Creating a Comic

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I'm your host, CJ Alexander.
This is my blog about breaking into stand-up comedy.


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Archive for November, 2009

The female comedian uniform

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

Now that even the most jaded alt-comedy hipsters have fallen in love with Tina Fey and Sarah Silverman, can we please stop talking about whether women are funny? Of course they are. Funny and delicious.
It’s also true that women comedians face obstacles that men do not, among them the sociological-sexual powder keg of their appearance. [...]

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Open mic tip: move the mic stand out of the way

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

There’s one piece of equipment that you’ll almost always find up on stage at a comedy club: a microphone resting in a mic stand.
A lot of comics like to walk up on stage, adjust the height of the mic stand, and do their acts right there, with the mic still in the stand. If this [...]

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The discipline to write

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

After reading yesterday’s highlighted story about the UCB improv comedy school in Manhattan, I saw a link to another fun article about the independent comedy scene in New York.
The piece primarily focuses on up-and-comer Kumail Nanjiani, and included a section that jumped out at me:
Meanwhile, Mr. Nanjiani keeps up the pace, trying to perform [...]

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Clown college: The Upright Citizens Brigade

Monday, November 9th, 2009

The NY Times has an interesting story about the New York comedy scene:
Over the years, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Chelsea has earned a reputation as a kind of mint where comedy stars are coined: in go aspiring actors, writers and ex-medical students, out come new performers and writers for “Saturday Night Live,” [...]

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Fuck the Yankees, for so many obvious reasons. If you’re in need of a little pick-me-up in the wake of their five thousandth World Series victory, here’s a delightfully savage radio rant from comedian Bill Burr:

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