5 Lessons on Creativity from a Comedy Book
Comedy Resources #8
I recently came across a book on stand-up comedy titled Be a Great Stand-Up. It was written by Logan Murray and while most titles like that tend to over-promise and under-deliver, I gave it a go. From the jump, I was drawn to it because well, I love stand-up, but I also love the creative process. And, honestly, this book didn’t disappoint. It’s filled with a variety of lessons on creativity and communication that actually extend far beyond the world of comedy.
In this review, I’m going to write about my five greatest takeaways which, when taken together, offer a really practical framework for writers, creators, or anyone simply looking to be more expressive and authentic in their work and daily life. So, what I found in this book was not just a guide to being funny, but a guide to being more creative. So, let’s get into it.
Playful Exploration: One of the book’s best ideas is that creativity is not a grueling task but a form of active, joyful exploration. Murray explains, quite correctly, that comedians “play with ideas until the world is shaken into a new shape.” Comedians engage in games like saying one thing while revealing another or misunderstanding something deliberately for effect. He says we have to reconnect with this mode of thinking to unlock our best work. And he frames it beautifully with the line: “All creativity comes out of play, so don’t treat the time improving your comedy as a prison sentence.” Amen! So many times in stand-up comedy, I feel like I “have to write the next joke,” “have to write the next post,” and “have to make the next video.” That’s wrong-headed. Instead of “I have to,” my mindset should be “I get to.”
Authentic Expression: The kind of open play Murray talks about, however, is impossible when one’s harsh internal editor is in charge (and it often is). Murray’s advice? “Kill little Mr/Ms social control in your head.” In other words, silence the voice that censors your best ideas before they can breathe. (I would add here that this is often a good reason not to share your ideas with others, too, before you’re ready.) Our inner critic’s monologue is universal and says things like, “My joke is too obvious” or “Why bother?” Bill Hicks covered this subject years ago saying, “Defeating this internal gatekeeper is the essential first step toward any form of authentic expression.”
Unique Perspective: Once that inner criticizing, social controlling voice is silenced, comedians can discover their true attitude on a subject. In other words, they can actually hear their true voice again. Murray argues that this is the real engine of creativity. I love that! It isn’t about traditional jokes, but about each comedian’s unique feeling or “take” on a topic. And it’s that unique take that generates completely different material than other comedians, even if you’re all beginning with the same starting point. If I have an attitude of “disappointment” towards love, that might yield one joke for me, while an attitude of “world-weariness” produces an entirely different one. And if others have the same experiences and attitudes as me, simply because we’re different people with unique perspectives, we should, to some degree, come to different conclusions. This is the core of connection, too. Murray says, “New comics think that audiences are interested in the stories: they are actually more interested in how you feel about the stories.”
Unexpected Afterthought: This unique perspective and authentic attitude is precisely what generates the punchline. Murray, attempting to demystify the punchline, views it as a simple device called the “afterthought.” This is the unexpected comment/afterthought that follows the initial statement, and it’s aim is to take the audience in a surprising direction. Imagine a man sitting down with his wife in a fancy restaurant on their 25th anniversary. He says, “We’ve been married 25 years now.” We expect some grand gesture or loving statement to follow. But he says, “it’s time to tell you… I only did it for a bet.” That’s not the direction we think the story’s going to go. It’s a surprise. It’s a great afterthought, that is, a great punchline.
Choosing Perseverance: The book makes the case that this simple creative system, stemming from playful exploration to the perfectly executed afterthought, is quite useless without choosing perseverance. It’s true! The comedians who survive their first difficult year are often not the most naturally funny, but the most driven and resilient. It’s a powerful reminder that comedy, like any creative pursuit, is a craft that must always be improved. It requires relentless practice and a willingness to learn from failure. That’s why I view myself as a student first.
So, there are a handful of lessons from Murray’s book. There are more. But these form a nice little framework for more effective and creative communication, even beyond the comedy stage. The system is adamant about the fact that we have to defeat our inner critic to access a state of play which, in turn, allows us to find our authentic attitude (persona). This attitude/persona, in turn, generates the surprising afterthoughts that connect with people, a skill that can only be mastered through choosing to persevere, especially when it gets tough. This is a good book and it frames creativity less as a mysterious gift and more as a practice of honesty and resilience. Check it out!
JOKE WRITING COURSE: Also, check this out: if you have any interest at all in learning about your persona, how to write some jokes, or doing stand-up comedy, check out my online joke writing course, “The Joke Writer’s Lab,” HERE.