This article explores stand up comedy writing points of view. In stand up comedy writing, the jokes that you tell using the different points of view give experiences within relationships and environments that build associations. When you delve into a new environment as another person, animal, or object, take advantage of the new role to create even more material for future jokes.
When you need to become another character, really take the time to study the character and decide what his or her personality and life is like. Use that to get into your character and allow the character to have a part within your joke that is meaningful to the outcome of the joke. For stand up comedy writing, create jokes not just by writing them down, but by truly imagining how your character may act in a specific situation. This can lend itself to a whole new arsenal of jokes. To acquire new material by using different points of view, take the time to delve into the life of your character and use improvisation to explore the different situations.
Use Present Tense
The audience will have an easier time connecting and following your stand up comedy writing if it is presently happening. This is common teaching for actors and actresses; in a way every comic is an actor or actress. Take everything, even if it is written in past tense, and create the allusion that it is happening right now.
When utilizing this suggestion within your points of view of stand up comedy writing, it may be best to allow the character to be in the present and the narrator to remain where they are. Most narrator points of view are in the past, future, or fantasy tense since they are only observing and not participating. (When the whole routine is in narrator point of view, nothing can be related to right now.) However, when you take on the roles of a couple different characters (in most cases you and the other character) you become a participant in the experience and share it as if it is happening right now in front of the audience.
Personifying the Other Character
You will soon find that as far as stand up comedy writing is concerned, the more you begin to personify all the other characters in your material — including personalities, descriptions, actions, and mannerisms — the greater the depth and extent of your material. One of the most effective ways to get laughs, which is often overlooked, is showing the audience who or what your other character is or is doing. The trick is to not tell the audience what that someone or something says or does, but to keep it to yourself.
Other characters do not always have to be people; they can also be animals, trees, or emotions. Since most people already tend to put thoughts and emotions into words for their animals, this is an easy personification for stand up comedy writers. Using objects or emotions can be a little more difficult but by using what you already know you can express yourself as these other characters; you are only limited by your imagination.