How do you get better at stand-up comedy?

Performing at a comedy festival can feel like the obvious next step once you've started doing stand-up. You get to create something longer, put your name on a show and find out whether strangers will actually pay to see you.

But putting on a good show is only part of the challenge.

I've performed in roughly ten solo festival shows and another five ensemble shows around Australia. One of the biggest things I've learned is that making something good doesn't automatically make people care about it. You still need to work out who the show is for, why they should choose it and how you're actually going to reach them.

On The Science of Being Funny podcast, I spoke about this with Avi Tannabalan ahead of his first festival show, Inside an Immigrant's Suitcase.

When should a comedian try their first festival?

My instinct is that you should first get comfortable performing a strong five-minute set.

A festival show asks much more of you than that. Instead of getting on stage, doing five minutes and leaving, you're responsible for sustaining an audience's attention over a much longer period.

But there are things you can only really learn by attempting the longer format.

For Avi, the festival is an opportunity to combine stand-up, storytelling and sketch into something more substantial. And your first festival doesn't necessarily need to be judged by whether you make money. It can be where you learn how to build a show, find an audience and discover what actually works.

Making a good show isn't enough

This was where Avi and I disagreed a little.

His instinct was that if the story, jokes and message were good enough, audiences would enjoy the show.

I agree.

But first you need an audience.

At a comedy festival, people have an enormous number of shows they could see. Before they can discover whether yours is any good, you need to give them a reason to choose it.

That means thinking beyond the material itself. What's interesting about the show? Who is naturally going to be interested in it? Why would somebody choose it over hundreds of other shows?

How do you find an audience?

Avi's show gives him some obvious places to start.

Inside an Immigrant's Suitcase draws on his experience as an Indian-born Sri Lankan immigrant living in Australia. Rather than simply thinking about a general festival audience, he can identify communities and people who already have some connection to the story he's telling.

When we recorded, Avi had already sold around 30 tickets through connections and collaborations with people in the Indian community.

That's a useful example of the difference between having a show and finding the people who might actually want to see it.

What are you actually trying to get from a festival?

We also talked about what success would mean for Avi.

For his first festival, one thing he wanted was a good recording of the show.

That interested me because there are lots of possible reasons to perform at a festival, and they're not necessarily the same reasons you'll have after you've done a few.

You might want to perform a longer show. You might want to get better. You might want an audience. You might want a recording. You might want to sell tickets.

Part of doing your first festival is finding out which of those things actually matters to you.

I told Avi I'd be interested to ask him the same question again afterwards.

So, should you perform at a comedy festival?

Yes.

That's ultimately where I land in the episode.

If you're serious about doing stand-up, I think there's enormous value in putting on a festival show. It forces you to move beyond short sets and think about a complete show: what it is, who it's for, how you're going to get people there and what happens when you have to hold an audience for much longer than five minutes.

And your first festival doesn't have to be a huge commercial success to be worthwhile.

In Avi's case, we'll find out what he gets from it. He might come away with the recording he wants. He might discover something completely different was more valuable.

But I think he should do it.

And if you're at the point where you're considering your first festival, I think you probably should too.

Useful links

Learn comedy with Sydney Comedy School: ⁠https://www.sydneycomedyschool.com.au/⁠

See Avi’s show, Inside an Immigrant’s Suitcase, at Sydney Fringe: ⁠https://sydneyfringe.com/events/inside-an-immigrants-suitcase/⁠

Watch a Sydney Comedy School grad show featuring Avi (about 40 mins in):⁠ https://youtu.be/Zo81PThOenw

What students say after performing their first grad show: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51EVa2bV1tQ