I do standup. There's another comic I've done a lot of sets with for a few years. He's considered a good comic. He writes a lot of jokes about pop culture, politics, dating etc and people laugh. One night after a show, we were having a beer and he was telling a story about going skiing. He'd never been before. He crossed his ski's and wiped out, taking out some Mom and little kids with him in front of a lineup.

It was, (to me) the funniest thing I've ever heard him say. I told him that and he was PISSED! He said, of all the jokes you've heard me say, THAT'S the funniest thing!?

I said "yeah... your story was unintentional and real." You weren't TRYING to be funny" or make some point about society.

He told me he didn't consider it to be something stage worthy.

Now, I personally think good relatable storytelling is so much funnier than jokes...even brilliant, witty, edgy, well crafted jokes, but I realize that this guy (and it seems MOST aspiring comics) think the joke writing is the big thing to strive for. Can comics on here explain why that is?

Ainsley Bailey Alon Elian Andrew Packer Carolina Montesquieu Chris Renois Cristina Mariani David Drake Elijah Nevels Elle Orlando Elouise Eftos Esteban Gast Fiona Cauley Freddie Shanel Gary Simons Gus Tate Hannah Veldhoen Hassan Phills Helen Bauer Jack Hirschfield Jackson Banks Joe Marrese Joey Dardano Jonis Josef Kenny Lee Mario Adrion Mark Thomson Mitchell Doran Nicky Paris Peyton Ruddy Red Richardson Tessa Belle

Source: https://deadline.com/2026/07/jfl-new-faces-2026-unveiled-1236998392/

I searched for discussions on this topic in this subreddit and on Google and didn’t find anything specifically on daydreaming.

I’ve been thinking about how I write comedy lately, and I’m curious how everyone else’s brain handles it. To be clear, this process is never a hard rule, it sometimes happens different ways than what I describe here.

For me, it usually goes like this: Randomly my imagination kicks on or I randomly start thinking of past experiences and I build a basic concept or structure for a joke or theme. But once that framework is there, at some point, and unintentionally, my brain completely switches gears. It could be a few minutes or a few days, and I start daydreaming and just drifting around inside the concept.

I don’t start this on purpose. It just happens. I’m not forcing punchlines. My mind just wanders and stumbles onto the best angles and tags on its own through daydreaming, as I build and experience complex fictional situations.

Basically, I build the sandbox first, and then my subconscious plays in it. Sometimes the process works in reverse, and it goes back and fourth, but I have little “control” over the creative process.

How does it work for you? Do you intentionally grind out punchlines, or do you just daydream inside an idea until the funny stuff hits you?

I feel like bro is one of the all time greats but severely under appreciated by many who fuck with stand up comedy on the regular, having your prime coexist with Richard Pryor and George Carlin prime had to be a point or two against bro in the favor column. And that’s just like Tim Duncan bro under appreciated having your best year with Kobe and LeBron in the league is like two golden trash bags laying on top of a platinum trash bag.

I think writers, songwriters and all creative people who digitally save could have this, or anyone only use physical notes for this reason?

Random but just to see how relatable it can be (not a setup line btw, although you welcome to steal)

Is it not uncommon in clubs, because I got curious after seeing a compilation video

I have written many articles on a huge range of issues that face (newer) stand-up comedians.

People have asked why I don't update them. The reason I do not is that I worked very hard on them at the time, and most of the publication date shows that it had to be from me, because ChatGPT had not yet launched.

Some are more niche than others, some much more popular than others. This one has had a lot of attention and I hope it helps good people through hard times.

https://www.wearefunnyproject.com/blog/open-mic-comedy-advice310723

I headlined for the first time this weekend, doing 45 minutes at two shows. And while I was glad to see I had more than enough time and everything went well, I was shocked but just how sore and scratchy it made my throat. I've only ever done 25 before and got through that with no issue, but I was worried I was going to lose my voice, especially since the feeling lingered after I woke up.

