Being an MC as a Beginning Comedian

Video Transcript

"CHRIS MURPHY: Hi. On behalf of Expert Village, this is Chris Murphy. I'm here at the New York Comedy Club in New York City. Today we're going to talk about how to have a career in comedy. Okay, this is the emcee. The emcee is the backbone of the show; very, very important. When you're emceeing what you should be doing in the beginning is tell the crowd they're about to see an outstanding show. Get them excited about the whole evening. Make sure they know the comics in the show are going to be wonderful. Even before you do material, do that first. And speaking of material, what do you do? Do you work the crowd or do you do the material? Me, I prefer doing material first to see how strong my jokes are in front of a cold, sober crowd. And if they aren't working quite so well, then I go in the crowd and kinda warm them up, have a nice, loose atmosphere. And it's very important when you're bringing a person up to have a wonderful intro so the crowd is expecting a good job. Also, let's say that guy is working blue or a one-liner, do whatever he kinda does right before you bring him up. Alright? Also, if someone kills before him, do some time in between. Make sure the crowd settle down. Be a team player to be a good emcee."