The Dumbest Comedy Advice I Ever Heard!

[@coledeshun]

Hey Jerry thanks for all you have done for us upcoming comics i couldn’t have mustered up the courage to get up there if it wasn’t for you so thank you.

[@JerryCorley]

Congratulations at getting up and doing it. Glad I could help.

[@ItsMeBobbyVee]

Great video. You made me think of something. I’m in a FB group thats for the local comedy scene. I have very little experience on stage but I have been heavily using comedy to handle life since I could talk. I’ve noticed that a few of the “local” veterans in comedy, seem to have strong opinions about how things should be and will always be; as if it were gospel. You’ve mentioned on other videos things they may say like, “It takes this many years to get to XYZ”. None of it is directed at me, and I I understand that some of these people wouldn’t “waste” their time listening to a guy like me that’s only been on stage 4 times, only twice were serious attempts. That being said, it always cracks me up how some of these people (which I respect “their time in”) actually believe that whatever rules, approaches to stand up, and/or opinions they have regarding “what’s funny”… is gospel. I recently read someone’s comment saying on a post… “until you have 5 years under your belt” basically you can’t possibly have anything of worth to add or to argue. While I understand a bit the why they would think that way, it’s quite arrogant and disingenuous to self… like a parent that insists that because of age and experience, the child cannot possibly bring something of worth to the table, or even bring something to the table that’s been missed or overlooked. Either way, I love your videos and you make a lot of sense. I took a very basic comedy class in my city at The Comedy Zone about two years ago and I realized that if one is not strong and determined to move forward with personal conviction, sometimes the biases of the experienced can really make or break the will to pursue comedy or take the joy out of it because it is made to seem like an impossibility to even get good at it. Anyways, I know it seems like a rant 😂 but you reminded me of this and I had to share.

[@VICTORIAMAKESYOULAUGH]

I agree. We as comedians, if we are trained we know how to engage with the crowd. I love the back and forth. Sometimes that is the way to get great laughs. Comedians should always have some wit. I love where the ride takes me with the audience. Some people can't veer from their sets.. which means they are not on enough stages to play on a show.

[@ZenShady]

We need your content!! You gotta come on here more frequently!!

[@JerryCorley]

I'm trying to arrange my schedule so I can publish at least one per week. Hopefully I'll be able to stay consistent with that. Thanks for the encouragement! :D

[@joaquin-lunacomedian1683]

13:55 another good video, thank you. The only thing I would add is do not take contests so seriously. Especially at the local and regional level. I seen comics win a contest just because they had a larger entourage of friends and family in the audience to support them.

[@VICTORIAMAKESYOULAUGH]

I love how generous you are with your knowledge. I would love to talk to you more. Do you do private coaching? If so how can I go about it?

[@JerryCorley]

Hi Victoria you can reach me here: www.standupcomedyclinic.com/contact

[@VICTORIAMAKESYOULAUGH]

Nothing like great crowd work! It's so amazing when people master it!

[@RogelimDS]

I'm so glad you have addressed these "judges" notes. They bring some value for upcoming comedian like me, but sometimes those notes are not coherent and make us think that we are not fit for this work.... Good seeing you posting new video. much Brazilian love Jerry.

[@asktoybox]

It's like the age old adage goes: If you can't make a career out of being good at something, make a career out of criticizing it instead.

[@breeelliott8626]

Hey Jerry, new comic here. Thank you for all your advice/videos. They have helped me immensely in starting my comedy journey.

[@aranorbruce]

Love that outro, Jerry! That's great!

[@JerryCorley]

Thanks for that!

[@jordanleban8312]

@jokedoctor: “it’s a live performance there is always a possibility for it to get rowdy.” Dave Chapelle has entered the chat

[@JerryCorley]

Spot on!

[@aranorbruce]

There it is! Nice!

[@soyasaph]

Jajajaja (laughing in spanish) Is it wasnt for questions I wouldnt be able to reel them in so many private shows where the audience dont care for stand up comedy. And that happens a lot in Mexico.

[@aranorbruce]

😆 I love the sight in English of your laughter in Spanish! (T"is a good & informative comment as well) Questions are powerful tools to direct another's focus.

[@soyasaph]

@@aranorbruce xD you would be surprised if you knew how often I get asked what jajajaja means.

[@aranorbruce]

@@soyasaph Hayzoos, I can only imagine! 🤣

[@swathipavan685]

Thank you Jerry for making this video! Of course it adds a lot of value to my comedy learning!

