School Of Laughs

Join me for an encore presentation of Episode #2 of the School of Laughs podcast. This episode is brought to you by Patreon supporter Josh Liston. Find out how you can help us stay on the air at www.SchoolOfLaughs.com/Patreon.

Producer Gavin Miller gathered questions from a club full of aspiring comics just like yourself. When the dust settled we came up with a bunch of really specific tips to help you understand and grow your comedy career.

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE

Below is a brief list of the topics developed just for you. Enjoy!

• The question behind everything you write.
• How to "float your jokes" when you aren't on stage.
• How to use other characters to set up or deliver punch lines in your material.
• Shortcuts to finding your voice.
• Why putting yourself in the joke can open up more opportunities.
• Picking material when performing in a competition.
• Six keys to making your material connect with your audience.
• Show me the money! What are the average paychecks for club comics?
• Offstage moves that help you get behind the mic.
• The dangers of overstepping boundaries with bookers.
• The two kinds of club headliners.
• Why you shouldn't let other people's goals define YOUR success.

If you enjoy this PODCAST please subscribe to iTunes or STITCHER and leave a comment and ranking.

Better yet, subscribe to the monthly School of Laughs "Insider Tips" monthly email and get exclusive information delivered right to your inbox. It's fast, free, useful, and fun. Email: [email protected] and put "insider tip sheet" in the subject header. I'll make sure you get the official tip sheet and I promise to keep your email anonymous and spam-free.

Thanks!

Rik

oday we are joined by Thor Ramsey. Thor is the force behind the movie Church People. The film takes us inside a megachurch whose pastor is caught up in gimmicks more than the gospel. Thor's character, Guy Sides, is a rising youth pastor who is trying to get things back to being focused on the gospel. But, his agent and his pastor are going the other direction.

The film features a great cast. Erin Cahill does a great job as the pastor's apprehensive daughter and potential love interest for Guy. Michael Monks as Skip Finney embodies the aloof, self-consumed pastor we've all come to be too familiar with these days. And great supporting actors abound in the likes of Joey Fatone as Tino, the worship leader who never met a phrase he didn't want to sing. Stephen Baldwin as Chad Case, a quirky, ever-present voice of reason. And Donald Faison as Jonathan, an agent who is always chewing the money.

Also appearing are William Baldwin, Chyna Phillips, and My Pillow's Mike Lindell.

SEPTEMBER 3rd Available on DIGITAL and DVD

Learn more at: https://churchpeoplefilm.com

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3717822/fullcredits/

Thor's Website: www.ThorRamsey.com

Thor's Books:

A Comedian's Guide to Theology

Broke

The Most Encouraging Book on Hell Ever

(C) (P) 2021 School of Laughs Podcast

www.SchoolofLaughs.com

CRISP AND CLEAN COMEDY COMPETITION

Welcome to the competition results episode. This showcase of clean comedy was open to all comedians. The clips ranged from stand-up, musical comedy to comedy without an audience delivered straight to the microphone. All clips submitted, as long as they were clean and clearly understandable, made it into the episode.

The 3 overall favorite submissions are included in this episode. And, the top 3 will receive:

A one-hour roundtable coaching call with Rik and the other winners,

A free SILVER Edition Comedy Writing Course,

And a free one-year subscription to Club 52. Club 52 features a weekly email with comedy challenges as well as a quarterly Zoom hangout

Thanks to all of these fine folks for their submissions:

"Chicken Hormones" Sheila Day | Nashville, TN "Fat Baby" Dustin Crider | Atlanta, GA "Billy Bod" Patrick Miller | Oakland, California "Instagram" Damien Challen | Newcastle Australia "Losing My Mind" Theodore Schmelke | Mineola NY "Divorces vs Widows" Shell from Fort | Worth TX "Begging for Attention" J.B. Bowman | Nashville, TN "Random Thoughts with Gary Busey" Brian Kohatsu | Glendale, AZ "More than A Hobby" Mark Johns | Austin, Texas "Not Hip or Cool" Dan Bublitz Jr | St. Paul, MN "String Theory II" Rick Reichman | Nashville, TN "Messy House" Suzanne Linfante | Laurence Harbor, NJ "This Guy's Roof" Dave Pileggi | Atlanta, GA "Leave Early Dad" Trent Babb | Fresno, California "Teddy Bear" Matthew Clark Wyatt "The Holy Cow" Bryan Nye | Lebanon, TN "Unemployed Husband" Carmiya | Washington, D.C. "Personal Training is Bullying" Uncle Nath | Newcastle Australia "Solitary Swing Dancing" Wes Sholtes | Washington, DC "Looking for the Wrong Women" Patrick Andonie | New Orleans, LA "Zoom Calls" Tim Ketchersid | Dallas, TX "The Tornado" Craig Slezak | Altamonte Springs, FL "Tiger King" Sean Hughes | Nashville, TN

