How to Kill in Comedy

by Steve North

Steve North the Comedy Coach, voted #1 Comedy Coach in the USA, starts by teaching you how to create your own unique comedic character for stand up, then offers the twenty best joke-writing formulas developed over 20 years in his workshops, and then helps you put it all together to work as a stand up comedian. Whether you're a beginner or advanced comedian, you need to learn the character method first. Then slay the audience, or just be funnier in life.

Genres: Comedy, Stand Up, Nonfiction, Humor

235 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 25, 2020

About the author

Steve North, the premiere comedy coach in Hollywood for more than thirty years, has coached thousands of comedy hopefuls and heads up two of the longest running standup workshops in the Los Angeles area.
He has appeared as Steve North the Comedy Coach on national television shows, at comedy festivals across the United States, in Judy Carter’s Comedy Career in a Box DVD set, and he stars in the DVD Secrets of Comedy from Comedy Time. He has also conducted many corporate seminars on comedy—both solo and with his comedy partner and wife, Barb North.
The team of Barb and Steve North has performed live standup comedy at the Comedy Store, the Improv, the Ice House, and in nightclubs all over the world—including colleges and conventions. Besides performing on a multitude of television shows (Make Me Laugh, Thicke Of The Night, The Mike Douglas Show, and NBC Fantasy), the Norths worked as writers and producers on The Gong Show, America’s Funniest Videos, Totally Hidden Video, Make Me Laugh, and many more.
Steve trained in comedy with Second City, The Committee, Avery Schreiber, Spolin Players, Jack Kosslyn, Danny Simon, Joyce Selznick, and Estelle Tepper.
Visit Steve North the Comedy Coach at www.FunnyCoach.com

Reviews

[Faith Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I come from a country that highly esteems its comedians. We elect them, we put them in charge of our Covid response…

Anyway, I don’t have time to review this in detail but I did read something similar by another coaching author and rated that generously but can now see that the earlier book completely missed the most important element, the acted persona (in the critical 4 item formula at the start of this text).

The only criticism is a handful of minor errors in the text and one unclosed brackets, but that makes no difference to the quality of experience conveyed or the sensible thought put into this guidance over the course of decades. He also tells you what you need to know straight on the nose, including what strategies fail and why.

This book is the most comprehensive and sensible study of the subject of which I am aware and I shall look no further. Even if you do not want a career as a comedian and just need help with confidence in speaking to rooms full of people and getting them to like you, or at least want you around more often, this information will put you on the best possible path. Recommended.

[Casey Gallagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up just to breeze the content but I actually thought it was helpful on how to deconstruct comedy.

This book made me realize there can be worse things than the calls I have to facilitate at work - it could be bombing and not learning from it. I was worried about leading a call this month and reading this book made me realize there are worse things to happen.

For anyone interested in leveling up your public speaking I would consider this.

[Steve Sabo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steve North does a very good job of simplifying the joke writing process to make it easy for newer comics to get their feet wet writing jokes. This is probably one of the best, if not THE best books for brand new comedians or people who have never even stepped on stage. There are exercises that he walks you through to help you come up with material. He has a way of breaking things down into broad strokes which is great, it silences the noise that often goes into everything. The only real problem I had with the book is that even though it's about developing your own comedy character, I feel that it does little to explore a comedian bringing his genuine self onto the stage. There are great techniques for writing random material, but it doesn't really focus on how to bring your real life into the show, which is what I really wanted to see. He also spent very little time focusing on the realities of working in comedy and the steps it takes to get booked. That is a minor complaint, however, since that wasn't really what the book was about. If you are thinking about trying comedy for the first time, buy this book. If you have tried comedy but have a hard time writing jokes, you should also buy it. Worst case scenario, knowledge is power.

[Alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate all of the helpful writing exercises, examples, and practical tips. This has me inspired to get to work.

While the content is good, it felt like the book could have benefited from additional proofreading. I read this on a Kindle, and there seemed to be lots of small errors. I'm not sure if this is true of the hard copy.

Overall, I would recommend this for anyone interested in writing and performing stand up.