[@jerrilehane7815]

I have a high functioning autistic friend & if I really want to get thru to his brain I'll ask questions to lead him to where I'm heading in a story or explanation to engage him,force-feed him...ya get nothing until you answer the question...keeps him awake/aware.I'm also saving his life keeping him awake by phone on long commutes after a long workday.

[@comedianreggiereed3180]

I I I

[@Cam42Worm]

In that logic the chicken wouldn’t be questioned why she crossed the road

[@jeanpierre-louis2450]

Thank you, Jerry (that has a nice ring to it)!!!

[@SatnamSingh-wz8yg]

Great mic jerry 😍

[@Iksiksinski.]

Hello. I wanna be a comedian and be the funniest person when im with my friends. What should i do? And i dont speak English as fluent as i wish. And IT can be a problem. What course should i take?

[@hahamasala]

Just write your funny thoughts down, create a set and have your friends who speak English better help you with the wording.

[@1990Co]

I like the ‘podcast’ style video

[@JerryCorley]

Since the pandemic and losing my studio space, I've felt like I couldn't post anything, but my daughter shared with me KZbinrs like @SomeOrdinaryGamers and @penguinz0 and that inspired me to do the podcast style. It's much easier to set up, record, edit and post. So, I'm glad you like it.

[@CraftyCraftCalledComedyChannel]

Thanks Jerry for your Kindness. You didn't have to reveal the secrets of comedy typing from Trinidad and Tobago.

[@JerryCorley]

The artform of stand-up comedy and comedy writing is such a fascinating and amazing art form, but it has not been deeply explored. I try to look at it like a science and share what I've learned from testing theories in front of audiences then sharing the results with others who want to dive in.

[@aranorbruce]

@@JerryCorley Shucks.... I guess I've missed ya more than I though, Man. Great words, Jerry, well said. It's so good to see you back. Some of your material here is unlike anything else I've seen. What you've done already is no doubt a more valuable asset than you can possibly be aware, and everything you do henceforth only strengthens the industry and the people attracted by it & into it. You are better than you know.

[@aranorbruce]

(And yes.... I said "shucks". Let's bring that one back.)

[@CraftyCraftCalledComedyChannel]

@@JerryCorley wow. Right now I am fusing your knowledge ,Greg Dean's and the Comedy Bible to work on my Funny Bone.

[@beeshrine1673]

Hi Jerry, I would suppose you know your student's style best which is why you came to their defense, but I did have one thing come to mind when i heard "dont ask questions". When I took my first standup class I was advised to dont ask questions and dont take surveys (advised against, not that its a rule not to) It took me a lot of time to learn to lead into topics with questions and use questions to set up punchlines in my set. But I think its important to note that new comedians in my scene will take surveys or ask questions and then not have a follow up to it. They may also have a question that requires an audience response but they dont have a strong enough set to get the response from the audience they need, crashing their own joke. By the time youre doing competitions this comes up but I know I watched your videos when I was brand new to stand-up and knowing the right way to ask questions was not a natural part of my routine early on.

[@JerryCorley]

Good point. Maybe I should’ve clarified. The judge had written “Never ask questions, even if they’re rhetorical. Which says to me all questions. But I totally get what you’re saying. There are a lot of comedians who use questions as filler and have no follow up. A question should be designed to create tension or an expectation before a punchline, not to fill time with surveys.

[@michaelsix9684]

it's so hard to judge comedy

[@davidmorey5007]

Hey Jerry, what advice would you give to new comedians about hecklers? Do we come prepared with general heckler jokes or make impromptu jokes about them?

[@nerdbutgangsta1816]

(Puts on Jerry Seinfeld wig) What's the deal with asking questions?

[@aranorbruce]

🤣

[@hahamasala]

Classic!

[@SatnamSingh-wz8yg]

Hey jerry please tell us how to do marketing of us as a comedian

[@linaalvaa]

Amazing advice

[@JerryCorley]

Thanks Lina!

[@pesteruim5985]

Thank youuu

[@JerryCorley]

You’re welcome! Thanks for taking time out of your day to watch and comment!

[@hahamasala]

I hate to say it, but some judges are racist or biased towards their friends who are competing in the contests. If you're not part of the comics' inner circle, you might not get anywhere in the contests. Such a conflict of interest. I've seen it. Thanks to your video, I'm going to add some questions to my sets!

