Mar 06

A Comedic Revolution? Blue Humour vs. Clean Humour

I’ve been wanting to write about this subject for a while because I know humorists and corporate comedians who advocate clean humor and as a result can sometimes come across as being overzealous in their denouncement of blue humour. But what we all have to remember is that without some of the so-called dirty comedians, we wouldn’t have had the big comedic revolutions that we had throughout the 20th Century.

A lot of the clean comics I’ve spoken to criticize the blue, or dirty, comics because they use four-letter words and tell jokes on taboo subjects, such as sex. The consensus seems to be that using this type of humour leads to shock laughs, which somehow aren’t as valid as laughs borne out of clean humour.

Whilst this is absolutely true of a lot of open mike comedians, I’d have to argue that we’ve had the powerful creative minds of such dazzling comics as Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, George Carlin, Chris Rock, Sam Kinison and Bill Hicks. Each one of these comedians used four letter words (in fact Carlin did a whole bit about words you can’t say on TV – Seven Dirty Words) and told sex jokes.

Each one in turn, I feel, has revolutionised live comedy and humour in their own way. Without the continual pushing of the profanity envelope by Lenny Bruce, all those comics that came after him would never have had half the freedom to talk about whatever they want. That said, I have seen open mike comedians whose act is based solely on blue material and if you removed all the dirty words there would be no act left! Therein lies the problem; more expletives than punchlines.

Whilst a lot of the firebrands of comedy that I’ve just mentioned have dirty material as the basis of their act, there is often a larger social or political point being made. Not only that but they are genuinely funny with that material, rather than being dirty for the sake of it.

A lot of the time their material lives within a wider context. They have something to say by being blue. But then again, you probably wouldn’t have hired a genius like Richard Pryor to speak after dinner for a governmental awards banquet. Performing in comedy clubs does allow you a certain amount of freedom to talk about whatever subjects you like; as long as you’re funny. A solution then could be as follows:

if you can develop an act which exists as purely clean, then you have the option to add dirty words if you play in the comedy club marketplace. But you have the freedom not to.

Take someone like Jerry Seinfeld. A brilliant, brilliant comedian when it comes to observing the minutiae of every day life. But clean as a whistle. The thing is, you’d never know. You’re too busy laughing your head off to notice. I saw him live at the London Palladium in 1998 and I think he used only one or two profanities in his whole show.

Some clean comics have also said that real success eludes dirty comics. It depends on your definition of success. I agree that, of the above mentioned comics, only Eddie Murphy has had a really successful movie career. The others didn’t quite successfully make the transition to movies or TV. They worked, and some of them still do work, better live. But that’s not to say that they aren’t successful.

This group of comics are still highly regarded and influential today even though (at time of writing) four of those six are no longer with us. For me personally, Richard Pryor, Chris Rock and Bill Hicks continually knock me sideways with their ability to make an audience laugh.

Pryor once did a bit about when he had a heart attack, what an extremely personal and honest routine it was. And it was very, very funny. It’s an important routine which allows us to see that it’s possible to take something so personal, find the universal themes and make it relevant to people who haven’t even had a heart attack. It’s still relevant today as it was back in 1975 when he did it.

Bill Hicks still influences my comedy today. Not because I use blue humour and rage against politics, far from it. I mainly work in the corporate market and I wouldn’t get much work if I upset and offended everybody. But I’m influenced by his ability to handle a crowd and squeeze laugh upon laugh out of a topic. He often gives a set-up and punchline and several more punchlines, or tag lines, on top of his original punchline.

Just as I’ve listed so-called dirty comics who have been revolutionary, I’ll also mention comics who have worked clean and achieved comedic revolutions all the same:  Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Martin, Woody Allen, Bill Cosby… to name but a few.

What do I personally think is better?

Well, a lot of that depends on your sense of humour and how you already make people laugh. But also, it really depends on the markets that you want to work in. If you solely want to work in the comedy club market then be clean, be blue it doesn’t matter as much.  But most other markets, such as the corporate market or the Christian markets, then squeaky clean is the only way to go. Even if your contact at the corporate function says: “don’t worry you can make it blue for us”.

