The Green Room Mistake Many Comedians Make

10 Reasons To Be More Strategic (Comedy Mindhacks #114)

Like most comedians, there’s a cool feeling that comes with being taken to a green room and hanging there before shows. I’ve been in venues where I’ve had my own space and others where 10+ comedians have been in there. In the green room, sometimes I’m reviewing notes, talking with other comedians, or just stay out of the way until it’s my turn to perform. During a recent podcast with my friends Austin & Leb, it occurred to me that, by hanging out in the green room all the time, I might be missing one of the most valuable parts of the entire night.

Now, before I keep going, I should say that, to be fair, there are situations where leaving the green room isn’t an option. I’ve had bookers specifically tell me to stay hidden before a show. Their reasoning is understandable because they want the audience’s first encounter with the comedian to happen on stage. They want to build suspense and mystery because, well, that has value. Anticipation and surprise have value. And if/when a booker makes that request, I respect it and stay put.

Whenever I have the freedom to do it, though, I’ve started spending more time out in the room before the show begins, even if it’s off in the wings. Sometimes that means introducing myself to audience members, which is easy to do at small shows. Sometimes it means simply observing and listening or asking folks a few questions and seeing where the conversation goes. What I’ve discovered is that there are some great benefits and advantages of doing this. Here are ten that I’ve been reflecting on.

Advantage #1: I can build rapport with people before the first joke. By the time I walk on stage, I’m no longer a complete stranger to everyone in the room. People have seen me, talked to me, or at least observed me interacting with others. That can change the emotional temperature of the room and make the audience feels less like a wall of strangers and more like a group of people I’ve already started connecting with.

Advantage #2: I might learn more about the room’s personality. Before the show starts, I can often determine whether the crowd is young or old, loud or quiet, local or visiting, sober or halfway through their third drink. Every audience has its own personality. The more I understand that personality, the easier it becomes to make good decisions once I’m on stage. Information creates options.

Advantage #3: Crowd work becomes much less blind. Instead of randomly searching for names, occupations, and relationships under bright and sometimes blinding stage lights, I already know some of those details. I may know who’s celebrating a birthday, who’s on a date, or who’s visiting from another state. That doesn’t mean crowd work becomes easy. It simply means I’m working with information rather than guessing.

Advantage #4: It can reduce anxiety. When I know absolutely nothing about a room, my imagination can start to rapidly fill in the blanks with all sorts of possibilities. After spending time with audience members beforehand, however, the room feels more familiar. Familiarity doesn’t eliminate nerves or adrenaline rushes, but it usually makes them much easier to manage.

Advantage #5: I can discover material. People say strange things, wear strange things, and do strange things. Some of my favorite crowd-work moments have started because I noticed something before the show ever began. The audience is often giving us material long before we pick up the microphone. We just have to pay attention.

Advantage #6: I can create future callbacks. If I learn something interesting before the show starts, there’s a good chance it can become useful later. Audiences love when earlier moments return unexpectedly. A conversation before the show can become a callback twenty minutes later. Those moments often create a feeling of connection that a prepared joke can’t always replicate.

Advantage #7: I might become more memorable afterward. Following a show, some people may be much more likely to approach someone they’ve already met. Instead of being “the comedian,” I’m now the guy they talked with before the performance started. That may not seem important, but relationships matter in comedy. People tend to support people they remember.

Advantage #8: I get better reads on who to engage and who to avoid. Not every audience member wants to participate in crowd work. Some are playful and conversational. Others clearly want to be left alone. Learning those differences beforehand can save a lot of awkward moments later. Good crowd work begins with good observation.

Advantage #9: It improves my people skills. Most comedians spend years learning how to talk to audiences. Far fewer spend time learning how to talk with people. Listening, observing, asking questions, and showing genuine curiosity are super valuable skills that can improve crowd work, as well as my comedy more broadly.

Advantage #10: Spending time with audience members before a show makes it much harder to blame the crowd afterward. It’s easy to complain about “the audience” when they’re a faceless group sitting in the dark. It’s much harder to say “that crowd sucked” after you’ve shaken hands, heard stories, and had conversations with actual human beings. The audience stops feeling like an obstacle and starts feeling like people.

There are some lessons I’ve taken from leaving the green room when I can. While many comedians spend years thinking about how to perform for audiences, and rightly so, I’ve also been wondering whether I should spend more time learning how to connect with them. So, the next time you have the opportunity, try leaving the green room and walking into the room itself. You might discover that the show starts long before you ever touch the stage or microphone.

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