The Power of Psychographics in Comedy

Introduction

• Speaker: Gary Michaels
• Channel: Let's Talk Comedy
• Audience: New comedians
• Topic: Importance of psychographics in writing and performing comedy

Overview

• Definition of Psychographics: Desires and interests, deeper than demographics like job, age, or origin
• Importance: Psychographics help in marketing your on-stage persona to the audience

Writing Exercise

1. Identify Core Beliefs: Write down things you strongly agree/disagree with.
   • Focus on non-demographic aspects (not job, age, origin)
   • Be silly and free
2. Determine Turn-Ons and Turn-Offs:
   • What excites or annoys you in life?
3. Future Goals & Opinions:
   • Your hopes, dreams, and what you stand for

Application on Stage

• Consistency: Your core opinions and persona should remain steady across performances
• Audience Connection: Understand and engage the demographic within any audience
• Character Creation: Define your stage persona from a clean slate
• Write Jokes: Create material about your interests, stereotypes, stories

Handling Improvisation

• Write more than you perform: Prepares you to handle heckling and improvisation
• Know your character: Helps in dealing with unexpected situations on stage

Writing Tips

• Start every session by listing important words and why they matter
• Create punchlines, stories, or absurd paragraphs related to these words
• Use these exercises to develop 5+ minutes of material without touching demographic topics

Benefits

• Quick material generation based on personal significance
• Deeper, more authentic comedic expression
• Better audience connection on shared important topics

Final Thoughts

• Go back to basics if experiencing writer's block
• Understanding your character deeply makes you funnier and more consistent

Engagement

• Comment section: Share experiences, request future video topics
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