School Of Laughs

Coming up with new material can be tough. But it doesn’t have to be. When writer’s block interupts, you need to have a plan in place and keep moving forward.

No doubt, the pressure to be funny can sometimes prevent you from even writing down an idea. That is a mistake. Write it down! So on days when you “don’t know what you write about” you have something to work on.

If that doesn’t get you going, then maybe you should look in the mirror and WRITE NOW about what is going on in your life RIGHT NOW.

Forget about being funny for a few minutes. Just start asking yourself questions to get the pen moving or the keyboard clicking. In this episode, we talk about nine questions you can ask yourself to spur some content for your next joke.

Specifically, we talk about:

• Exploring your number one aggravation in life RIGHT NOW.
• Who is driving you crazy RIGHT NOW?
• Outside of comedy, what is your biggest goal RIGHT NOW?
• What are you doing RIGHT NOW to help you reach it?
• In order to reach it what will you have to change RIGHT NOW?
• RIGHT NOW - write down what made you angriest today.
• Last night, what kept you up thinking? Write it down Right NOW.
• What is keeping you from writing RIGHT NOW? Write it down!!!

Crazy right? Lots of things are going on in your life and you need to address them. Do it through comedy! Write them out and think of each statement as your premise.

“Right now I need more sleep because …”

“Right now my biggest goal is to …”

Then, step back and fill in the blanks with something we wouldn’t expect. Make yourself laugh. Be absurd. Whatever it takes to get you thinking creatively.

If all of this fails, try going to a new place or surrounding to write. Or call a writing partner and bounce some ideas off of them.

Listen for more ideas throughout the podcast. And when you get inspired, hit pause and WRITE, RIGHT NOW!

ABOUT THE SCHOOL OF LAUGHS:

This podcast is a production of the Rik Roberts School Of Laughs. If you want to learn about becoming a stand-up comedian, or just become a better one - visit the wwwSchoolOfLaughs.com web site.

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

Better yet, subscribe to the bi-monthly School of Laughs “Insider Tips” 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.

@SCHOOLOFLAUGHS on Twitter

Coming up with new material can be tough. But it doesn’t have to be.  When writer’s block interupts, you need to have a plan in place and keep moving forward.

No doubt, the pressure to be funny can sometimes prevent you from even writing down an idea. That is a mistake. Write it down! So on days when you “don’t know what you write about” you have something to work on.

If that doesn’t get you going, then maybe you should look in the mirror and WRITE NOW about what is going on in your life RIGHT NOW.

Forget about being funny for a few minutes. Just start asking yourself questions to get the pen moving or the keyboard clicking. In this episode, we talk about nine questions you can ask yourself to spur some content for your next joke.

Specifically, we talk about:

Crazy right? Lots of things are going on in your life and you need to address them. Do it through comedy! Write them out and think of each statement as your premise.

“Right now I need more sleep because …”

“Right now my biggest goal is to …”

Then, step back and fill in the blanks with something we wouldn’t expect. Make yourself laugh. Be absurd. Whatever it takes to get you thinking creatively.

If all of this fails, try going to a new place or surrounding to write. Or call a writing partner and bounce some ideas off of them.

Listen for more ideas throughout the podcast. And when you get inspired, hit pause and WRITE, RIGHT NOW!

ABOUT THE SCHOOL OF LAUGHS:

This podcast is a production of the Rik Roberts School Of Laughs. If you want to learn about becoming a stand-up comedian, or just become a better one - visit the wwwSchoolOfLaughs.com web site. 

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

Better yet, subscribe to the bi-monthly School of Laughs “Insider Tips” 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.

@SCHOOLOFLAUGHS  on Twitter

049 PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT INSIGHT (podcast)

Knowing how to approach different people based on their personality type can be a HUGE factor in whether you get your message across. Randy Miller of MOVE ON TODAY 2 specializes in identifying personality traits and how to interact with people based on them.

When it comes to being a comedian, this is a crucial skill. I specifically wanted Randy on the show to help us figure out how to deal with the people and personalities we interact with in our careers.

