As you might have noticed, I arranged the songs for all the four chapters according to the musical genre the chapters are attached to: Mod, Ska and Soul. As the fourth chapter is the closest to the present, I put up songs or trakcs that are a bit younger of age. This one’s from the Australian Dj-project ‘First Born’ and is from 1999.
Also I finished the last bits and pieces this week. It could still be that there are comments form the publisher to make some changes, but if not, that would be it. Finally.
But I will only realize this when I finally hold the book in my hands.
Funny thing that of all weekends this weekend the Tour De France starts in my town. I’m not very much into it, but of course we will be watching. After all there are bicycles in it.
First Born – The Mood ClubWhether in person or online Stand-Up comedy classes are a ton of fun and help students of all ages develop valuable skills in creative writing, critical thinking, public speaking, and self confidence. Below is an outline of our curriculum. Sign up for our public classes currently available worldwide or bring this program to your school, community or corporate group. NYC DOE VENDORS since 2010, Touring Nationwide and now worldwide via ZOOM.
Online Classes – Click links below for schedule and registration options.
We combine Improv & Stand-Up Comedy in our online programming for kids & teens. One helps develop the other skill set. Combined the students grow quickly as creative, confident leaders.
Before we look at step one or my four step process to developing new material, lets look at what you will do at every step. This is for total beginners or experienced comics. This is the formula to growing as a comic and not being one that watches the world pass them by.
PREPARE YOURSELF: Get your self ready to perform. Brainstorm Ideas, Brainstorm Details, Outline Ideas or Add some Funny. Set yourself up to succeed. I have study guides, one-pager writing prompts for each step to guide you.
GET ON STAGE: Focus on HAVING FUN! Don’t try to be funny. Don’t try to be clever. Just talk, share you ideas, and most importantly LISTEN. Stand Up comedy is a one on one conversation with crowd. RECORD EVERY SET.
ANALYZE YOUR WORK: This is when the real work starts. Tear the work apart. NEVER TEAR YOURSELF APART. This is not about ego or insecurity. Break down the good, the bad, the ugly in the most objective manner. Review video of your work. Write down any improvised lines that got a laugh. We will want to repeat these again and again. Ultimately the goal is to have EVERY word/phrase lead to a laugh. Don’t force this process, as you will find later, we want to FIND THE FUNNY. When we try to be funny/clever, we end up being jerky and/or disconnected. The best comedy insights come from the discovery process of improv as well as trial and error.
Create a list of 5-10 ideas. When brainstorming ideas, don’t edit, don’t try to be funny, don’t try to be clever.  I like to say VOMIT ideas onto the paper. GROSS I know. Let the volcano of creativity flow out of control at this stage.
As a writing prompt, write down a word or two to reflect ANY idea that pops into your mind when you think of things that you experienced or observed at home, school, work, shopping, on vacation, transportation, etc. Anything happen at the park, the bank, on the bus, train, airplane…? 
Keep working this list until it is your turn to share. Get on stage, stand in front of the class, or take focus on ZOOM. Simply read off your list and/or start sharing the story reflected on your list. Just talk. HAVE FUN. LISTEN to yourself and the audience response.
OK, now what? The second you get off stage start reflecting the past few minutes. Skip the ego/insecure responses. Those are a waste of your time and energy. Jump right in on the questions: WHAT WORKED? WHAT FELL FLAT? WHAT PEAKED INTEREST BUT…?
At this stage we are merely looking for a connection to certain ideas. We are not expecting any of the ideas to be comedy gold, not yet. For now, what stories connected to you or the audience? What stories completely fell flat? What stories held their attention? At what points did the flake out and start checking their phones, etc? Don’t take these responses personally. This process is not exciting enough to hold everyone’s attention, with rare exception. (VERY RARE).
This is the time we edit our list. From your list of 5-10 ideas, cut it down to 1-3 to focus in the next step. You can go back and use the other ideas next week/class session. Make a choice. Which ideas inspire you to dig further?
Let’s flush out some things to enrich our stories. At this point focus on what really happened.
WHO are the characters involved? You are probably the main character of the story. List all the characters involved. Consider the extras in your story as well. Extras in TV/Film are those non speaking characters. Every story has extras. In a play, we often have to imagine the other people in the world not represented by actual actors. For the sake of this exercise, what did these seeming non consequential do? Did they ignore the action of the story? Did they stop and stare? How did they react? They may or may not be discussed in your story but they do set the tone of how you tell the story. For the main and secondary characters, go into some detail. Who are they and how do they relate to you/each other? List their character traits, moods, clothing etc.
WHERE did the story take place? Describe the location, include how it felt – cluttered v open space, hot v cold, wet v dry, light v dark etc. All these things effect our character and paint the picture for our audience.
WHAT happened? Brainstorm details regarding the actions of the characters. what changed, what stayed the same as a result of the actions.
Now re-share the same stories from previous sessions, armed with all these new details. HAVE FUN! Just talk. Don’t try to be funny/clever.
Again, tear the work, NOT YOURSELF, apart. From all the new details, which just cluttered the point of the story and which helped shape the story towards funnier outcomes and understanding.
NOW I want you to think about how can we make these stories more funny. Too often students/amateur comics skip to this step. There are many ways to make your stories funnier. Consider technique such as MAGIC THREE, combining stories/characters into a single crazy life episode, exaggerating details, solving the problem, writing the line you wish you would have said or the action you wish you would have taken, etc. Again we have a full study of ideas but every routine/comic is unique and this is where we do this most work with our students to enhance their work.
ALSO start to consider your presentation skills. Sometimes a story becomes funnier simply by finding the right tone and rhythm of the moment. Play with tempo/pace of the delivery, find places to get louder/softer, higher/lower pitched. And when in doubt heighten the attitude of the moment.
Share the SAME story/stories again with the new takes.
Once again identify from new and repeated work, what is leading to laughs, what is delaying the funny unnecessarily, bogging us down with unfunny, unnecessary set-up, etc.
From now one while working on this routine we will continually repeat Steps 3 & 4.
Continue to Find the Funny. Every time you are about perform, look for new ways to punch up the laughs.  Set yourself up to succeed by organizing your thoughts. Start considering your opening and closing line, as well as a general order of major points you ant to make. You can put this on the stool or just to the side of your camera on zoom as a guide. If you flake out for a moment, this list will help keep you on track with today’s game plan.
EVERY TIME you take stage from now on make an outline of the routine fresh.
Continue to reflect the good, the bad, the ugly. What new stuff worked or fell flat?
The rest of your life as a comic will continue the above steps. Every time you need to develop new material, go all the way back to step one. Every time you retell the same routine, go back to steps three and four. Every time you get on stage is a chance to grow as a comic. Every time you waste this time you sip backwards. There is no such thing as a plateau in the arts. Every perceived plateau is a back slide. Make the conscious choice to look for new ways to make people laugh.
Unlike a Broadway show, with its closing nights, or a TV/FILM shoot with its final days on set, your comedy material is always in flux. Over years you will find certain stories get stale. You can choose to retire them from service or revamp to find new life. If you get to a certain level, a comic with a new comedy special every year, you will developing new material constantly. The pros go back to step one almost every week.
At the club before their set, or at the diner, or on the