Confidence without knowing the answer: a comedy secret

When I started doing stand-up, I wanted to be just like Al Murray.

You might know him by a character he often plays - the Pub Landlord.

In real life, Al Murray is an extremely intelligent man who studied history at Oxford. But in character, he’s the kind of politically incorrect, old school pub landlord who hangs crap on you as you walk in the door.?

But what really impressed me was his crowd work.?

So naturally, I did crowd work too.

I love playing with words, so it's always fun to get an audience’s response - and then twist it for a laugh. The crowd loves it when I unearth a bit of gossip about a couple - as long as it’s not them of course!

But what really honed my crowd work was learning a system from my stand-up coach.

Wait a second, Alan. You mean comedians don’t just make it all up on the spot?

That’s right.

In fact, I’ll show you how it’s done.

And then I’ll give you another system you can use to be more confident in meetings when you don’t know the answer.?

How to Work the Crowd with Confidence

Here’s the system for crowd work:?

Pick one person in the crowd and ask them a question that can only have two outcomes.

For example, I might spot a couple and open up with a few lines.

“Mate, what’s your name?

Is this your girlfriend?”

Then, I’ll hit him with the question:

“On your first date, was there alcohol involved?”

See? Only two outcomes - it’s a yes-or-no question.

It doesn’t matter which one he picks. I have a joke ready for each answer. And both of them happen to be based on Irish people’s need for a drink - especially on first dates.

There’s also a third option: the riff.

If something funny comes up when I ask if they’re a couple, then I can play with that. And if it’s not funny, that’s okay - I still have the fallback joke.

That gives me the confidence to mess around. Because no matter what happens, I can always bring it back and get a laugh.

That’s the secret to crowd work. It looks unpredictable and spontaneous - and sometimes, it is. In fact, my best moments in comedy have been when the riff works.

But when it didn’t, I always had a few planned outcomes in my back pocket. Just in case.

The audience doesn’t know that, though. It all looks completely off the cuff.

Even when some of it is planned and prepared, crowd work just looks so goddamn smooth.

It’s energizing, too. Not knowing what the crowd will say, but having the confidence that you’ll entertain 100 people regardless - that’s an amazing high.

If you want to see a true master of the craft, go watch some Al Murray videos. He’ll do a few system bits of crowd work, but then he’ll link the audience’s answers and riff on them.?

That’s why the audience loves it. He’s playing off the crowd, so no two nights are going to be the same. They know it’s just for them.

I studied Al’s DVDs closely. So when I saw him in Melbourne, I could tell when he was using the system. But it also gave him the confidence to do some incredible riffs.

Crowd work is ballsy. Even the professionals don’t want to do it without a net. That’s what the system’s for.

How to Be Confident in Every Meeting

You’ve been in meetings where you’re expected to speak, but you don’t know the answer.?

It’s nerve-wracking.

But it doesn’t have to be.

Like crowd work, there’s a system you can use to give you the confidence you need to get through it.

In this case, it’s a thinking system.?

Here’s what I mean.

Suppose you’re in a meeting and someone asks you a question you don’t know the answer to. You might try to speculate about the solution. You might start talking in circles about the issue. You’re saying a lot, but you’re not adding value to the conversation.

Let’s be honest here: you’re bullshitting your way through it.

(Trust me, I speak from personal experience!)

It’s an understandable response. We’ve all been there.

But if you want to be an influential advisor to the business, you’ll need to take a different approach.

Instead of pretending you know the answer, you should be the person who knows where to find the answer.

Your workplace is full of people with extensive knowledge of a given topic.

Payroll, for instance. Ask them about payroll, they know everything there is to know. Ask them a question about literally anything else, and they shrug their shoulders. Their job is about the details, not solving problems.

But if you know when to call on their expertise, you can use their knowledge to come up with a solution.

If you don’t have the answer, stating that you know where to find it will give you the confidence you need to be more influential.

The Thinking System in Action

A new issue is raised during the meeting. You weren’t aware of it, but the stakeholder needs a solution and they need it fast.

People will start speculating about what went wrong. They’ll talk in circles without getting any closer to an answer.

So, it’s time for you to ask a question:

“Do we know the root cause of the problem?

No? Okay, well give me an hour to investigate that with John. When we find the root cause, I’ll update you and then we can move on to finding a solution. Does that work for you?

Great. When will you need the solution by?”

See? Confidence without knowing the answer.

And even without the answer, you’re moving things forward. Instead of endlessly speculating about the problem, you’re taking steps toward solving it.

The Secret to Confidence

Confidence isn’t something you’re born with. It comes from having a system.

For a comedian, it’s having a few jokes ready in case the riffs aren’t going anywhere.

For you, it’s knowing that you can always go to someone who has the answer if you don’t have it yourself.

In either case, it’s all about knowing you can’t really fall. Because even if you do, the system will catch you.

?- Alan “Crowd Work” Cameron-Sweeney