Specifically, we talked about:

• How do you know what type someone is?
• Are there questions you can ask that give you insight?
• What types of personalities are MOST people?
• Can personality types overlap?
• Are hecklers a certain type?
• How much does knowing your own personality help?
• In the green room, how can you pick up on various types?
• Are there different ways to approach each type?
• Should you market towards similar types?
• Would opposite types still like your comedy?
• Would it be wise to book a line up for a show using all 4 primary types?
• Should we openly tell an audience what type we are with our opening jokes?

And much, much more!

Overall, the discussion focuses on how we can use this knowledge to our advantage as comedians. I benefited from one using one of Randy’s tips the very next day. This is great, great stuff!

You can connect with Randy by visiting www.MoveOneTOday2.com . Find out more about what type you are and how people perceive you, as well as how you can connect better with others.

ABOUT THE SCHOOL OF LAUGHS:

This podcast is a production of the Rik Roberts School Of Laughs. If you want to learn about becoming a stand-up comedian, or just become a better one - visit the wwwSchoolOfLaughs.com web site.

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

Better yet, subscribe to the bi-monthly School of Laughs “Insider Tips” 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.

@SCHOOLOFLAUGHS on Twitter

049 PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT INSIGHT (podcast)

Knowing how to approach different people based on their personality type can be a HUGE factor in whether you get your message across. Randy Miller of MOVE ON TODAY 2 specializes in identifying personality traits and how to interact with people based on them.

When it comes to being a comedian, this is a crucial skill. I specifically wanted Randy on the show to help us figure out how to deal with the people and personalities we interact with in our careers.

Specifically, we talked about:

And much, much more!

Overall, the discussion focuses on how we can use this knowledge to our advantage as comedians. I benefited from one using one of Randy’s tips the very next day. This is great, great stuff!

You can connect with Randy by visiting www.MoveOneTOday2.com . Find out more about what type you are and how people perceive you, as well as how you can connect better with others.

ABOUT THE SCHOOL OF LAUGHS:

This podcast is a production of the Rik Roberts School Of Laughs. If you want to learn about becoming a stand-up comedian, or just become a better one - visit the wwwSchoolOfLaughs.com web site. 

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

Better yet, subscribe to the bi-monthly School of Laughs “Insider Tips” 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.

@SCHOOLOFLAUGHS  on Twitter

A former student of mine, and the executive director of the Nashville Film Institute Ted Crockett contacted me about appearing on a panel at the Nashville Film Institute’s “Film Festival”. I was interested. When he told me the panel was to discuss royalties and rights ownerships for comedians and performers - I was invested. When he told me it was going to be with a representative from SoundExchange - I was indebted.

When your bits are getting played on Pandora, SiriusXM (or many other streaming services) you are generating income. SoundExchange collects royalty money for you the comedian from digital play and streaming services. In fact, they have hundreds of thousands of dollars in unclaimed money they can’t wait to pay out comedians right now.

Linda Bloss-Baum from SoundExchange heads the panel, which also includes two other former School of Laughs students Brian Bates from episode #029 and Paulina Combow from episode # 041.

I love how entrenched the School Of Laughs is in this episode!

The old stand-up comedy approach was do shows, get paid. If you are only getting paid when you are on stage you will always have to tour. Forward thinking comedians need to be creating content. Digital recordings of your shows in any form (DVD, CD, MP3 downloads) can work for you, while you sleep.

Welcome to the digital age. Where files = financial freedom.

Whether you plan on releasing a CD or DVD for sale or not, you should be recording your shows. You should press at least a handful of CD’s to send to SiriusXM. And rip those files to be uploaded to iTunes, Pandora and anywhere else digital information is consumed.

We will follow up soon with a more detailed post about how to send your materials in to the various services for airplay. A quick explanation can be found on Episode #005.

But if you are already getting played and aren’t collecting royalties, your first step after listening to this episode is to go over to Sound Exchange.com and register as an artist and copyright owner (if you own your master files).

Thanks again for listening, and thanks to SoundExchange for helping fund my retirement!

NEVER MISS A PODCAST OR POST

Subscribe to the bi-monthly School of Laughs “Insider Tips” email and get exclusive information like this delivered right to your inbox. It’s fast, free useful and fun. Just email: [email protected] and put “insider tip sheet” in the subject header. I promise to keep your email anonymous and spam free.

If you enjoy this PODCAST please ...

subscribe in iTunes or

STITCHER and leave a comment and ranking.

