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Step 1
Study the acts of professional stand-up comedians. Record their shows, and watch them over and over. Get a feel for their techniques and how they deliver their material.
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Step 2
Listen to yourself. Use an audio tape or preferably a video tape to play back your routine. Take notes. Develop your comic timing. Pay attention to body movement and language.
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Step 3
Perform at open mics. Call local comedy clubs to see when open mic nights are held. Coffee shops, bars and nightclubs may also offer open mics.
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Step 4
Invite family members and friends to open mic nights. This will help create a larger audience for you. They may be more critical than a regular audience, but this will get you used to performing in front of a large group of people.
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Step 5
Develop your own onstage persona. This may take years to do. Rodney Dangerfield took 20 years to create his famous "No Respect" routine. Keep at it. Perseverance pays off.
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Step 6
Follow the news. Many comics, like Lewis Black and John Stewart, have built largely successful careers as satirists who take their material from daily events.
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Step 7
Consider your autobiography. No, not as a book. Look at every aspect of your life, particularly your relationships with family, friends and significant others. You'll find a lot of material in your daily interactions and some of it won't even need a comic twist to be funny. Keep a journal detailing interesting incidents.
