Scripted & Unscripted Moments in Comedy
The Importance of Being Prepared (Comedy Minhdack #100)
I’ve come to realize that preparation and spontaneity aren’t opposites. This is true in most areas of life but especially stand-up comedy. I used to think that doing stand-up was done one of two ways: 1) Either, comedians planned everything; or, 2) They just went up and figured it out as they went. Either someone had a tight set or was trying to live in the moment. That’s how I framed it early on, anyway, and while it made sense in my head, over time, I realized that’s probably off.
With more experience, what I’ve come to see is that the best comedians actually don’t choose between those two. The best comedians prepare in a way that gives them something to stand on, but they also stay loose enough to move and be spontaneous when something better shows up. Now, don’t get me wrong: I still believe in writing everything out, from setups to punchlines to tags. I have a great process for that, which you can learn and adopt HERE. Personally, I need that structure, but I think most others do, too. And here’s where I say , “Without a process that let’s me prepare, there’s no way I’ll be successful in being spontaneous on the stage. I’ll simply be unprepared.”
On a related note, I want to make the point that the moments people in the audience at a comedy show actually remember usually don’t come from what’s scripted. Typically, they come from something unexpected that happens in the room. I had a set last weekend where everything was moving the way I expected. Then a guy spoke up loudly and asked made a remark about Hurricane Helene, which I experienced a couple years back. I stopped, looked at the guy, sat down, and said something genuine, authentic, and very human in response. I hadn’t written any of that and, honestly, none of it was funny. But it was memorable. It didn’t rattle me though because I was prepared.
Again, that kind of moment doesn’t come from nowhere. And that’s the key! That kind of moment shows up because my preparation allowed me to make space for it. I’ve had to learn to stop gripping the material so tightly that I miss what’s happening right in front of me. It’s the difference between being a robot or a slave to the joke and being a real human. If I had locked into the next line and pushed forward without addressing that guy, I probably would’ve lost the room. There’s a chance I might’ve made it through the set, but I would’ve missed the chance to actually connect.
It’s all about being present. In an age where the phone screen constantly steals the conversation, being present is tough. And being present on stage is harder than it sounds. It means I’m not thinking three jokes ahead or running the setlist in my head. It means I’m paying attention to how people are responding, where the energy is shifting, and whether something unexpected just opened up. Most of the time, those moments pass quickly. If I don’t catch them, they’re gone.
I’ve had sets where things started to fall apart and the only thing that worked was acknowledging it in a way everyone could already feel. That kind of honesty can reset a room faster than trying to power through with material that isn’t landing. This is the case in my college classrooms, too. Being present and aware isn’t something a comedian can script, but it’s something every comedian can be ready for.
So, what this has done for me is change how I think about preparation. I’m still writing and refining, but I’m not trying to memorize every word anymore. I want to know the shape of the set, where it’s going, and where the turns are. Within that, I leave room to adjust. Some nights the written version goes exactly as planned. Other nights, I riff or shift mid-sentence because something in the room calls for it.
My point is: The material gives me confidence, and the room gives me direction. If I lean too far into one, I stand the chance of losing the other. When both are working together, the set and room feel different. What I mean is: It doesn’t feel like I’m running through something but like I’m part of something that’s actually happening right there in real time. And audiences can definitely tell the difference. They’ll laugh at a well-written joke, but there’s a limit to that. When something real happens in the moment, the response changes. It feels less like a performance and more like a shared experience.
Those are the moments people bring up later, not the lines I spent the most time polishing. I have a whole bit where I do crowd work in the middle of my set and at the end. After last week’s show, nearly every comment made to me as people left had to do with those moments. This, then, has become a kind of mindhack for me. I prepare enough that I don’t have to think about structure, and then I try to stay aware enough to respond to what’s real. That means pausing when I need to, letting a moment sit, or stepping away from the plan if something better shows up.
This also means being okay when things don’t go perfectly, because sometimes that’s where the best material comes from. I’m not trying to choose between scripted and unscripted anymore; I’m trying to hold both at the same time. The material gets me on stage, but the moments I don’t plan are the ones that stay with people. And the better I get at recognizing those moments, the more alive the set starts to feel.
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