Being a comedian isn’t as easy as you might initially think. Comedians must possess some powerfully captivating, intriguing, and entertaining skills to succeed.
Top Comedic Skills
- Great comedic timing is essential for comedians.
- All speakers need to have exceptional storytelling skills to captivate their audience.
- Comedians need to be able to utilize humor perfectly!
- Originality and authenticity are essential.
- Comedians need to be involved with their creative and thoughtful side
Here are five of the top skills that comedians need to have.
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#1. Comedians Know How To Use Comedic Timing
Being a comedian is about more than having a few solid jokes up your sleeve. Comedians must finetune some extremely valuable skills to ensure they are a hit with the audience.
Comedians are speakers, and they entertain an audience while performing or giving a speech on stage. So, in addition to having exceptional stage presence, comedians also need to know how to properly utilize comedic timing.
The Skill All Comedians Need To Have
Comedic timing is the pace and rhythm of a joke or line. It all comes down to the delivery of every word.
A flawed rhythm can lead to a butchered joke or an uncompelling storyline. Comedic timing is perhaps even more important than the joke itself.
Timing, pacing, and rhythm are also about pauses. Great speakers and exceptional comedians know how to use pauses to get their point across.
When in doubt, don’t be afraid of the silence, and remember to take a breath. Especially when faced with nervousness or anxiety, people tend to speed up their words and jumble sentences.
But by properly utilizing comedic timing, your entire act will flow seamlessly.
#2. Any Speaker Needs To Have Great Storytelling Skills
Great speakers are great storytellers. And comedians need to know how to use personal or narrative stories in their acts.
Storytelling has been a powerful form of communication since the beginning of our species. And for comedians, it’s perhaps the best way to build audience rapport, spark connections, and ignite entertainment.
Utilizing Storytelling As A Stand-Up Comedian Or Entertainer
Great comedians can approach storytelling in different ways. But often, speakers and entertainers opt to tell personal stories as this type of raw and authentic content is better for connecting with your audience.
Your listeners want to know you’re real and genuine.
Plus, personal stories make jokes funnier. And it makes your material more believable.
Personal stories have the ability to reach your audience on a deeper level to spark genuine enjoyment.
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#3. Humor Is Key!
Comedians know how to use the art of public speaking to effectively communicate with an audience and garner rapport and trust. The greatest comedians understand the vast importance of communication skills, and they don’t let them go waste.
But comedy is an art. The comedic creative process is a long and winding journey, with each person’s end result looking different.
When it comes to comedy, one aspect shouldn’t be ignored. It might be obvious at first glance, but sometimes people overlook it.
And that critical aspect is humor!
A Fundamental Aspect Of Comedy
Keep in mind there’s a lot that goes into the humor aspect of comedy. It stems from a unique and effective combination of delivery, originality, and comfort.
If your audience isn’t comfortable with the jokes you’re making, it’s not comedy. Therefore, you need to ensure your content is tailored to the audience you’re speaking to. If you end up offending or diving a large portion of your crowd with crude jokes, you’re off to a bad start.
That’s why our entire team here at Clean Comedians is clean. We steer clear of political, inappropriate, or divisive topics, so everyone feels relaxed and at ease. It’s easy for people to laugh when they feel comfortable!
From jugglers to comedic magicians, all our speakers tailor their content to their unique audience. So, if you’re looking for a killer opening act for your upcoming company event, you’ve found it!
#4. A Comedian Needs To Be Original And Authentic
When we hear the same joke repeatedly, it’s not funny anymore. Even hearing a similar one-liner only a second time already greatly diminishes its level of wit.
And the same goes for any comedic act.
The best comedians are original and authentic. They have a unique sense of humor and an individual form of delivery. This is what really makes something funny!
Just remember that an audience can tell when something isn’t genuine. So not only will it likely ring a bell for a few, but the content won’t match your on-stage character.
A unique style and originality can go a long way in setting you apart from other comedians. People appreciate when there is a fresh outlook, or when new ideas are thrown into the mix. And genuine authenticity can score you some major points with the crowd!
#5. Creativity And Thoughtfulness
Delivery and originality are only part of it. The mark of a great comedian is also exceptional creativity and thoughtfulness.
Creative comedy is about taking risks and developing an original act. Any great comedian finds their unique edge and capitalizes on it. Take, for example, Armando Anto, who uses his experience in classical violin to wow the crowd.
Any comedian needs to thoroughly understand what it takes to make their audience crack up.
Laughter can come about from more than a punchline. You don’t need to be giving constant one-liners to keep the crowd consistently laughing. Instead, it’s about integrating humourous content into your entire act.
Entertainers also need to be mindful that comedy is found more in how they say their words instead of what they say.
Wrapping Up
A lot goes into being a successful comedian, but each person will go about it differently. Finding the style that best suits you is vital to spark genuine laughter!
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Adam Christing is a professional comedy magician, virtual MC, and the founder of CleanComedians.com. He is a member of the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood and a popular corporate entertainer, magician, and virtual speaker.
