Stand Up Comedy: What I Learned @ The School Of Hard Knock Knocks [Episode 156]
When was the last time you pushed yourself out of your comfort zone?
Last week, myself and 12 brave classmates took a massive comfort plunge and took part in a stand up comedy course run by The School of Hard Knock Knocks. If that name sound familiar, it may be because I interviewed the school’s co-founder, Morry Morgan, on the podcast in Episode 152.
To me, doing stand up comedy is THE scariest form of public speaking you can possibly do. Don’t you agree? Not only are you the only one on stage, with a single mic in hand, you have a crowd of people, often drunk, waiting for you to make them laugh. Terrifying.
So I figured: if I could learn stand up and get comfortable with it, then I’m one step closer to mastering this whole public speaking thing. YAS.
Plus, I saw this an a opportunity to show YOU, dear listener, that I am continuing to challenge myself in order to develop my own confidence and speaking skills — in the hopes of inspiring you to do the same. If you want to grow and develop, then you MUST challenge yourself.
It may not be as extreme as stand-up comedy or jumping out of a plane, and that’s ok! Whatever your limit is, your comfort bubble, you go and you gently push yourself out of it. Go to the edge. Then you’ll find a new edge, then push that. And so on. In any case, know that you’re not alone. You will be in the exact same boat as the people you are about to meet.
In this episode, I take you on the journey of how I went from not knowing how to write a joke to performing a full 5 minute set to a live audience. I share my experience, as well as the experiences of my classmates so you can hear their perspective as well.
THIS PODCAST CONTAINS COARSE LANGUAGE, ADULT THEMES AND BAD JOKES. Please keep this in mind before listening. You’ve been warned!
Finally, if you want to watch the video of my full performance, click the link below. Before watching, please note: I am not opening sharing this video as it contains coarse language and crude jokes that are NOT aligned with my professional or personal brand. The jokes I make are purely for comedic value and are NOT representative of my real opinions. I really do love my parents, my Asian friends and my accountant.