How Do You Handle a Small Crowd?

Sometimes I get to do a show for crowds of thousands and yes, sometimes I have to do a show for less than that. Much less. I recently did a show for 4 people. Yes, Four. It wasn't the first time either.
Most comedy clubs have a minimum before they continue with a show, usually between 6 - 15 people. Smaller rooms and clubs will let the comedian decide. I think if there is less than 10 people, the show should generally be cancelled, unless its a smaller room that only holds 20-30 people but in this recent case, I had no say. And since I was closing the showcase of comedians, the show had already started before I arrived to close it out. The show must go on.

This show I did for 4 people was in a smaller room but if I knew in advance, I would probably not have done the show. Not that I have done shows for less than five people before; I have. But by the time I got to the show (I was closing), it was clear that the audience was well aware of the irregularity of the situation. They were not comfortable for whatever reason and I am not sure if the comedians before me drew attention to the situation or not.

If "the show must go on" and I have any say, I would tell the club or producer to shorten the show. Its already awkward for the audience to see that its smaller so they will not mind if a show is shorter. That didn't happen here but it was a smaller room and the other comedians went into the audience to make it "more full." I could tell nobody had left to even leave the bathroom for fear of being pointed out by one of the audience members.

The last thing to do is bring attention to the crowd size. It's not their fault that the show is not crowded, so I didn't blame them. They actually showed up to laugh, so I tried make them laugh. And when things I planned to do didn't work, I still tried to make them laugh or at least, be entertained. I still have a job to do and these four people paid to be entertained, not be yelled at or ridiculed for not laughing as hard as a room of 300.

Obviously, it wasn't gonna be the same set as a full crowd so I have to adjust and maybe make it personal and try to include them in a more conversational show, as opposed to a regular set. I talked to them about stuff from my set that they could relate to or at least remember. I also wanted to work out some new jokes but I sandwiched them in between some "hits" that I knew would possible work.

In the end, I had a good time and I think at least one of them had a good time. Thats batting .250 which is not bad. #standup #careerchange #comedy