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I still don't know. LOL. It honestly is something that is hard to figure out sometimes, while other times, it just clicks right away. I have had things I spend days and months and years working on to make "funny" when other times, I accidentally say something in the moment on stage as a "riff" with an audience member that ends up being funnier that anything I have ever "written". For me, the best way to figure it out is repetition, trial and error and talking to other comedians. Most recently, I had thought of something related to how people get upset when younger people don't know a band or an actor from before their time. I wondered how far that went back and started talking about it on stage last week and working it out on stage with an act out of a civil war veteran getting mad that his wife didn't know Stonewall Jackson. Now, a week and five attempts later, I have something that sometimes pops with a huge laugh and other times does not work as well but always seems to do okay. So I have to work out the wording, listen to it and tweak it to see what is the "funny". Trial and error. Other times, I know or think something is so so funny but it doesn't work on stage so I have to figure out why the premise that I think is funny is not working on stage. Trial and error and error and error. But I work all this out on stage during the week and try it out before the weekend, when it counts. This weekend you can see the final produce on this "Stonewall Jackson" joke at Sidesplitters in Tampa on Saturday or Sunday at Mccurdys Comedy Club in Sarasota. Get your tickets #laughs #standupcomedy #newjokes #formerlawyer 
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So many memorable from my first weekend headlining a club, getting passed at the Laugh Factory and Zanies to be a regular, opening for my favorite comedian or performing at the Vic Theater in Chicago. One memory that stands out however is when I was handing out after a show with one of my favorite comedians who sells out theaters nationwide. I was friends with his opener who invited me to the hotel patio to hang out on the patio with them. There was a group of 10 people just outside on a patio, drinking and smoking cigars. This was when restrictions for Covid and just opened up so people were just happy to be socializing again. There was a tense and awkward moment where a fight almost broke out because a drunk passerby thought my friend Alan* stole his bottle of alcohol, which he would not do because he doesn't drink. It was a ridiculous accusation on so many levels but the drunk was furious and wanted to start a fight. Cooler heads prevailed and when the tension left the patio, it was dead calm and silent for a few seconds as the drunk left the area, and then I yelled to everyone "Just give him back the bottle, Alan!" The patio went nuts. My friend Alan was bent over crying and laughing. So were strangers that were hanging around. But most importantly for me was that I made one of my idols die laughing as well; a comedian that sells out theaters, ranked of one of the greatest of all times and someone who made me die laughing for years. He was hunched over laughing and then said 'This kids got jokes." Easily one of the best moments of my life #standup #moments #throwback #comedy  Oh man. Not well! No seriously, it's hard to recover from a show that goes poorly, but its actually part of the process. If you never bomb, you are not taking enough chances as a comedian. You will never grow. It took me a while to realize that. Not right after the show, but sometime the next day, I try to listen or watch my set and see what went wrong. Clearly, if I am working on new material or taking a lot of chances, maybe I am prepared for it not going well, so those are easy to cope with. When you are doing your proven material and it doesn't work, it's hard not to question your career choice and your ability to be a stand up comedian. I replay the choices I made and try to see what, if anything I could have done better or differently. As for actually coping, I usually eat some comfort food or chocolate. Lol. The next day or before the next show (if its the same night), I prepare and just try to make sure the next show goes well to build momentum. I go back and listen to my sets, good and bad, right before the next show. For the next show, I usually ensure I start strong so as to not fall into a pattern of bad shows.  I was asked about any unexpected moments on stages a while ago and I could not think of any but of course, then it happened. I was doing a capacity show when five minutes into my set, someone yelled out something. I was doing a somewhat mild joke about my elderly parents so I was not ready for a heckler but I have offended people before so I tried to listen. Then I heard her yell "My husband is sitting right here with another woman" and then more details information about how he lied to her about where he was going tonight. A physical altercation began but the staff at the club quickly got control of the situation but not before 300+ people all focused on the Jerry Springer drama that transpired, instead of the comedian on stage. Me. I have had situations when someone drunk is removed from the crowd and I was able to distract the audience with some crowd work in a different area of the room to take people's attention away from what was happening. That's my trick; finding someone in the audience to talk to on the other side of the room. In this case, however, NOBODY was looking at me. For over 2 minutes (felt like an hour) this went on. Finally when the philanderer was removed, I was able to call back to a joke I made before and then, because it was Valentines Day, I was able to say "So how's everyone's Valentines Day going so far?". Applause break. But for the next half of the show, I had lost the crowd who was clearly more interested in knowing what happened with the husband and wife. I talked to the other comedians who witnessed it and they said they had never seen anything like that before and I handled it well. People after the show said the same thing. At the time, I felt like a deer in headlights and that I was bombing. But the reality is, I could not plan for something like that and short of taking off my clothes, there was nothing more interesting than gaping at the mess happening in front of us. Comedy! #standup #unexpectedmoments #formerlawyer #comedycareer  Recently, I had a somewhat extreme 48 hours in comedy. I arrived late to the city to headline a Thursday show which was supposed to start at 8pm but because ticket sales were better than expected, didn't start until 8:20pm as more and more people arrived to be seated. Some of the city's best comedians opener for me and crushed it. By the time I went on stage just before 10pm, I had, at best a mediocre set and at worst a bomb. It was late for a Thursday, but I should have done better and as a seasoned pro, I should have adjusted to the late show and the energy in the room but I didn't. The next day I was scheduled to feature (open) a weekend for a friend of mine at a club I have been trying to get into for a few years. Twenty minutes before the first show on Friday, a disgruntled employee was threatening my friend's life so we had to cancel the shows. I quickly texted a few other comedian friends randomly in town that I knew to see if I could get up on their shows. I also looked up flights to leave town the next day to avoid a weekend without shows if that didn't work out. They both said ok. As I was leaving to go to the other venue, the manager of the club contacted me to say the other show (same club, different room) they had that weekend did not have a feature all weekend. I called my friends who gave me spots and said it would not be necessary. I ended up featuring all weekend with a comedian I knew and respected and had four amazing shows. Then, that Saturday the shows that I was scheduled to perform resumed as planed, so I did those shows as well. I was on a high. Well, the next day, I found out a gig I was headlining in March was cancelled for another comedian who had 500k followers on social media. About two hours later, I got a call where I was made a headliner for the Improv in Chicago this Sunday when the scheduled headliner had a conflict and had to leave town early. Two ups, Two downs, ending on a high. Comedy #standup #formerlawyer #comedian  |
AuthorPaul Farahvar is a comedian hailing from Chicago, Ill. Archives
February 2025
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