How To Get Signed Up For Gigs As A Stand Up Comedian

How do you get signed up for gigs?

How you're signed up for gigs as a stand-up comedian depends on what level you're at. When you first start performing comedy, the ideal thing to do really is to pick up any London magazine - "Time Out" or "Stage". Sift through them and look for comedy clubs that are advertising for open spots. Go along and get up on stage do that for as long as is necessary to develop a very good seven minute stand-up comedy routine. Then you can pick up the phone and put yourself forward to clubs that pay for gigs. If these clubs that pay have an open window in the diary, there is a possibility you may get an opportunity to perform comedy in front of a paying audience. The open spot audiences either tend to get in for free or they pay a small submission fee. A small submission fee shows the audience members have invested in that stand-up comedy show and therefore they will focus and be a part of that show. If they haven't paid and there is no investment, then there is no need for them to sit down and listen to the comedy gig. Once you've got your seven or ten minutes and you're now going to a paying comedy show, you'll find that audience behavior is slightly different, in the sense that they're expecting to get their money's worth. Thus, on one level you become scared scared because you don't know if they'll like you or if you're stand-up routine is good enough, because you don't know yet, if you haven't had a gig. The paying public want you to work well but, at the same time, they will be able to sniff out whether or not you've actually got to a level of competence yet in stand-up comedy. The reason why they are able to see that is, they'll quite easily be able to make comparisons between you and the other comedians that you're performing alongside at the gig.