I'm having talent show issues

Post Reply New Topic

My name is Will, I'm 17 years old and I have aspergers syndrome, and I'm having talent show issues. First off I try to audition for my school's talent shows for at least since 6th grade, what I try to do is stand up comedy, but every time I get turned down, in 6th and 7th grade it was kind of understandable since I was kind of too young but when oth grade came I started to get frustrated. In 8th grade I was turned down because they said I wasn't funny enough, in 9th grade I was turned down because I joked about the syrian civil war, in 10th grade I was turned down because I made fun of Trayvon Martin getting shot (which in my opinion in sad but the media took it too far because in reality people get shot all the time), and during 10th grade of that same audition I got so mad after all the times I was turned down I got glass bottles from my car and threw the glass bottles at the people who got in the talent show and I called them broadway fa***ts (I have nothing against gay people I was just mad at the time) and I was never caught when they reported it to police cause they had no proof. When I do stand up around my friends they laugh and think I'm funny but apparently those b***h ass judges think I'm not, I don't get why people who can sing and dance are the ONLY people who get in the school talent show. I hate teens my age who can sing or dance and I hate the Judges, I can't sing and I can't dance, my problem is that I can't remember lyrics to songs and I don't have that good of a singing voice even though people say it's ok, I just need advice on what to do for my current 11th grade talent show audition.

It might not be that they have anything against stand up comedy.

It might be legitimately that the first couple times they didn't think you were funny, and then after that they didn't think your material was appropriate or acceptable for a school sanctioned event. You might be able to get away with topics like that at a comedy night at some club somewhere where your audience are all adults - but even then some may be offended. But at a high school? The judges/teachers etc can't take that kind of risk due to the potential fallout and legal liability issues it could create for them if anyone takes offence and files a complaint. If I were in their shoes, I might personally find you funny & entertaining, but I would't allow you to perform material on those topics because things could get nasty really fast in this litigious politically correct society we live in.

As for the bottle throwing.. control yourself. Those people didn't do anything to you. They're just doing what they do. Be happy for them getting to share their talents even if you're denied.

This year? If I were you, I'd approach the judges/faculty in advance and say something like:

"Look, I REALLY like doing stand up comedy and want to perform at this year's talent show. I realize I might not have been very funny to you years ago, and that some of my concepts for material might have been a little too inappropriate for school. So, this year I'd like to run my topic ideas by you in advance and see if they're acceptable before I work on my material and audition. Would that be alright with you?" That way if you accidentally choose a topic or two that are acceptable for joking with your friends in private, but not OK for a school audience, they can give you their feedback early and you can adjust your game plan accordingly.

I think that would give you the best possible chance of success. But if they are truly anti-stand up, you'll learn that from their reaction to your request and there's nothing you can do about it… except come up with an entirely different talent to present. Do you do anything else that might be worth showing off?

_________________
No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.

thanks also when I threw the bottle nobody got hurt which I am thankful for, I just have this issue about acting without thinking and an anger problem which I'm trying to work on

Stand up comedy is a really hard discipline, and there's more to it than getting all the hard hitting jokes in that you can. Think of it like this, all the edgy comedies that you see on TV, they have short runs, or are confined to channels that are more off beat. Then look at the sitcoms that have millions of loyal viewers, they might have maybe one kind of hard hitting joke every few episodes, the rest of it is soft balled underhand pitches.

Take Bob Sagat, one of the dirtiest comedians in the business, he's making jokes for the masses on Americas funniest home videos that you could laugh at in front of your mother, because she's laughing too. Then you look at his standup and you wonder why you can't just do that, and it's just a question of audience. American culture doesn't have a high tolerance for dry or edgy humor without a lot of easy padding. And even then it depends heavily on the mood of the crowd.

Reorganize your set to be nothing more than well crafted soft balls, things that don't need a ton of knowledge that isn't common, and stays back from edgy and you'll be able to do better. The reason that there's so many genres of comedy is that so many people have so many different tastes. George Carlin was a comedy great, a master. In the same country Larry the Cable guy and the rest of his blue collar comedy tour friends are raking in ridiculous profits.

Then there's you, at a talent show with a mix of fans of every genre of humor needing to appeal broadly to everyone. You won't be able to be any specific kind of comedian, you'll only be able to appeal broadly and make a joke for this camp, or that camp, or the other. The comedians that you love all toured sleezebag clubs and bars, were booed and failed many times, and built up a following around their style. You don't get to do that with a talent show, you need a sprinkler, not a water pistol.

If you have the courage of your convictions, I would enter your 11th grade talent contest as a stand up comedian and just accept all the criticism you get.
Reading about all the successful stand up comedians, they start off working in very small clubs and get booed off stage and pelted with food. They mostly aren't any good at all until they keep persisting with their acts, working on the things that get the most appeal from their audience and shelving the routines that don't work. Only after many years of hard work do they succeed.
You do need to gage the impact of your routine with your audience, to have any hope of refining your comedy routine to something that works with the audience. If you can't do that you have no hope of succeeding as a stand up comedian. Dismissing your audience doesn't work, so paying attention to what things work and what things don't work, is the way to succeed at comedy.

I'm thinking you need to do really BROAD jokes, in a school talent show. Maybe, say something like: "E=MC squared----what's THAT about", and then make a punchline. Maybe, "Why are there always 'True or False' questions, on an exam? Whatever happened to 'Sometimes'----or, 'Maybe'?", "Is it necessary to have pizza, in the school cafeteria, on EVERY single Wednesday?", "Is it really necessary to always have a library, on the second floor of a building----why not the FIRST floor?" Obviously, you would re-work these questions so that they apply to YOUR school----but, maybe that'll give you some ideas, and I feel these are very broad, and might stand a better chance----your audience IS students, afterall.