Even if you get that seal of approval, you’re bound to offend someone. I’ve met too many audiences members who have seen comedians perform at their awards ceremonies only to have the comic “go off message”. There’s a danger that they might not be asked back. Remember; no show, no dough.

If you work blue in a comedy club remember that you can also turn your audiences off unless you’re genuinely funny. I’ve seen open mike comics do a set and have people audibly go: “eeeyeeew” in disgust, where they should be laughing. A lot of new comics think that they have to be radical and talk about topics that have never been talked about before.

I think the thing to focus on is being funny. Radical and new topics are all well and good, but if you’re not generating big laughs (for a comedian 4-6 laughs per minute; for a speaker 45 seconds of laughter cumulatively per 5 minutes) then you’re not doing your job.

What I firmly believe is that all of us laughtermakers, whether blue or clean, should advocate the view of “ours is not the only way, ours is just another way”.

Mar 01

Public Speaking: It’s All About You

I want you to take a look at this clip of 2001 Public Speaking World Champion, Darren LaCroix. The bit that I’m keen for you to focus on is the bit where he starts his award-winning speech, which is after his intro.

After you’re done, I want you to come back and read the rest of this blog. I’ll still be here….

Dum dee dum… (whistle), la, la la… hey, how ’bout them Dolphins…?

Are you back? Did you laugh? Great, good, on we go…

I attended a seminar run by two-time UK and Ireland Public Speaking Champion, Simon Bucknall. The main focus was how to build a connection with your audience. I found it very useful as it allowed me to reflect upon my recent humorous speech and know how I need to improve for next time.

Obviously a blog post cannot do justice to the enjoyable two-hours spent at the event. And I’m not about to regurgitate the man’s content here. So what I’m going to do is provide a little bit of information that you might find useful and give you some of my own thoughts.

When you’re doing a speech or presentation, or if you’ve just done one, how many times did you use the word “you”? Once? twice? fifteen or more? If it’s the last one then you’re probably 2001 world champion Darren LaCroix so you’re not playing fair. If you use the word “you” more than the word “I” you are more likely to develop a connection with your listeners.

By using the word you in place of “I”, you’re automatically getting your audience to think about your content more and how it relates to them.

That’s not to say that you can’t use personal stories that use the word “I” at all. What it means is that you should give due consideration to the material that you’re going to deliver and work out how it’s of benefit to them. By all means use first-person stories as a way to illustrate what you’re saying, but don’t forget to come back to using “you”.

It’s hardly noticeable when  it’s done.  Did you notice it when Darren LaCroix did it? I sure as heck didn’t when I first saw that clip. I just saw a very funny speech.

What you have to remember is what Simon said:

“Connection is king!”

You could be delivering the best presentation in the world. You could have the funniest material in the world. You could have the most amazing public speaking skills that has every graced a speaking platform. But…

If you’ve not connected with your audience, none of that matters.

You will lose them every time. And that’s something that you don’t want. You don’t want your audience to be uninterested in what you have to say.

The seminar I attended made me realise that I had slipped back into being concerned about how well I was doing when I did my humorous speech. Even though I won Best Speaker for it, I felt that I could’ve given my audience more and allowed them to have a better time.

What you want to do is be concerned with how well your audience is doing. I had forgotten to do that. A cardinal sin.

When you’re doing your speech or presentation maybe think about the following:

Are you being clear enough? Do your points back up your overall message? That joke that you’re using, does it tie in to what you’re saying or is it completely irrelevant? Can your audience hear you? Can your audience read the information on your slides? Can you redcue the number of slides that you have?

Sometimes, you need to get out of your own way and focus on giving your audience the best you can. After all they’re the ones that have paid to hear you. If you’re speaking at Toastmasters and they haven’t hired you, then your audience is still important because

a) you still want to give them your best and

b) you never know if there’s a guest in the audience who might be able to hire you.

If you have the opportunity to see Simon Bucknall speak or run a seminar I’d thoroughly recommend it. Not only is he a very good speaker (duh, two-time UK and Ireland Champion), but he’s a very helpful and nice guy too.

Feb 27

Advanced Humorous Speaking – How Do You Define Bombing?

