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For a stand up comedy show, you want to have a comedian you work with compliment you or have a styler that matches yours. For example, if you are a clean comedian, you don't want a comedian who swears and discussed issues that are considered X-rated or filthy. But sometimes you match with a comedian you are working with too much. When I pick someone to open for me, I like to have a completely different viewpoint to compliment me, I talk about being a straight single middle eastern man who was a former lawyer. When I work with people who are middle eastern and single, there is often an overlap and I have to change my set if I am the headliner. One time the comedian opening for me talking about being single in his 40s for most of his set, well, that's a big part of my comedy. I prefer to find married or women of the LGTBQ community to open for me, when possible. Recently, I opened for a comedian who was running late to the show but he asked me to be clean, which is never an issue for me, because I already am (other than swearing a little when I can). Because he was late, he did not have a chance to watch my set. After my set, the first two premises he discussed were identical to mine. The jokes were completely different but he addressed the same two specific topics that I just spoke of without acknowledging that I just spoke about that. Because the jokes were different and from different perspectives, it didn't matter that we had identical premises and topics. Like the audience in that moment, I was sitting there for a split second thinking this would be a repeated broken record. Thankfully it wasn't but it did remind me of why it's so important to watch the set before you (when you can). And while I always try to find comedians who are funnier than me and compliment me so the audience had a full show, it's also import that its not a complete match. Just a slight overlap in a Venn diagram is ideal. #comedy #standup #matching #formerlawyer 
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I love being on stage; more as a comedian than I did as a musician. I feel comfortable most of the times but the things that make me uncomfortable are comedians I respect watching me and people talking loudly. When comedians I am not friends but with I looked up or respect are watching my set, I get nervous and in my head. As a person with impostor syndrome, I feel like the comedian will be able to see the fraud that I am. Comedians I am friends with or familiar with, I am okay with watching, unless it’s a group of them, all watching and judging. I wish I could be a comedian that other comedians loved but it’s just not in the cards. I am happy to do comedy" for the masses" or my mass, or well the small handful of people that like my comedy. I remember years ago I hated when the other comedians on the show would watch my set. It felt like junior high and high school again where I was certain they were talking about me. As I am now a more experienced comedians, the number of comedians who started before me are few and far between on my shows. They have either gone on to much bigger things or just not doing comedy anymore. Maybe I am the comedian that makes other comedians uncomfortable? I also hate when people are talking loudly during my show. If they are having a conversation and i can hear their voices during my jokes, I get very uncomfortable and sometimes lose my place in a joke. I am thinking of ways to get them to shut up, especially when I see they are ruining the show for others (the small handful) who are trying to enjoy my set. I don’t like the traditional heckler who yells out to “try to help” the show but usually if I hear what they say, I can respond and in some ways, I like to prove that I am in the moment and can be sharp witted and quick on my feet. That is one of the few gifts of being a former trial lawyer. That being said, don’t heckle! But more importantly, don’t come to a show to have a conversation. That’s why I always found it hard to understand why people don’t like to go to comedy shows alone. You are not gonna be talking during the show, so why do you need to go with someone? Finally, if you are comedian and you are talking during a show in the showroom, you are the worst. That is one of my biggest pet peeves in comedy. If the comedian on stage can hear you that means others can hear you as well. Whether you are in the back talking loud or by the side of the stage, be quiet. And you are a fellow comedian so you know this is irksome for yourself. Keep the questions coming and please keep sharing my dates on the road and my social media. I don’t have management or an agent for comedy, so it really helps me gain possible supporters. Hope to see you in DC, Florida and Boston this month #standup #comedy #formerlawyer #washingtonDC #boston #westpalmbeach  I think about this all the time, especially when I am driving to a gig hours away from home or after a show that did not go well, hours away. Or when I look at line ups where I am the oldest comedian. I started comedy later in life, after two other careers, in my mid thirties. Most of the “class" of comedians I started with are just hitting their mid-thirties. Mentally, I think I can sustain the road work and comedy life. I know my self worth is “worthy” even if I don’t have great show because of my prior jobs and what I bring to the table for family and friends. Physically, I have the discipline to avoid bad habits like drinking too much and I am pretty strict on staying active with work outs nearly every day. The question really is relevance. How long can I write and stay relevant to an audience willing to pay to see me do comedy? Can I fill rooms at 55? 60? I don’t know. People say “Well you can always go back to practicing law” which is true but I won’t do that. I would love to have a job that is comedy adjacent where I can use my skills from stand up and podcasting to interview and entertain people. I also love writing comedy. So I guess thats like 6 years unless I go viral before that. LOL. Come see me live this weekend in Minneapolis, Duluth and Janesville so I can keep doing comedy! #standup #comedy #careerchange  Well, first to be funny. That's the most important thing. LOL. Also to be a good writer, actor and having a good work ethic helps. So many things that are important qualities in other jobs are important in comedy. One you don't hear a lot about is the ability to listen. I have said this before but being a good comedian requires listening. Listening to what the crowd is saying or not saying (with their laughter), listening to what is working (and not working) to shift and work with what the crowd is liking, or what you think is liking. Recently I did a show at a club I have worked at over a dozen times. It feels like home there now but the crowd that night was "being weird". When I talked to the other comedians, we all agreed they were a little slower but when I listened to my set that I recorded, I realized they were just slower and I was not giving them time to laugh. In this situation, the crowd was older. Much older. For later weekend crowds, crowds are slower, just because they are a little intoxicated. This was no different, except they were older and slower. I didn't listen. #standup #careerchange #formerlawyer  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  |
AuthorPaul Farahvar is a comedian hailing from Chicago, Ill. Archives
May 2025
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