(C)(P) 2021 School of Laughs Podcast www.SchoolOfLAughs.com

Welcome to the competition episode. This showcase of clean comedy was open to all comedians. Whether you are brand new, full-time, or fooling yourself. The clips range from stand-up, musical comedy to comedy without an audience delivered straight to the microphone. All clips submitted, as long as they were clean and clearly understandable, made it into the episode.

The clips are sixty seconds or less. After listening to the episode, you can participate in the voting!

VOTING:

Voting happens in three phases:

• The Crisp and Clean Comedy Competition episode will be posted on the School of Laughs YouTube channel and you can encourage your friends to listen and leave a comment on your behalf. Every comment stating your name or bit name will go towards your overall tally. This will account for 1/3 of your total vote.
• Each clip will be judged on a scale of 1-10 by at least three judges. Their vote will weigh 1/3 as well.
• And the final 1/3 of the score will be done by the other listeners of the show. I'll encourage our listeners to vote for their favorite clip from the episode by choosing an entry from the list below and emailing the name of the joke or the performer in the subject line to [email protected] .

The 3 overall favorite submissions will get a replay on an upcoming episode. If possible, a brief interview with the comic behind the joke will be part of the show.

VOTING ENDS July 1st. Results to appear on the July 15th episode of the podcast.

PRIZES:

Also, the top 3 will receive:

• A one-hour roundtable coaching call with Rik and the other winners,
• A free SILVER Edition Comedy Writing Course,
• And a free one-year subscription to Club 52. Club 52 features a weekly email with comedy challenges as well as a quarterly Zoom hangout

All of these details are on the SchoofLlaughs.com show notes page for this episode.

Submissions:

1. "Chicken Hormones" Sheila Day | Nashville, TN
2. "Fat Baby" Dustin Crider | Atlanta, GA
3. "Billy Bod" Patrick Miller | Oakland, California
4. "Instagram" Damien Challen | Newcastle Australia
5. "Losing My Mind" Theodore Schmelke | Mineola NY
6. "Divorces vs Widows" Shell from Fort | Worth TX
7. "Begging for Attention" J.B. Bowman | Nashville, TN
8. "Random Thoughts with Gary Busey" Brian Kohatsu | Glendale, Arizona
9. "More than A Hobby" Mark Johns | Austin, Texas
10. "Not Hip or Cool" Dan Bublitz Jr | St. Paul, MN
11. "String Theory II" Rick Reichman | Nashville, TN
12. "Messy House" Suzanne Linfante | Laurence Harbor, NJ
13. "This Guy's Roof" Dave Pileggi | Atlanta, GA
14. "Leave Early Dad" Trent Babb | Fresno, California
15. "Teddy Bear" Matthew Clark Wyatt
16. "The Holy Cow" Bryan Nye | Lebanon, TN
17. "Unemployed Husband" Carmiya | Washington, D.C.
18. "Personal Training is Bullying" Uncle Nath | Newcastle Australia
19. "Solitary Swing Dancing" Wes Sholtes | Washington, DC
20. "Looking for the Wrong Women" Patrick Andonie | New Orleans, LA
21. "Zoom Calls" Tim Ketchersid | Dallas, TX
22. "The Tornado" Craig Slezak | Altamonte Springs, FL
23. "Tiger King" Sean Hughes | Nashville, TN

Vote for your favorite clip from the episode by choosing an entry from the list above! E-mail the name of the joke or the performer in the subject line to [email protected] .

(c)(p) www.SchoolOfLaughs.com 2021

In this episode, I will discuss the re-emergence of stand-up comedy. Battling shuttered clubs, empty showrooms, dry-docked cruise ships, and other venues it has been a tough year for comedians. I discuss a variety of things, including:

• Vaccination rates in the USA and how that affects audiences
• How some states are using Lotteries to entice vaccinations
• Which states are still seeing an increase in COIVD cases
• The effect on cruise ship comedians
• How corporate events have "sort of" bounced back
• My experiences with church events during the pandemic
• What is what like attending a live comedy show at a club
• Things I noticed flying to a show in New Orleans after 63 weeks away from the airport
• The situation with Rental Car companies and why you should be ready to pay more
• Why it may take a while to get an UBER or LYFT
• Trends in bookings, reschedulings, and cancellations

and a little bit more : )

Again, I would LOVE to hear how things are where you live. Send an email to [email protected] and let me know your situation and perspective.