I did the first speech in the Toastmasters Advanced Manual; “Humorously Speaking” and it’s left me somewhat confused. So I figured I might be able to work out some of my thoughts about it here. In the process of analysing my speech I will offer up what I did, how I feel it went and where I can improve for next time so hopefully you can keep a look out for similar experiences in your speech or presentation. Continue reading

Feb 26

Creating Killer Content Off the Cuff, part 3

I’ve had a bit of a think and this could be a way for the Borden Method for public speaking, as discussed in the former blog of Public Speaking Coach, Eric Feng and Mind Mapping as written about in my previous post could synergise. To start with we have from the Borden method that featured on Eric’s blog:

“Ho-Hum” (B-O-R-I-N-G!)

If you’ve read the earlier article you’ll know that this is what you imagine your audience shouts at you. So, if you’re able to plan your speech in advance, even if it’s a few minutes before, you know that you need a strong opening. Perhaps ask yourself what sort of information can I give my audience that will make them ask themselves “why?”

If they ask themselves why, then they’re engaged in your speech. This becomes the first branch on your Mind Map. As you move onto your first point imagine the audience saying to you:

“why bring that up?”

This means that you will need to find a good solid reason for the point that you have just made. Your point should relate to your overall message. The next part of the method is:

“For instance?”

This statement means that you will need to come up with an example to back up the point that you just made. So far, so straightforward. The final statement is:

“So what?”

This is the part where you conclude and draw out the core message of your speech. Now, the only problem with the Borden method I see is that it doesn’t support the standard Toastmasters structure, which is absolutely fine if you’re having to give a short talk.

But the three-point structure that Toastmasters uses is specific for helping you to create a 5-7 minute speech with three points and supporting information.

The point of this post is to work out a way to synergise the two methods. So for my money it’s simply a question of repeating steps two and three for your second and third points.

The final structure would, therefore, look something like this:

“B-O-R-I-N-G!”
“why bring that up?”
“For instance?”
“why bring that up?”
“For instance?”
“why bring that up?”
“For instance?”
“So what?”

You can see how this works in the Mind Map below:

Public Speaking Mind Map

Please note: once you’ve clicked on the image use your back arrow in your browser to come back to this blog!

In fact you could imagine the audience asking those questions for however many points you want to make in your speech. But for this example I’m just sticking to the classic three-point structure.Although, admittedly, it is now somewhat longer than the original four-point approach, it does provide a clearer method with each point backed up. The Mind Map is useful because it’s a memory technique and helps you remember the structure and it allows you to see how the ideas in your speech inter-connect.

So next time you have a speech that you have to create killer content off the cuff or, ideally, with a bit more planning try to think through the above structure so you can pre-empt your audience’s internal questions.

March 6th 2008 Update!!!

I’ve just come across a review of the Mind Mapping software iMindMap 2.0. I’ve used the trial version of the software, but unfortunately my laptop died in an unrelated incident. So I have to go through the process of getting hold of iMindMap again. Sigh. The software’s from Tony Buzan’s company and allows to create mind maps like you do with traditional pens and paper.

I also saw on Chuck Frey’s MindMapping Software blog that he’d written about 3 benefits of visual mapping in meetings. This can esaily be applied to individuals too. Here’s one of the benefits:“1. It creates a much higher level of engagement among meeting participants. This has to do with the way our minds work, Sibbett explains. When our minds see a work in progress – such as a sketch or a mind map – they want to fill in the missing details”.If you have longer to develop the speech and you plan to use it more than once, you can always add more to it and it can grow over a period of time.

 

Feb 20

How Can You Capture Your Sense of Humour?

For those of you who really want to learn stand-up comedy, or humorous speaking, I wanted to share with you a recent newsletter that I received from my comedy colleague Steve Roye. His newsletter is the “Comedy Success Professional Newsletter” (CSPN) and is offered specifically for new and experienced comedy professionals.

If you haven’t done so already, read my review of The Fast Start Guide review, then get your own copy and sign up to Steve’s newsletter. You won’t regret it.

I wanted to re-post an extract of one his newsletter’s here and supply some of my own thoughts alongside Steve’s (mine appear in italics). It’ll also help you get a taster of the quality of information that he provides that helps you learn stand-up comedy and techniques for creating humorous material.