[John P Smith Jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This approach to stand-up comedy is brilliant...This book is a must-read for all stand-up comedians... Identify what your Comedic Character is, then write the Jokes. It's like "choosing what house you're going to live in before you go out and buy a bunch of furniture".... The toughest part for many comedians that I've spoken to was figuring out who they are on stage, this book simplifies that process.

[Flavia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has some valuable ideas and perspectives, but in terms of writing could use some work.

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is gold.

The author is not only a great comedian, he is also a great conversational expert.

I have read several books about humor. None of them made so many funny jokes that actually made me laugh, even more, told you how to make them. It's not very convincing if the author is insipid and say he's qualified to teach you about humor, for example, the book How to Write Funny is very boring. This author is different.

[Greg Allan Holcomb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not light fluffy book, it would be a textbook. Except you can't teach funny, you can guide it.
The knowledge that North espouses should be written down in your notebook. Study this until you can read your writing inside your mind.

I won a copy from Firstreads and I hoped it would help me write a character working as as a stand up comedian.

[Jade O'Hara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book! From the very beginning I was engaged and unconsciously I was memorizing everything that I can use to become a better comedian. However, this book would be beneficial not only if your aim is to become a stand up comedian but also for someone who has never stepped on a stage before. A great read!

[Matt Bliss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great source for crafting your comedic character and helpful tool for creating new material. Great fofr people interested in stand up as well as people looking to be funny in other aspects of their life.

[Rosalind · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great confidence boost if you’re someone who likes having a textbook for everything, like me! Simple (but not obvious) advice with useful exercises and practical tips for making a great and mentally-healthy start in standup.

[John Mccall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insights into creating your own routines

I re-read several times. Great pointers! Realistic experiences leading to success stories which actually work! Waiting for the sequel soon.

[Kay Aye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fundamentals are key

I read this book a few months after taking a comedy class and I picked up a lot of
valuable nuggets! I would love an accompanying workbook of the various exercises!

[Desmond Shepherd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this immensely. It taught me a lot about performing comedy. I don't know if I'll ever actually try it myself, but I will watch for the things mentioned in the book the next time I watch a stand up performance.

[Books Shelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

You will find some great techniques and exercises on writing materials, well written and friendly approach on how to bring out your comedic character! This book is a great confidence boost!

[Joy Perrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short guide that has made a huge difference in my understanding of my favorite comedians. Good solid advice.

[Carlos Montoya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Im a relatively new comedian, and started to face a bit of a creative crisis, and this book felt like a huge light. Easy to read, practical, real, simply amazing

[Frederic · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a useful book for its exercises and formulas for joke writing. That alone was worthwhile. I also liked the idea of finding a voice or persona. Like so many books by comedians, this was a bit sloppily edited, although better than some.

I agree that we standup comedians all need an authentic voice that's based on our real personalities, but exaggerated.

My biggest issue was that I wasn't convinced by author North's premise, that all the best comedians have a stage persona based on a flaw, a blindspot to that flaw, an attitude caused by that blindspot and an agenda to convince the audience that the comedian is who he comedian thinks he is, delusionally. North insists that process, not observational comedy, is the path to the promised land.

His model works for standup comics who play a character on stage, like Woody Allen (nebbish and neurotic), Richard Lewis (neurotic), Lewis Black (angry) and Kevin Hart (panicked). However, I don't see it applying to the comedians I admire most, like Gulman, Burr, Chappelle or even Seinfeld. I can't tell whether Norm MacDonald is playing a character, but he's a genius.

All my favourites are observational, but with different attitudes. Gulman is bemused, MacDonald confused, Burr outraged, Chappelle cool, and Seinfeld obsessed with absurd minutiae. None of them is arrogant on stage, but they're not self parodying either. Tig Notaro is another whose tone I love.

I like that balance. I want to be self deprecating, but credible enough to mock things I find ridiculous or outrageous. They achieve that.

This book would have been more credible if more of North's examples had been funny, which most weren't, to me. I didn't want to sign up for North's course, but I do look forward to generating content using his exercises.

For better books on standup technique, try anything by Judy Carter, or Murray's Getting Started in Standup or Oliver's Tao of Comedy.