Things I learned from doing a stand up comedy course

A few months ago, I decided to do a stand-up comedy course. The idea was planted in my head by the inspirational Colin James. The idea was that some well-placed humor would enhance my public speaking skills.

I enrolled in a weekend course and turned up with a notebook and pen, ready to be informed and educated on how to be funny.

Turns out it doesn’t quite work like that and apparently a key part of the course was performing a live show! Did not see that coming. Clearly in the fine print. Missed it.

So, I did a Sandberg and leaned in. Here’s what I learned:

1.      Without doubt, there is nothing better for the soul than laughter and laughing. Our facilitator, the award-winning Australian comedian Fiona McGary, shared how she had long contemplated the purpose of a sense of humor. She said she had come to the conclusion that, among other things, our sense of humor is a coping mechanism. Laughing can help us cope with stress, grief, anger, awkwardness. The list goes on. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much as I did that weekend while learning a bit about comedy.

2.      Whenever we go into a new situation, we bring to the table the mantle of everything we have accumulated in our lives.  Our personality, skills, and experience coupled with our fears and uncertainties. All these things can help us or hinder us. While I have had some experience with public speaking, stand up comedy was next level and it was terrifying. I found myself in the green room (code for an ugly room which doubled as a storage facility). My fight or flight response kicked in and I found myself jogging on the spot and doing stretches. Not only slightly odd preparation for a five-minute comedy spot, but weirder still when I haven’t been for a run in a decade!

3.      When you are doing something you have never done before, or you are in uncharted territory, you must leave your ego at the door. I remember thinking that it couldn’t be that hard. Surely stand-up comedy was just public speaking with some funny stuff added in. That assumption was 90% wrong. Struggling with having been wrong twice in the space of two weeks, I came to a new appreciation of the complexity of what we were doing. I also developed a real respect and appreciation for the other course participants, from all walks of life. Funny, real, putting themselves out there, all for different reasons.

4.      Fear makes us incredibly imaginative. When we don’t want to do something, we conjure up scenarios that could provide us with any number of legitimate reasons not to show up. I could have written a book of reasons on why I wasn’t going to go through with this. I lost count of the number of people who told me how brave I was, with the added bonus of a sympathetic glance and the occasional arm rub. Well meaning. Not helpful.

5.      Showing up though, differentiates us in the end. No matter what the situation, how unpleasant, overwhelming, scary.  So, in the end, despite my misgivings and my internal dialogue, I did show up. I delivered a chronically over-prepared six minutes of rookie humor. Would I do it again? Probably not.  Was it worth it? Absolutely.