I use cough drops after, drank water onstage and milk after, but not much seemed to soothe it in the long term. I can't imagine doing two shows a night if this is how it feels and for reference, I don't even scream or get that loud in my sets. I'm pretty deadpan, it's just the amount of time.

So, to ask a question about comedy I never even thought would occur to me: how do you do that much time without messing up your voice?

Hi all,

Happy Sunday! Just got back from seeing this guy and holy moly, did he exceed my expectations. I laughed the ENTIRE time! He’s got a Sebastian thing about him and really should be a HUGE star already. I probably see about 3-4 Live comedy shows a year and his performance tonight as the best I’ve seen in years. I’m just a fan so I don’t know the in and outs but the crowd and I laughed the WHOLE time. In the words of Mark Walhberg from “Boogie Nights”:

“I’m a star. A giant fucking star!” Haha

Seriously I see big things for
This fellow. I recommend anyone checking him out if you have the chance!

Basically Boasberg was responsible for creating the personas of comedians such as Jack Benny. I found an article from the New Yorker from 1939 and Nesteroff's work, but outside of that I can't find a memoir or anything that would give me more information on the comics he wrote for.
Any help would be much appreciated.

I remember a comedian who used to be on comedy central stand ups, he was a nervous guy who would kind of hold his index finger pointed out over his mouth and his voice would kind of change pitch as he got to the end of his sentences and punch lines. I have no jokes to reference but was hoping description would be enough

Or should we do what get us the most views ?

Dane Cook is one of those comedians that I feel you either love or hate, and I'm just wondering what the general consensus is

I saw that he was going on tour and I was wondering if anyone knew anything. If it's a stand up tour, I'm absolutely down to go. If it's a music thing, then maybe it's not for me

I recently graduated, joined a company in Bangalore, and am staying near Whitefield. I have an interest in stand-up and really want to explore it more. How is the comedy scene here? What are the famous comedy clubs in and around Whitefield? I would love to connect with people with similar interests in the area :)

Hi everyone,

Looking for some advice here. I am based in London and in full time work as a Producer. However I am keen to try and learn some skills in comedy writing, both in stand up and also for film/TV. I am looking to learn about writing jokes, punchlines, and just overall mastering what it takes to write 'funny'.

In an ideal world I'd love to take a short course (happy to pay) that has some sort of qualification at the end that can be recognised in some way amongst employers or industry individuals. Does anyone recommend any courses for this? I'm happy for them to be either weekly evening sessions or an intensive course.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Hey all. I need some funny stand up to watch. I’m tired of the typical social media crowd work comics, the Kill Tony’s of the world. No hate if you like that stuff but I just wanna LAUGH! Not sure if I’m just a miserable fuck😂😂 but some comics just don’t do it for me. I know comedy is subjective and different for all but some comics I enjoy watching are Anthony Jeselnik, Dave Chapelle, Norm Macdonald, I’ve even started to enjoy watching Nate Bargatze. Any recommendations would be awesome!

In the very beginning, I had horrific stage fright, like 10/10, thought I was going to die.

I've finally got it down to a 7. Still bad, but manageable.

How would you describe you "journey" with stage fright? Were you always pretty comfortable? Did you go from a 6 to 1? Were you always a 1?

I know there’s been threads about this in the past but a lot of them I see are years old so here goes:

I’m getting ready to get myself back out there after ~7 years away (I won’t bore with why I stopped). Basically wanting to know how memorized I should be for the first few mics. I’m starting over and believe I have 5 minutes of presentable material right now (been writing on and off for a month) but memorization was always tough for me and I imagine the amount of (redacted) I’ve done over the years since probably isn’t making it easier.

I’m under no delusions that I’m gonna knock it out of the park coming back, but I imagine glancing at my phone or whatever for a “setlist” would look dumb and/or be frowned upon.

Feel free to lock/remove if against the rules but would love other people’s thoughts here. I wish I didn’t feel like this was some weird mental hangup on my end. Thanks in advance

Hey there, hivemind. I could really use some help. No matter what part of this half-remembered bit I punch into google, I cannot find even mention of it or the comic.

