Dying Is Easy - Comedy Is Hard

I work to live, live to learn and adore a challenge so last weekend I faced my final frontier in communication skills and delivered my first ever ‘stand up' comedy routine in front of a live audience in Brighton.

It all happened after we attended Jill Edwards fabulous comedy workshop at the Komedia Studio Bar.

You might think this isn’t such a big deal for someone whose early career was spent  performing on stage, including many in London’s West End, but you’d be wrong.  

Yes,  these days I do stand in front of big rooms full of delegates delivering training programmes, seminars and workshops. I’ve also presented award ceremonies and hosted corporate entertainment events, but this was different. 

I’ve always had a huge admiration for comedians and their ability to make people laugh. Seamlessly delivering their material as a mix of improvisation and memorised topics looked to me like acts of the supernatural. Watching comedians deal with drunk hecklers is one of my guilty pleasures and I’m always delighted when I see the best of them eviscerate a troublesome punter.  However I always claimed that I never had the guts to try it myself. Well, life is short and as I also claim to be a communication skills expert I thought it was about time to feel the fear and do it anyway.

We arrived back stage at the Komedia early on Saturday morning and after a couple of introductory warm up exercises we very quickly began working on our material. Our comedy coach Jill Edwards was a master facilitator and managed to guide our terrified troupe of twelve towards their comedic fate.  We spent the next two days writing, structuring, preparing and rehearsing a one minute comedy routine that we would be delivering in front of each other (plus some specially invited guests) on the Sunday afternoon.

Having both attended and delivered many training programmes over the past ten years I can be a very challenging delegate. However Jill’s no nonsense facilitation style and mastery of her craft was a delight and I had arguably the best two days training of my life. Thanks to Jill, by Sunday I was ready and raring to go.

So, what was it like?

All I can tell you is that surviving for even just one tiny minute on stage, under a spotlight, with only a microphone as your friend in front of 20 expectant faces delivering what you hope will be funny is a feat of endurance difficult to describe.  And it's true what they say...”Dying is easy, comedy is hard.”

But, if you really want to feel what it’s like to communicate your values, ideas and beliefs clearly, effectively and in a way that makes people laugh out loud I recommend you try it for yourself.  

Laughing is truly one of life's greatest joys. Making other people laugh is one of life's greatest gifts.

There really is no other feeling like it.

TBM