Stand Up Comedy

As I’m sure most people know, I am a comedy major. So that means listening to this stand-up set I automatically noticed some of the more technical things that were done. Overall, the set was hilarious and I loved how he tied his culture, race, and sexuality into his comedy set in a way that wasn’t obtrusive or aggressive towards the audience in any way.

The first technical thing that I noticed, was how he used the “Rule of Threes”. It is basically when a comedian will repeat a joke in some way, shape, or form up to three times. Each time the “stakes” heighten and the joke gets funnier. BUT it stops being funny after the third time. I noticed this happening throughout the entire set, when he would say something… pause… then say again… then pause… then again. It worked. It was hilarious.

The next technical thing that I noticed in this comedy set is his use of of “bring backs”. Now, I doubt that is the technical term. But I do not know it… obviously. This technique is when the comedian brings back a joke from earlier in the set. For example, in the part where his dad says that God doesn’t like gay people. Solomon goes on to say how he doesn’t even believe in God and BRINGS BACK the joke from the beginning about white people being black ghosts. THAT WAS FUNNY. It creates a connection between the comedian and the audience because he is calling back a part of the show that the audience knows. It is like an inside joke between the two parties and makes the audience feel special for getting the joke. He did this a couple other times as well throughout the performance, which encourages the audience to pay even closer attention to understand jokes that may come up later.

This set did a beautiful job of bringing together all parts of who Solomon is and what he identifies as. I think part of the reason that his set was so funny was because he was unashamed of everything that he was talking about. His confidence allowed the audience to laugh with him, and not at him or feel uncomfortable. As a comedian I have to remember that in order to make those special connections with the audience, I have to be unafraid to be myself and to own up to whatever story I may be sharing… no matter how incredibly embarassing.