Comedy show angles
Comedy show angles
There's lots of angles to run for a comedy show, you don't just need to do a traditional line-up style show.
Here's some examples of different styles of shows that you can do, some are gimmicks, some just add a small twist, but when you're trying to offer something to get an audience in the door it can help to have an angle.
Line-up shows
The classic format. Multiple comics, one after another, each doing their own set.
This is what most people picture when they think "comedy show."
There's nothing wrong with a line-up show, it's one of the easiest to host and the audience understand what they're in for.
Roast battles
Comedians roasting each other.
This is not a show for the weak willed, it can be rather hectic and intense but it's a very popular format that many might know from The Roast of Kevin Hart.
There's an international Roast Battle league called [https://www.instagram.com/roastbattle/](https://www.instagram.com/roastbattle/) "Roast Battle League" which runs roast battles all over the world.
The crowd love this show as there's some competition involved. The insults are coming out and they're personal and witty. A lot of short and punchy content, not a slow build up to a story or the like.
Emotions can also run high during these shows, adding to a bit of excitement.
Bringer shows
Not really a performance gimmick, more a structural one.
Comics get stage time on the condition they bring a certain number of paying guests with them.
Clubs use this model because it guarantees a crowd.
New or developing comics might not have a following yet, so a bringer show forces ticket sales instead of hoping people just show up.
It's also how a lot of comics get their first real stage time at proper venues.
It's pretty controversial in the comedy community, but if you hate them just don't go to them. At the end of the day, you need a crowd to perform in front of, some people are willing to bring a crowd, and the bar is very happy to see a crowd.
Audience suggestions
The audience gets to participate!
It usually works one of two ways.
- Someone shouts out a suggestion on the spot, a word, a place, a title, whatever the host asks for
- Or people write something down beforehand, and it gets pulled out and used live, sometimes literally out of a fishbowl
This one has more of its roots in improv than stand-up.
Think Whose Line Is It Anyway.
A prompt comes from the crowd or the host, and the performers have to make something funny out of it with zero prep.
It's been running in some form since 1988, first as a British radio show, then TV in the UK and the US.
Example: Baby Wants Candy
Been running since 1997, started as a house team at iO Chicago.
Audience shouts out a title for a musical that's never existed, and the cast builds a full hour long musical from scratch with a live band.
Past suggestions have turned into shows like Kanye West Side Story and Mary Poppins Has Ebola.
Example: Pink Chicken, Toronto
Same idea, built for stand-up. Hosted by Hilary Henderson and Michelle Forrester. Sharp sets mixed with crowd work, built around audience members sharing their weirdest or most unhinged stories.
Dating disasters, work chaos, friendship drama, it all becomes material on the spot.
https://comedybar.ca/shows/pink-chicken-comedy
Why it works:
- People love to be part of the show
- Performers get to think on their feet, it allows and promotes new ideas to happen on the spot
- Every show is unique
Gong shows
A panel judges each act. Randoms come up and try their luck.
The act will then try their hand at performing their set.
The audience or the judges will then decide if they "Gong" the comic off by hitting a gong or making some sort of sound or indication.
It can be rough to be up on a stage for 20 seconds to find out everyone hates you.
Traditionally this involved an actual gong.
A show that embraces the similar style is Kill Tony, where the bucket pulls get 60 seconds to do their work before an interview.
Like the Gong show, a lot of the humor comes from the interview portion after the set, so even if you do poorly that time in your set you still have a chance to win the crowd over or be roasted by the panelists.
This show is a great way to get the audience involved.
It allows the audience to kick off acts early who they're really not enjoying, and reward acts who they believe are funny.
Wheel shows
A wheel decides the rules for the comic on stage. Spin it and find out what you're working with.
Could be your time limit. Could be your topic. Could be some random challenge the wheel spits out that you now have to work into your set. Half the fun is seeing what's on the wheel and the suspense of it spinning and seeing where it falls.
You might land on a topic you've never joked about in your life, and watching someone figure that out live is entertaining whether the joke actually hits or not.
Example:Comedy Roulette
A rotating lineup of comics take on whatever the wheel spits out. Some spins hand you a topic, others pull an audience member up to be part of the bit. Past topics have included things like "worst date story" and "self-help book titles that won't sell."
https://www.instagram.com/comedyroulette/
Throwing stuff at performers
Exactly what it sounds like.
The audience gets something to throw, and if they don't like what they're hearing, the comic wears it.
- Tomatoes
- Nerf darts
- Whatever the venue decides is safe enough to hand out
This one draws a crowd because it gives the audience actual power. Normally you just laugh or you don't. Here you get to physically react, and that's a rush for people watching, not just the person up on stage.
At one point or another, most performers will have something thrown at them. It might as well be a nerf dart that can't hurt you.
So if you think bombing was the worst thing that could happen, you're wrong. Now you can bomb and have tomatoes thrown at you, covering you in juicy juicy tomato juice, so that as you walk home wondering what you're doing with your life you also smell like a tomato.
Example: The Tomato Throw Show, Comedy Bar Chicago
The audience decides who's funny and who isn't with fake tomatoes. Get a laugh, you're safe. Bomb, and you're getting hit.
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/cc/tuesdays-tomato-throw-show-3910173/
Example: Blastoff Comedy, Melbourne
Same idea, different weapon. The crowd gets Nerf guns and can shoot the comics mid set.
https://www.instagram.com/blastoff_comedy
Here's a little documentary about a tomato show
PowerPoint shows
Comics build a slideshow and present it like a pitch meeting, just with more jokes.
These shows can be really fun but a fair warning to those wanting to run this style of show, it is a lot to ask an act to put time into making their own PowerPoint presentation. People love PowerPoints, so give the people what they love!
Different comics will bring their unique style of comedy to the stage for these shows, and some shows will have a theme on top of the already existing angle of a PowerPoints show.
My only advice for running one of these would be that if acts do not have their slides in on time, offer an alternative, they get to present a premade PowerPoints presentation that they have no idea what they are presenting till the night. This can be good fun, and takes the pressure off of asking acts to create the material before the show.
Example: Powerpoint Comedy Showcase
They tour around the world doing their Late Night Powerpoint show
https://www.instagram.com/powerpointcomedyshowcase
Speed dating comedy shows
Not only laughs, but also love.
Comedy speed dating style shows are what the name implies.
A speed dating event where comedy is also hosted at the same time!
This show can help free up the audience, make them feel a little more loose and excited to interact with others.
Let's face it, speed dating is such an absurd activity in the first place that a comedian pointing this out and having a little fun can make the whole situation feel a lot more natural.
Example: Comedy Speed Dating, hosted by Colin Coleman
Comics open the night with quick sets to break the ice, then the room flips into actual speed dating with the same people you just laughed with.
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