I am going to touch on a couple of issues when it comes to comedian/anne etiquette. The first one is involving other comedians that will be performing with you that evening. I’m sure that if you ever had a parent, grandparent, or someone else that taught you right from wrong in your life, then you have heard the term, “Do unto others as you would want done unto you.”
I’m not going to get into a 3-page list of what that means because it speaks for itself. Nevertheless, far be it for me not to add a couple at the very least.
First…
Whether you at an open mic or at a comedy club and your allotted time is five, ten, fifteen, or 30 minutes, then that is your time, not more and not less. How will you know without a watch? Comedy clubs will give you the light (We will go over that on another page) or you will have a clock on the stage hidden behind a speaker that you can see. The same goes for an open mic.
I’m going to say that you are going to be allowed a grace period of about 30seconds on either side of the clock. If I was you though…I would make it on the lesser side than the, “I ran over my time side.
If you go over your time then you are stealing time from the person that is up next, but if you go under than that will leave, you time to welcome the host back to the stage where he
will in return tell the audience to give you a nice big round of applause.
Next…
Unless you are the “Headliner” then what’s your hurry? Stick around for a bit, to support the next comedian. Oh, you don’t know him or her; you don’t like anyone else’s material but your own? Good luck on making it in this business then. That person may have been your ticket to the big show at some point and they have a good memory.
How about telling them, “Nice set” even if you didn’t feel it was funny. How many comedians do you see on the TV all of the time that are actually not funny? I see a whole lot that I can’t believe are up there but they paid their dues and had enough recognition to sell the show.
Finally…
Keep in mind that the “Emcee” is also a comedian and can introduce you with the same respect as you give to him or her. When you are going on to the stage you say, “Give it up for the emcee” and when you come off the stage, “Give it up again for your Emcee.” In return, he says the same for you and there is no dead time that you need to fill.
Do unto other comedians, as you want done unto you. If that doesn’t sound simple enough, then good luck at your other job, you are going to need it.
The next page will touch on some of these same issues but as they pertain to the club owner and management. Hit the arrow down there to check out, Comedian/anne Etiquette Towards Your Host