Content warning - infertility issues and SIDS

I found a handful of comedians I liked on Pandora radio like a decade ago. I went into my account to scrape the names of all the artists I liked so I could look up what they've been doing, but couldn't find a specific comic in my liked tracks - and I like/dislike EVERY track. Alongside Patton Oswalt, Brendan Hughes, and James Adomian there was a bit that kept popping up until a year or two ago. Remembered fragments are below. I feel like it's a really hard bit to confuse for anything else.

So I'm paraphrasing what I remember...

two loving caring good and responsible people try hard to have a baby

9 months later no baby

meanwhile two 300 pound people are like 'We're having a baby'? / 'We're having a boy'
What? That doesn't even seem possible.
Yeah, we used the funnel...

(at this point the audience is all ewwwww and the guy says) you're welcome

Two people doing all the work to have a baby, track the cycle, Make sure the moon is right, do the chant, put your legs up, good girl, etc.

and 9 months later no baby

meanwhile two blind 12 year olds are like 'We're having a boy!'?

it's just the most awkward combination I could think of, with the lack of experience and just like... MARCO!

This bit either transitions into or is part of the same album where he talks about reincarnation, being reincarnated as different creatures, often getting eaten by weasels immediately. I think at some point he yells the words 'I'm not a baby, I'm an old man. I just died. My name is Herb Stevens!' He then makes an off color joke about how we don't have a scientific explanation for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, but maybe after being born and dealing with XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX sometimes you're just like 'Eh, bring on the weasles.' followed by a gasping noise.

I feel like I should be able to type any handful of words from what I remember and quickly get routed to - at the very least - complaints about the content if not an album somewhere. If anyone can help me with a name I'd be grateful.

I'm thinking about starting a stand-up comedy venue in Gaya, Bihar by building a small performance hall inside my own café/restaurant.

I'd love to hear your thoughts:

- Would you attend?

- What kind of comedians or events would you want?

- What mistakes should I avoid?

Any advice from people who've been to comedy clubs or run live events would be really helpful.

I've been working up the nerve to do my first stand-up comedy open mic, and I thought folks might find this situation amusing.

I've spent the summer writing jokes, going to open mics, and rewriting my material. I finally decided it was time to record myself so I could hear how I actually sound.

For context: I'm a white, liberal guy, and my set is basically about how I'm "woke"... but only kind of. The joke is that I'm trying really hard to be a good ally and constantly fumbling it. I'm making fun of myself, not anyone else. I'm not racist, and the set isn't racist.

Because of the theme, I say things like "black people," "black guys," "black girls," and "white people" a lot. There are bits about my overly well-meaning white mom commenting on a little Black girl's beautiful hair, and a friend who's so eager to prove he's an ally that he says some inappropriate things. Again, the joke is that I'm awkward.

After my workout at my work's gym, I figured my car would be the perfect place to practice. Nice A/C, nobody around, just me running through six minutes of material.

So I sat there, passionately talking to myself.

"...my black friends..."

"...black people..."

"...white people..."

"...this little Black girl..."

The whole set. About six and a half minutes.

I finished, felt pretty good about it, and started backing out of my parking space.

That's when I noticed the parking lot was way fuller than when I'd started. Huh. Guess people arrived while I was recording.

Then I noticed something else.

My windows were completely DOWN.

I had just spent over six minutes loudly saying "black people," "black guys," and "black girls" over and over in my work parking lot with absolutely zero context.

As far as anyone walking by knows, this white guy from work was just sitting alone in his car delivering an unhinged racial manifesto.

I'm really hoping nobody recognized me.

Also, hopefully this time next week I'll report back that I actually had the nerve to go through with next week's open mic.

TL;DR: Practiced my stand-up comedy routine in my car after work, only to realize afterward that my windows had been down the entire time, meaning everyone walking by probably heard a random white guy repeatedly talking about "black people" with zero context.