How To Ruin A Comedy Show

And How Knowing Helps (Comedy Mindhacks #61)

If you’re around the stand-up comedy world for even just a little while, you’ll have the opportunity to witness comedy shows collapse from every angle. What’s interesting to me is how each person contributing to a show can ruin things differently or, in some instances, similarly. And I’m not just talking about the comedians on stage either. A booker, venue, host, opener, feature, headliner, and audience member can all ruin or contribute to ruining a show.

That said, in many situations the host has more power to destroy a show than almost anyone else. Their job is tough though. They need to warm up the audience, set the tone, and make everyone else look good. If an audience is cold, it can be really challenging. The host also re-appears between each act, which means their repetition gives them enormous influence.

I’ve seen hosts monopolize the spotlight with crowd work that should be reserved for the headliner. I’ve watched them get filthy at clean shows. I’ve literally witnessed hosts single out audience members and call them hateful names, trying to be funny but landing on cruel and just souring the rest of the show.

In a way, even though they’re on stage with a mic, a great host should kinda disappear between acts. Put another way: a bad host makes the show about themselves. When a host forgets comedians’ names or criticizes the audience, they poison the well for everyone who follows.

The “opener” spot can also be one of the more challenging positions in stand-up. The opener is often (not always) the least experienced person on the lineup. They come out and face an audience seated with strangers and instinctively have their guard up until that first laugh releases the tension. I was part of a clean show where the opener came out and did all explicit content with kids in the front row. It was absolutely nuts! Parents were literally blushing and finally had enough and got up and walked out.

That’s right, people got up and left during the opener’s set! It wasn’t only a bad look for him, it made the booker look bad, and maybe worst of all it took potential laughs away from the following comedians. I had warned the guy beforehand about the kids but unfortunately, he went on anyway and did his filthy material. To be sure, that’s more than just the inability to read the room. That’s sheer arrogance and disregard for the craft. That’s sabotaging everyone else on the lineup.

When openers try crowd work (without consulting at least the headliner first), forget their jokes, or refuse to adjust to the room, they can really suck the funny out. Then everyone after them has to win the audience back. The feature can really damage a show by casting a shadow on those who came before or creating a hole for the headliner to dig their way out of. The feature and headliner carry some of the same risks, but when a headliner fails to deliver after all the goodwill built by earlier acts, the mood plummets. You had an arc going, and then it crashes. The audience feels let down because the structure promised them a climax that didn’t deliver.

Understanding how each role can ruin a show teaches you how to protect it. Personally, I never accept that a show can’t be saved. I’ve won rooms back using self-deprecating humor and “calling the moment,” that is, addressing the elephant in the room. I’ve also learned that there really is a difference between comedians who complain about bad shows and comedians who know how to save them.

Bookers and venues can also torch shows. Bookers can do so by putting comedians on a lineup who do not or should not be together. They can also start things late, run things late, expect more than agreed upon, and kill the mood by being overly controlling. Venues can kill a show, too, by having terrible equipment, no equipment at all, or a space not amenable to good acoustics and so on.

And, of course, audience members can ruin shows. Sometimes they come for that reason. But many do it by talking too much, interrupting the comedian, trying to be funny, trying to stump the comedian, etc. It’s obnoxious. I’ve seen comedians have security throw people out. The comedian can look like a jerk when doing so, but it’s for the good of everyone. And if the comedian can call that moment, like I once saw Daniel Tosh do, they can instantly gain favor with the rest of the audience. You’d hope that everyone involved would want to create the best experience possible. That’s not always true. As for me, that’s what I’m about. I’ll do my best and try to make the experience as memorable for everyone as I can.

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