Performing - Stand Still or Move?

Super Practical Advice (Comedy Mindhacks #66)

I spent nearly two decades as a public speaker before anyone told me about the concept of “blocking.” I hadn’t even heard of the term. I was prepping for a TEDx years ago when a speech coach at the University of Kentucky introduced me it. The concept was simple: use physical space to map your content.

He had me form an imaginary triangle on the stage. To begin, I’d stand at one point of a triangle and associate the content for part of my speech with that point. Then I’d move to another point on the triangle and associate the next section with it. And so on. Despite having been a speaker for years, that one hack began to influence how I thought about stage presence.

Here’s what many public speakers, from preachers to comedians, often fail to realize: movement doesn’t always equal positive energy. Some preachers and comedians pace back and forth like a caged animal. They do this because they believe motion keeps the audience engaged. The reality: it can do the opposite. When audiences process information, any competing visual stimulus (like constant pacing) consumes viewers’ mental resources. Put differently, when a comedian’s constantly pacing, they’re literally making the audience work harder to follow their jokes.

Some comedians never stop moving and that can really exhaust people. I saw it happen just a few weeks ago. After 4-5 minutes of this performer’s high-speed pacing in his set, I was already wanting a break. I’m always paying attention to stuff like this. I myself have a bit about my wife refusing to jump a velvet rope with me at a museum. She’s a real rule follower. So, when I tell that story, I plant myself completely still, embodying her rigidity through my own body. The stillness does something words alone can’t. It works. It’s funny.

Think about it: any time someone moves on stage during a play, it draws attention because audiences assume the movement matters. But if a speaker is giving a serious, powerful monologue, they often stand still because stillness keeps focus exactly where they want/need it.

This brings me to one principle every comedian should know: “don’t step on your laughs.” This is usually referring to not stepping on your laughs with words. In other words, if you tell a joke and the audience laughs, let them laugh. Don’t start speaking over the laugh. But here’s what many miss: The same applies to physical movement. When I finish that museum bit, I wait for the laugh. Then I move.

Moving during the laugh signals to the audience, “Hey, we’re done here, time to move on.” But I want them sitting in that pocket of laughter as long as possible. This connects to something ancient, too. In Greco-Roman theatre, physical transitions marked scene changes as well as shifts from acts to interludes. The same principle shows up in modern video editing: stay on no scene more than three seconds. Movement functions as the live performance equivalent of a cut.

I used to tell a joke about getting a physical exam that includes the whole “turn your head and cough” thing. Initially, I just said the words. When I added the act out, the joke came alive in a completely different way. Same with a bit about the game Operation. Without the physical gesture, it fell flat. With it, audiences could see and feel the joke. But here’s the flip side: I had a car blowout story where my gesture competed with the narrative. The movement distracted from the punchline. I toned it down significantly, and the joke finally worked.

So, the question here isn’t whether to move or not. It’s whether any given movement aligns with what I’m saying and makes the joke better. That triangle method from the speech lab? Too rigid for stand-up. I think comedy needs to feel free-flowing and organic. But like jokes, deliberate choices that feel spontaneous, can work wonders.

The solution isn’t to calculate or over-calculate every step. It’s to develop awareness. Notice what your body is doing. Ask whether your gestures match your persona, your material, and your moment. One of the biggest mistakes I see in newer comedians? Unconscious pacing. They move because they’re nervous, not because the material calls for it. We could call it the “caged jaguar” phenomenon. It’s tons of nervous energy with no plan for what to do with it. And it can make audiences anxious.

Here’s the fastest way to fix it: Go through your set and ask where movement might help or hurt. That’s it. Just notice. Does this joke need an act out to come alive? Does this story work better if I’m completely still? Am I moving during the laugh and accidentally signaling the audience to stop laughing? Remember: For the audience, following a thread of jokes takes mental energy! Making audiences track you back and forth across the stage adds unnecessary work. Let them use that energy for laughs instead.

Movement vocabulary needs to match verbal vocabulary. Not because of some aesthetic principle, but because misalignment creates friction. Stand-up comedy isn’t just a verbal art form. Our bodies create rhythm, emphasis, and meaning that words alone can’t achieve. The question is whether I’m using it intentionally or letting it use me.

JOKE WRITING COURSE: By the way, 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.