I was idly playing videos on You Tube recently and I came across Dean Martin’s Roasts from the 1970s. I had a jolly old time watching some comedians from yesteryear engaging in humorous roasts. So I figured I should write a post about roasts and provide some roast speech examples. Although I talk about them…
Tag: Comedy
Public Speaking: Playing a Large Audience, part 2
This is a follow-up to my recent post about my M.C.-ing job. Unfortunately, even though I’d heard that the show was pretty much a sell-out, most of the audience didn’t turn up. However, I still opened the show with the energy and professionalism as if there were 750 people.
Public Speaking: Playing a Large Audience
I’ve got an M.C.-ing job tomorrow night at the Ashcroft Theatre in the Fairfield Halls in Croydon. It’s for a charity called Living Water Satisfies. The Ashcroft is a 750-seater theatre and is the largest that I recall playing. Even in my days as a theatre actor I think the most I’ve performed to was…
Two Killer Ways to Increase Your Laughter Power
I was doing my penultimate speech in an Advanced Manual at my Toastmasters club Grosvenor Square Speakers recently. There were only 16 people in the audience, including the time-keeper and General Evaluator. I was all set to go on second, when my name suddenly got read out to speak first. I went up and did…
How Do You Know if Your Comedy is Quantifiable?
“How Do You Know if Your Comedy is Quantifiable?”, “How do you know you’re being funny?” and “How do you measure comedy?” These were just some of the questions I was asked recently. I responded: “yes, comedy is measureable. If somebody laughs, it’s comedy. If no-one laughs it isn’t. But if you get no laughs,…