In this particular newsletter Steve was asked whether he makes eye contact with someone when he made them laugh. Hope you enjoy it:

—Start of newsletter extract—

“When you make people laugh in everyday life without “thinking” about it… Were you making eye contact with the person you made laugh at something you said?It should go without saying that making someone laugh while talking on the phone doesn’t count….”

See I think that it does count. A laugh is a laugh, surely? If you can make a note of exactly what you said (see further down this post) then I think you can certainly try it out. Obviously making eye contact AND being in the room’s best. But why not experiment?

“But in person… While there are no absolutes, I would be willing to bet that MOST of the time, you were looking directly at the person you made laugh.

In other words, you were making direct eye contact when laughter “struck” the other person out of the blue. While this may not seem like a big deal now, trust me — it’s huge and can be directly applied to the comedy stage or podium.”

Yup, have done that. Whilst I haven’t tried out entire bits that have been created in everyday conversation, the odd line here and there has definitely worked when translated to the stage.

“For now, just keep track and make a mental note on whether or not you make direct eye contact when you make someone laugh in casual conversation…”

I always try to carry an ideas book around with me. Think the best thing might be to carry around a small dictaphone, so then you can record entire bits that get created in conversation and the correct wording and inflection can be captured too.

But before I go there, I want you to understand what I am trying to accomplish in this series. First, I DON’T want you to be “on the lookout” for anything in advance. Otherwise, you won’t simply be “you”.”

Absolutely. I’m usually too busy doing the funny that I forget to write it down even after the event. But you should definitely write the ideas and lines down AFTER the event. Not during.

“You will end up being some sort of analytical wiene that won’t get any laughs…”

Hmm, already an analytical weine (sic). Just happen to get the laughs too. Which is a nice bonus 🙂

“What I DO want you to do is pay attention to some things AFTER you have made someone laugh without
“thinking about” what you did to make them laugh in the first place.

In other words, you don’t even begin to think about what happened until after it has happened — the trigger here is…

You made someone laugh under “ordinary”, everyday circumstances, just being yourself. Only then do you start thinking about what happened…”

—End of newsletter extract—

Absolutely, although sometimes I think the difficulty can arise in situations where you make people laugh about, say, colleagues in a work environment. So your colleague is laughing at another colleague’s expense.

In this scenario I’m not sure how that would translate into a platform situation. Not without a lot of explanation at least. In-jokes are probably best avoided, especially ones which are derogatory to your fellow employees.

What you have to remember is that if you’re giving a talk or presentation at work you are being watched by people. People love to be entertained and the mechanisms for making someone laugh in a bar, by the water cooler, as a stand-up comedian or during a presentation are no different.

Obviously, what can happen is that you feel different during a presentation. People expect different things, react in different ways and there can also be a different atmosphere in the room. There can be a certain amount of reservation amongst the participants. But they are still able to laugh, even if they might not be readily able.

What is worth doing, then, is finding personal stories that relate to the presentation or talk that you’re giving. This is also a useful starting point if you want to learn stand-up comedy. You cannot just present the facts or statistics, you have to find a way to personalise them through examples and stories. Which you can then use to bring out your own sense of humour.

That’s where your own sense of humour can come into play. If you’re able to keep a note of the funny things that you say…

And those funny lines are relevant to the topic of your speech…

Then you can definitely incorporate them. If your a speaker, you’re not setting out to be a laugh-out-loud comedian. Don’t worry. Remove that pressure right now. What you are setting out to do is to make the points of your talk more memorable. People often remember things better when they’re laughing and being entertained.

Even if you are setting out to learn stand-up comedy, you don’t want to pressurise yourself either. Just make sure that your stories and the humorous ideas that you capture are genuine.

What I’m talking about here goes beyond mere usage of joke writing formulas. Whilst they are very useful, you don’t have to use them in order to create humorous material for a speech or presentation. Oftentimes I’ve found that they actually get in the way of the comedy writing process.

However, they can sometimes be useful as they can help add detail and allow you to refine your funny lines and stories. So I’ll deal with them in a future post. Although, that said, I don’t even think Steve addresses them at all.

So, if you haven’t done so already, check out: The Fast Start Guide.

Update: 15th April 2009

Steve Roye now runs a blog useful for both stand-up comedians and humorous speakers called:
The Stand-up Comedy Professional

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