[@JerryCorley]

Sadly, human nature and personal bias plays into any competition. I’ve found that consistency wins out in those cases. Some comics participate in competitions year after year until they’ve gotten so good that they can no longer be ignored. Judges who leaned away from them because of personal preference have no choice but to see how good they’ve become. I’ve seen that personally where a comedian lost year after year, then in his fifth year competing, just killed it all the way to the finals. I’ve also seen a comedian who everyone thought was going to win it all, eat it in the semi-finals. But that’s the nature of competitions. I remember being in a competition with a 5k cash prize where the organizers decided to have these beauty pageant contestants judge the final round. I knew they wouldn’t even get my socio-political material. I lost. That’s just how it goes. Besides, I go to competitions with the goal of meeting other comedians and club bookers. Those relationships have a longer shelf-life than a cash prize and pay dividends that are much more valuable over time.

[@rufunnyrob]

They do not like survey questions for sure. How many people are married...How many people have kids...How many people love weed! My opinion is if its leading to a punchline then ask it. If its just for crowd reaction then its hacky.

[@stoyanatanasov3749]

nice

[@TheRavenCapitalTCapitalR]

I'm so sorry to be a contrarian in this case, BUT, here it goes... (don't be mad) Once you learn reversals, like Anthony Jesilnik, I could tell you were going to say "Christians". If I didn't know you, and I was a comedian in the audience AT A COMEDY CONTEST... I guess I would have ruined the joke by simply being in the audience, which kind of DOES prove their point in a way. Even though I knew the answer without ever hearing the joke before, I still laughed because of the way you built it up. BUT, if I was a dick, and you did it the exact same way, as if reversals REALLY ARE that easy to read, then you're kind of giving license to the other comedians in the room to completely ruin your joke, something they MIGHT have seen before. Overall, I LOVE seeing you back on KZbin like this, but imagine you were an up and comer, and a quick wit just stole your big laugh. I'm sure you'd be pretty pissed. And that's why I can never see Jesilnik live, he uses them waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much. *Also, I did see the "English" coming as well.

[@TheRavenCapitalTCapitalR]

I'd like to see how EXACTLY how they worded the "advice", to see if that was what they meant. I think this is why I got in trouble so much at school, for blurting out jokes while the teacher was talking, it's like a puzzle to solve, and I might have been so excited that I blurted out "ENGLISH," and then laughed, not trying to ruin anything, but, like "I solved for X", and "X" is the funniest thing that could come next. I told you 90 percent EXTREME accuracy watching an Anthony Jesilnik special that I had never seen before, and I wasn't exaggerating. SO, this might only apply at comedy competitions, because it doesn't take away anything from what you said in this video. I can't imagine how deeply it would hurt a comedian if someone proved, not just said, but proved, "Every punch line you came up with was predictable." I couldn't imagine a worse feeling doing stand up. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fH_SfGecebRre7c

[@JerryCorley]

That's only because I gave you the context in the set up to the lesson. That wasn't the way the joke is presented. Gotta remember I've done that joke at least 100 times. I don't give the pretext of her attending a Mega Church.... yet. All I say is "My daughter is really into science fiction. She's one of those science fiction fanatics. What do they call those people? There's a name for those people..." If I get a response at all it's usually "A Trekkie?"

[@JerryCorley]

Did you watch the video? I put the exact wording on the screen. It said, "Never ask the audience questions, no matter how rhetorical they may be... because someone may feel the need to give you the wrong answer to that question. Plus, by engaging the audience with questions, some people will get the impression that the show is supposed to be interactive and will heckle you or any comic that comes after you...." There's no other context.

[@TheRavenCapitalTCapitalR]

@@JerryCorley yeah, but it was zoomed in a bit, it looked like some letters were missing on the left and the right, and words above and below,. Without any other context, yeah, it's weird. And I did wonder if you gave it away by the way you presented them both. I suppose statistically being able to guess the right word that fast would be hard. So, if they were trying to make a point, they were way more focused on things from their end, *than actually helping her, which was how you started the video. Now my comments seem foolish. Like, "well you can't let people wear baseball caps at baseball games because people might reach out and catch the ball". How many times is that ACTUALLY going to happen? Good point, let 'em wear it. My bad, I'm a butthole. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmXOnK2ph6-CmKc

[@JerryCorley]

@@TheRavenCapitalTCapitalR Never foolish to discuss it. I should’ve made sure it was framed better, both the joke and the screenshot of the note. I didn’t want to show the entire note because I don’t want to out the judge or make him feel like I’m making him look bad. But the critique of “never ask questions” is ridiculous.

[@LeeComedyCave]

Quick note...double tapping a youtube video is not leaving a like.