It’s interesting the amount of people you meet who make you laugh, some people just have a knack for it. Some people are crude, awkward or inappropriate, and some people are just hilarious. And if you’re one of those people who enjoy making others laugh and get’s a small win out of a chortle, you’ve probably been told “Mate, you should definitely do stand up comedy”. And you know what, you should.
I love making people laugh, from little kids to pensioners, it’s a part of who I am. And because of comments such as the one mentioned before I’d always thought of giving stand up comedy a try. But that’s what it was, just a thought.
It wasn’t until I saw some mates give it a go at a local open mic comp that I decided, you know what, I’m going to try this. So sure enough, the next open mic contest, I gave it a go. And boy was I nervous, I wrote the whole thing the afternoon of the competition, and it was all about going to the toilet. It wasn’t toilet humour. Well actually I guess it was, and as you can imagine, it wasn’t that great.
After that gig my mates gave me some advice, try characters. I’d always assumed the role of characters ever since I was a kid. I used to love dressing up and as an observer of things, I would then act out characters for my mates. So the next chance I had, I tried a character. This time, it went well and I’ve been doing characters ever since.
Now flash forward a year and last weekend I represented Tasmania in the Triple J Raw Comedy Final in Melbourne, it was a huge honour and I was blessed with the opportunity. But it didn’t just happen. It took me a little while to develop my characters and to work out my own unique brand of comedy. And I’m lucky enough that it’s working.
Comedy is a great art, but it’s not always the easiest. A lot of people try to be the next Dave Hughes or the next David O’Doherty, but they don’t try to be themselves. It’s important to work out your own style and to not be confined or limited by what others say comedy is.
I’m passionate about doing comedy that isn’t crude, and isn’t negative, and that doesn’t mean that I can’t laugh at other comedy. But that’s the kind of jokes I want to tell. I want to prove that you can make people laugh without swearing or smut. I want to make a statement.
And if you've always thought about trying stand up, do it! It’s an awesome experience and if you stuff up, at least you know if you’re any good. But you never know, you might discover and awesome hobby like I have.
But be yourself and find your own unique style of comedy, do something that you want to do and be creative. And if you’re that person who get’s told they’re funny everyday, why not challenge yourself and put it to the test. Who know’s what could happen.
Read more by Dylan.