Give us a shout @SCHOOLOFLAUGHS on Twitter

or watch a video on our YouTube Channel

Peace!

Rik

A former student of mine, and the executive director of the Nashville Film Institute Ted Crockett contacted me about appearing on a panel at the Nashville Film Institute’s “Film Festival”. I was interested. When he told me the panel was to discuss royalties and rights ownerships for comedians and performers - I was invested. When he told me it was going to be with a representative from SoundExchange - I was indebted.

When your bits are getting played on Pandora, SiriusXM (or many other streaming services) you are generating income. SoundExchange collects royalty money for you the comedian from digital play and streaming services. In fact, they have hundreds of thousands of dollars in unclaimed money they can’t wait to pay out comedians right now.

Linda Bloss-Baum from SoundExchange heads the panel, which also includes two other former School of Laughs students Brian Bates from episode #029 and Paulina Combow from episode # 041.

I love how entrenched the School Of Laughs is in this episode!

The old stand-up comedy approach was do shows, get paid. If you are only getting paid when you are on stage you will always have to tour. Forward thinking comedians need to be creating content. Digital recordings of your shows in any form (DVD, CD, MP3 downloads) can work for you, while you sleep.

Welcome to the digital age. Where files = financial freedom.

Whether you plan on releasing a CD or DVD for sale or not, you should be recording your shows. You should press at least a handful of CD’s to send to SiriusXM. And rip those files to be uploaded to iTunes, Pandora and anywhere else digital information is consumed.

We will follow up soon with a more detailed post about how to send your materials in to the various services for airplay. A quick explanation can be found on Episode #005.

But if you are already getting played and aren’t collecting royalties, your first step after listening to this episode is to go over to Sound Exchange.com and register as an artist and copyright owner (if you own your master files).

Thanks again for listening, and thanks to SoundExchange for helping fund my retirement!

NEVER MISS A PODCAST OR POST

Subscribe to the bi-monthly School of Laughs “Insider Tips” email and get exclusive information like this delivered right to your inbox. It’s fast, free useful and fun. Just email: [email protected] and put “insider tip sheet” in the subject header. I promise to keep your email anonymous and spam free.

If you enjoy this PODCAST please ...

subscribe in iTunes or 

STITCHER and leave a comment and ranking.

Give us a shout @SCHOOLOFLAUGHS  on Twitter

or watch a video on our YouTube Channel

Peace!

Rik

047 BOB HOPE & BEYOND - Interview with comedy writer Martha Bolton

Martha Bolton is a joke-writing machine! As a staff writer for Bob Hope for over fifteen years, Martha developed the comedic muscles to crank out an incredible amount of comedy material. Many others including Phyllis Diller, have hired Martha to produce comedy gold.

In this interview, Martha walks us through the steps of her journey from writing jokes for “roasts” as a church secretary all the way to becoming a poet, lyricist and playwright. As if that isn’t enough, she is also the author of over 88 books!

Every generation listening will gain insight into the many facets of comedy writing. From having to throw out and rewrite an entire set of jokes merely hours before a show, to how the advent of the fax machine changed the way she delivered jokes.

Listen in as we talk about:

• How much she got paid for her first joke
• How many jokes her and seven other writers cranked out in one weekend
• The staggering amount of hours of prime time television she has contributed to
• How amazing it was to be sitting in a dressing room with the likes of Lucille Ball, Milton Berle, & George Burns
• A unique way Bob Hope stored and protected the jokes he was given
• A great story about Bob Hope covering for one of his writers
• How comedians may want a president to take office strictly based on potential material
• How she has tapped into “writing by emotion”
• A simple but powerful tip on how to make progress as a comedy writer
• A way of “scoring” her material to weed out the weaker jokes
• How her and her fellow writers would react when Bob delivered one of their jokes that killed (and how they reacted when it didn’t)
• Why other people can see a joke’s potential when you can’t
• The confidence of Bob Hope in his patient delivery

and much, much more

To find out more about Martha Bolton ...

Visit www.MarthaBolton.com

IMBD website http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0093426/

http://www.bethlehemorbust.com

http://www.bluegatemusicals.com

NEVER MISS A PODCAST OR POST

Subscribe to the bi-monthly School of Laughs “Insider Tips” email and get exclusive information like this 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 promise to keep your email anonymous and spam free.

