________
Exercise your ability to ______________________ (when people suggest things to you)
The key to spontaneity is ___________________________
14. Darren and Izzy play the game of acceptance: YES, AND...
Practice- Its simple, but its not easy!
The game is about accepting and building
In your life you will begin to hear these offers
Youll feel yourself ___________________________ because there are no boundaries
15. Where do you start looking for a new bit?
Humor is always about ___________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
It is about the: Hmmmm...., Did you ever notice that...., How about those....
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16. You have to trust yourself that what you are looking for is an understanding of how your own senseof humor works
The best humorists and comedians are the ones who are in line with their personality
The work is in ___________________________
Ask what if
How could the scalding coffee issue relate to your subjects?
What stories are in the news now that you could relate to your own talks? Play what ifwith them!
17. Another simple bit you can do
What can you do with acronyms in your industry?
It doesnt even have to be that funny because it is personalized
You dont need a great joke to start, just something that relaxes the audience
18. How could you look at a story that you already tell and make it funnier?
Izzys Check list:
Tape it
Listen to your delivery
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Listen to the timing
The construction of it
The examples you use
Can you exaggerate more?
Can you act it out by becoming the characters?
Can you take an alternate view? If so, whose point of view could you take?
Is there too much detail in the beginning? Could the audience get confused?
If you see people start to smile or chuckle before you deliver the punchline, this means you are
doing a good job with your set up
19. Any final advice to people who want to learn to be funnier?
Everyone is funny - Know that!
Everyone can improve their use and understanding of humor - Know that!
It takes work, but the more you can understand your own sense of humor and learn
techniques and skills, the more fun you will have
Izzys book recommendations
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20. Izzys RECAP
1) ___________________________
2) ___________________________
3) ___________________________
4) ___________________________
5) ___________________________
Your thoughts and ideas:
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Interview 8 - Disc 4
Tracks:
21. Kevin Knox live
22. Kevins credits
23. Why do you think people laugh?
___________________________
Their reality ___________________________
24. How do you develop your humor?
It has to come from ___________________________
Im the guy that wants to tell you ___________________________
25. What are some of the mistakes you see new comedians make?
___________________too hard
Comedy should be _________________
You have to _________________________ first
26. Can you spot somebody that really has talent?
You can see right away a reaction ___________________________
Kevin Knox-You have to believe its funny!Stand-up comedian- regular at the Tropicana in
Las Vegas & Atlantic City, seen on Comedy Central
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27. Who influenced you?
28. Where do your ideas come from?
From myself, it comes from ___________________________
We are all characters onstage.Can you define yours?
I go up onstage with _________________________ inside of me
29. Do you jot your ideas down?
I read ___________________________
I go to a quiet place to write, like the library
___________________________
Then I go onstage and ___________________________ them
That works for me
30. Where in your set do you try new material?
The crowd can actually help me ___________________________
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31. How do you keep a story fresh?
Every time is the first time
They dont know this ___________________________
It is paramount to make the crowd think ___________________________
32. How do you look at a story to make it better or funnier?
From my ___________________________
33. What goes through your mind just before you go onstage?
34. If the club was only half full, what would you do to make it a better setting for laughter?
I think you actually have to ___________________________
I want the people ___________________________
35. How much do you think time of day affects a crowd?
As a performer do you have different expectations based on the time of day?
36. Do you ever have bad shows?
If the boss laughs ___________________________
37. What do you think separates a good comedian from a great comedian?
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38. Scenario: Two new comedians go onstage and get nothing from the crowd. A third new comedian
comes on and brings them to life. What do you think happened?
You have to seize ___________________________
39. How can a corporate speaker develop confidence?
40. How many times would you recommend people try a new bit before they give up on it?
___________________________ times
______________ everything!
Listen to it ___________________________
41. How do you handle a heckler?
The most important thing you can do is ___________________________
42. How do you think someone could work on their timing?
43. How do you handle improvisation when you are onstage?
You dont have to be funny about it, ___________________________
44. Can you ever blame an audience?
If they didnt laugh, ___________________________
The first thing you should look at is ___________________________
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