(c)(p) www.SchoolOfLaughs.com

"Cancel Culture" is a term that has become more prevalent. In the world of comedy, it's one step further down the path of political correctness. Today we talk about what it is, how it affects comedy, and what comedians can do to neutralize its invasion of our art form.

Webster defines cancel culture as "a way of behaving in society or group, especially on social media, in which it is common to completely reject and stop supporting someone because they have said or done something that offends you."

But here's here is the thing. Stand-up comedy specifically is your opinion, your thought, and your attempt to make somebody laugh. That's what standup comedy is. It's your opinion, your thought, your attempt to make somebody laugh. And that is important. It should be about trying to get people to laugh.

Standup comedy is an art form with its primary focus on generating laughs, but it has evolved over time into an art form that can also be used to address social issues, advance one's agenda, or potentially lead others to change their thought or alter their beliefs.

And then evolution is the tricky part because that's what is rubbing up against the edges of cancer culture because now you're taking your belief system and challenging someone else's or challenging someone else's with yours, and you start taking a stance against things. That tension can lead to some friction, some push back.

We tackle this evolutionary overlap in today's episode.

COUNTERING CANCEL CULTURE

Specifically, we talk about:

• The definition of comedy and cancel culture
• What causes people to be offended
• How comedians leave themselves vulnerable to it
• What comics can do to prevent attacks
• The reason you need to know your target in a joke
• Different types of targets
• "The Planet is Fine" routine by George Carlin
• How to back up your opinions like George Carlin
• What I think about Ruth's Chris Steak House
• Why you should work on your craft
• What Jon Stewart thinks about Thanksgiving
• How assumption and cancel culture go hand in hand

And a whole lot more!

(c)(p) 2021 The Rik Roberts School of Laughs

www.SchoolOfLaughs.com

Crisp and Clean Comedy Competition Guidelines

This showcase of clean comedy is open to all comedians. Whether you are brand new, full-time, or fooling yourself.

Here's how it will work.

The clip can be stand-up, sketch, musical comedy - as long as it is clean and clearly understandable.

Send your TV CLEAN audio clip, 60 seconds or less to [email protected] before May 21st.

In your email make sure you put:

1. Your name,
2. The name of the joke,
3. Where you are based,
4. How long you have performed comedy.

I'll do a quick listen for clarity and audio quality.

All clean clips, with good laughs and quality audio, will appear together in an upcoming episode of the podcast. So, it's important I have your name and joke name to introduce the comedy clip.

Voting happens in three phases.

• The Crisp and Clean Comedy Competition episode will be posted on the School of Laughs YouTube channel and you can encourage your friends to listen and leave a comment on your behalf. Every comment will go towards your overall tally. This will account for 1/3 of your total vote.
• Each clip will be judged on a scale of 1-10 by at least three judges. Their vote will weigh 1/3 as well.
• And the final 1/3 of the score will be done by the other listeners of the show. I'll encourage our listeners to vote for their favorite clip from the episode by visiting the School Of Laughs website and clicking their vote in a form.

The 3 overall favorite submissions will get a replay on an upcoming episode as well as a brief interview with the comic behind the joke.

Also, the top 3 will receive:

• A one-hour roundtable coaching call with Rik and the other winners,
• A free Silver Edition Comedy Writing Course,
• And a free one-year subscription to Club 52. Club 52 features a weekly email with comedy challenges as well as a quarterly Zoom hangout.

So, when you have your Crisp and Clean Comedy Competition clip ready:

1. send it to [email protected] .
2. In the subject line put "Crisp and Clean Comedy Clip".
3. Make sure the clip is under 60 seconds
4. And in a wave or mp3 file. (I cannot rip audio from your YouTube clip or do the editing for you.)

All entrants will be notified prior to the initial episode that they have made the "cut". I guarantee I will listen to all the clips but cannot guarantee that they will all make the cut. So, do your best to make it funny, clean, and under a minute.

All of these details are on the SchooOflaughs.com show notes page for this episode.

Good luck and I can't wait to hear from you.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to produce a movie, write a jingle, or land Bob Dylan's manager? Well, today you are in luck! I have a pod-swap interview with Rick Altizer.

Not only is Rick an incredibly good friend, but we also share an office! Over the years I've learned a lot about his character, his dedication to his work, and his incredible focus. I thought you would find his story interesting and inspirational.