ABOUT THE SCHOOL OF LAUGHS:

This podcast is a production of the Rik Roberts School Of Laughs. If you want to learn about becoming a stand-up comedian, or just become a better one - visit the wwwSchoolOfLaughs.com web site.

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

@SCHOOLOFLAUGHS on Twitter

047 BOB HOPE & BEYOND - Interview with comedy writer Martha Bolton 

Martha Bolton is a joke-writing machine! As a staff writer for Bob Hope for over fifteen years, Martha developed the comedic muscles to crank out an incredible amount of comedy material. Many others including Phyllis Diller, have hired Martha to produce comedy gold.

In this interview, Martha walks us through the steps of her journey from writing jokes for “roasts” as a church secretary all the way to becoming a poet, lyricist and playwright. As if that isn’t enough, she is also the author of over 88 books!

Every generation listening will gain insight into the many facets of comedy writing. From having to throw out and rewrite an entire set of jokes merely hours before a show, to how the advent of the fax machine changed the way she delivered jokes.

Listen in as we talk about:

and much, much more

To find out more about Martha Bolton ...

Visit www.MarthaBolton.com

IMBD website http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0093426/

http://www.bethlehemorbust.com

http://www.bluegatemusicals.com

NEVER MISS A PODCAST OR POST

Subscribe to the bi-monthly School of Laughs “Insider Tips” email and get exclusive information like this 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 promise to keep your email anonymous and spam free.

ABOUT THE SCHOOL OF LAUGHS:

This podcast is a production of the Rik Roberts School Of Laughs. If you want to learn about becoming a stand-up comedian, or just become a better one - visit the wwwSchoolOfLaughs.com web site.

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

@SCHOOLOFLAUGHS  on Twitter

Like it or not, part of the job of a comedian is “sales”. You are constantly selling your act, selling your professionalism, selling yourself to bookers, owners, managers, agents and audiences. If you can’t spend some time to develop that skill, you will struggle. It’s plain, and simple.

Whether you represent yourself or not, this podcast is a must listen for comics who:

• Can’t seem to get enough work
• Have leads evaporate
• Are passed over for opportunities
• Aren’t generating enough gigs and money to go full time
• Can’t find enough stage time
• Are completely lost when it comes to creating offers, deals and “sales”

Selling isn’t only about making money. It’s also about getting stage time. Represent yourself poorly, and you’ll linger among the many honorable, but starving artists.

So, with best intentions, this episode addresses some key aspects of creating opportunities by following 12 key sales strategies for comics. Listen for ideas, concepts and strategies to implement. Don’t be shy. If you aren’t confident selling yourself, then maybe you need to change your comedy “product”.

We talk specifically about,

• Why you need to get the “buyers” attention
• One thing you must identify to make yourself interesting
• How you can be an asset to someone with a problem
• Preparing for your introductory sales pitch
• Helping the buyer to envision life with you in it
• Enabling “social proof” for your value
• Tips on how to make your offer
• One key ingredient that makes you the best solution
• Reassuring the buyer they are making a wise decision
• An often forgotten technique for generating response
• Why a “warning” sometimes helps
• How to close your pitch

And much, much more!

NEVER MISS A PODCAST OR POST

Subscribe to the bi-monthly School of Laughs “Insider Tips” email and get exclusive information like this 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 promise to keep your email anonymous and spam free.

Like it or not, part of the job of a comedian is “sales”. You are constantly selling your act, selling your professionalism, selling yourself to bookers, owners, managers, agents and audiences. If you can’t spend some time to develop that skill, you will struggle. It’s plain, and simple.

Whether you represent yourself or not, this podcast is a must listen for comics who:

Selling isn’t only about making money. It’s also about getting stage time. Represent yourself poorly, and you’ll linger among the many honorable, but starving artists.

So, with best intentions, this episode addresses some key aspects of creating opportunities by following 12 key sales strategies for comics. Listen for ideas, concepts and strategies to implement. Don’t be shy. If you aren’t confident selling yourself, then maybe you need to change your comedy “product”.

We talk specifically about,

And much, much more!

NEVER MISS A PODCAST OR POST

Subscribe to the bi-monthly School of Laughs “Insider Tips” email and get exclusive information like this 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 promise to keep your email anonymous and spam free.