It never occurred to me that I would ever stand before a group of strangers, microphone in hand telling jokes. Of all the professions that interested me, stand-up comedy was certainly not on the list. I intended to be a wife, and a mother, and when that didn’t work out, I wanted to become a primary teacher, a professor, a novelist, a journalist, a columnist and a reviewer. When I was 70 years old I stumbled on a comedy course and offered to write a story about it. One crazy thing led to another and the next thing I knew I was on stage telling jokes to audiences not just in San Francisco but more importantly on the Edinburgh Fringe.
I suspect it was that experience in 2004 at C Venue that locked me into a comedy career. I brought over several comedians from San Francisco and did a show called ‘Weapons of Laugh Destruction’ every night for 30 nights. By the 15th performance, I knew this was going to be my way of life for the next several years.
I did not know that stand-up comedy was young man’s bailiwick…indeed I did not know stand-up comedy was a profession until I started doing it. I did not realize that women were not welcome. I did not know that the older you are, the less chance you have of getting bookings. What I did know was that I could make people of every age, from 16 to 60 laugh. Of all the careers I tried, this one was the only one that gave me a rush of satisfaction, a moment of glory and the feeling of success.
It was that victory, because victory it was, that hooked me. It is still amazing to me that my biggest fans are young girls….the men don’t get my comedy until they are in their late twenties. The thrill of communicating across the generations is intoxicating and despite the battle I have convincing bookers in major clubs to notice me, I know that my audiences always laugh when I get on stage. They love me because I love them.
You need to be thick skinned to do comedy. You need to accept that some jokes won’t work and you need to take responsibility for their failure. I have learned that it is never the audience that is causing the silence every comedian dreads. It is my delivery, my timing, the quality of my humour. If they aren’t laughing out there, I am doing something wrong. I have heard too many comedians tell me it was a bad night, the audience was the wrong kind, the stage wasn’t properly lit. None of this is true. The one thing I have learned is that funny is always funny.
The older you get, however, the harder it is to get into the big clubs. There is a trio of men in their mid-fifties who cannot get booked at San Francisco’s major comedy club because of their age. I was told by a booker in Silicon Valley who heard her audience scream and clap for me that I was not professional enough for her audience. The answer to that kind of short-sightedness, is to go where they do accept you and make your own gigs if you can.
Although I find that I personally do not “get” a lot of the jokes younger comedians tell, I know that they haven’t done their job. If something is stated correctly, has an element of surprise and is told professionally, it will get a laugh. It makes no difference if the comedian is male or female, old or young. Comedy is an art and only 10% of it is the actual words you say. 90% is how you say what you say and how you connect with your audience.
It is a never-ending challenge…one that still interests me after eight years. I get better every time I take the mic. I get sharper and my chances of success have improved. But I am not there yet…not by a long shot. Stand-up comedy is on on-going process and that is its fascination. No matter how successful you think you are, there is always room to get better.
Lynn Ruth Miller is an American stand-up comedian. Funny Women is delighted that Lynn will be performing at our International Women's Day Charity Gala on Thursday 7th March and will be holding a 'surgery' at the Funny Women stand at the WOW Festival on Friday 8th March.