Join me as I sit down and talk with Rick Altizer about what he has learned from his years in show business. Specifically, we talk about his run as a film director of such movies as Russ Taff - I Still Believe, and three projects with Chonda Pierce - "Enough", "Laughing In The Dark" and "Unashamed".

Currently, Rick is working on a movie for the Kendrick Brothers (War Room, Courageous, Fire Proof) titled "Show Me the Father". In the discussion, we talk about the gravity of story in films that can also be applied to your stand-up. We also dig into the nuts and bolts of organizing hours of material into a tangible product. Film Maker Rick Altizer Show Notes:

• Rick's early years as a rock-n-roller
• How Bob Dylan's manager took him on
• Why he didn't get a deal with Sony
• The healthy lesson of finding your identity
• Finding a business partner to complement his creativity
• His work with Chonda Pierce
• How a plan for a 5-minute demo turned into a documentary
• Learning how to edit a movie
• The burden of expectation
• Looking at disappointments objectively

And a whole lot more!

THANKS TO OUR PATREON SPONSOR:

Thanks to John Smith for being our Patreon sponsor for this episode. You can learn more about supporting the podcast by visiting THIS LINK.

More with Rick Altizer:

And if you like this episode, you may want to check out Rick's previous visit to the podcast on Episode 119 Stand-Up Comedy Examined.

Visit his website: http://www.rickaltizer.com

(c)(p) The Rik Roberts School of Laughs

www.SchoolOfLaughs.com

Have you ever wondered what goes through a comedian's mind when they tell a joke that doesn't work? Whether you're an aspiring comedian or a hardcore comedy nerd, The Art of Bombing Podcast has something for everyone. From useful comedy insight to entertaining stories of bombing and failure told by the comedians that lived through them.

Join Rik Roberts as he sits down and talks with comedian Dan Bublitz Jr about what he has learned from his interviews. After talking with comedians of all levels from across the country he has some great insights.

Show Notes:

• Different comedy communities from South Dakota to St. Paul, MN
• What it's like being new to a comedy scene even though you aren't new to comedy
• Moving to the Midwest to be closer to road work
• Rick Bronson's House of Comedy https://moa.houseofcomedy.net
• Acme Comedy Company http://www.acmecomedycompany.com
• The Joke Joint
• Working out material at other rooms before the comedy club open mic
• Approaching political comedy topics as a neutral POV
• Christopher Titus

And a whole lot more!

THANKS TO OUR PATREON SPONSOR:

Thanks to Josh Liston for being our Patreon sponsor for this episode. You can learn more about supporting the podcast by visiting THIS LINK.

More about Dan Bublitz:

And if you like this episode, you may want to check out Dan's "The Art of Bombing Podcast" which takes an in-depth look at bombing on stages around the world to turn failure into success, perhaps, with a laugh or two along the way.

Check out this episode with Alonzo Boden: https://theartofbombing.libsyn.com/size/5/?search=alonzo+

Or this one with Andrew Deans: https://theartofbombing.libsyn.com/the-art-of-bombing-episode-50-andrew-deans

Maybe listen to my first episode with Dan: https://theartofbombing.libsyn.com/the-art-of-bombing-episode-59-rik-roberts

The Art of Bombing Podcast was created in 2017 by Dan Bublitz Jr. after he bombed so badly at a private gig that he almost quit comedy. Instead of quitting he decided to talk about failure with other performers to see how they use their failure to succeed.

(C)(P) 2021 Rik Roberts School of Laughs

This is the follow-up podcast to episode 235 where I shared my process of preparing for my last recording. You can listen to that podcast HERE.

In this episode, I review the live recording. Offering up insights into my thinking for choosing certain jokes, we talk about what went well and what could have been different. We start off by listening to the set.

If you prefer, you can watch the set to see the facial expressions, etc., at this link: https://vimeo.com/518305058

We cover a lot in this episode, including:

Leading up to show

• My "purpose" for the set
• The jokes I chose to set up my P.O.V. (Point of View)
• Having to abandon a call back because of a change in a set order
• Using the process of conditional logic to create material
• Using a technique that enables me to "pick on" someone
• Examples of rhymes, alliteration, and visual images
• Being extremely current
• Experimenting the day of the recording

And much more.

You may have a different process for getting ready. Feel free to comment below and help others. This is the first of two parts of the podcast. Episode 236 will include the recording of the set and my reactions to it. You can listen to it by clicking here.

Thanks to Kevin Hardy for being our Patreon sponsor for this episode. You can learn more about supporting the podcast by visiting THIS LINK.

(C) (P) 2021 Rik Roberts School of Laughs

www.RikRoberts.com