How to Make an Industry Ready Stand Up Comedy Set

You must take many steps before actually getting paid to do comedy. There are open mic nights, bringer shows, auditions and callbacks. If you have done the open mics and the bringers, this guide will help you build your industry set for auditions.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Compiling Your Set

1. Pick your material. If you've reached the point of an industry set, you probably already have quite a bit of material. The first thing that you need to know is that when you are doing an audition set, you should be pitching your sitcom. Talk about you, your family, your life. Don't do jokes about the airport or the subway. Stay away from the hackneyed material that you hear about too often. Again, they want to hear about you. They want your sitcom.

2. Watch the clock: Keep your time in mind. Most industry auditions are either five or seven minutes long, with the majority being at five. If you have jokes that run long, but you want to include them, stick to a "Set up, punchline, kicker" format. Cut out the wordiness that you may have during longer sets. You want to get the most out of your time.

3. Finish on a strong note. You want to start and end your set on a strong note. Those are the two most important parts of the set. Ultimately, how you walk on and off of the stage is what sticks out the most. Keep that in mind when you are putting together the order of your jokes.

Preparing

4. Practice. Run your set over and over again. Time yourself. Keep in mind how much time your set should be. Don't forget time for laugh and applause breaks. Remember how your jokes do during other shows so that you have an idea of which jokes get the biggest laughs. Make sure that you don't go over your time during the set. Industry people know that the red light means you have one minute left, and they'll notice if you run long. Fifteen seconds over is acceptable, one minute over isn't.

5. Memorize. Absolutely make sure that you know your order like the back of your hand. You shouldn't be working a crowd at all during an industry set since you don't have the time to, so you shouldn't end up losing track of where you are.

6. Stay calm. There may be a little more pressure on an audition set than there would be on a regular set. Keep your cool, don't throw back a bunch of drinks or freak out. Ultimately, you should be performing for the audience and not the industry member.

7. Know what the industry wants. They want to see how the crowd responds to you, but they also want to see that your material is new, original and is a valid look into your life. They want to hear your voice and see your stage presence, and are looking for a fresh take on things.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't get strung along by bookers who are just trying to find comedians to do bringers for them. It's a very rough industy,