On March 20th, 2022 I had the opportunity to have a discussion on Stereo with comedian Tracey MacDonald. 

Beyond being funny and super kind, Tracey is a wealth of information. She has 5 comedy albums/specials and you can find her on stage almost every night of the week. She’s the real deal, a working comedian and headliner. She spent over an hour talking with me and sharing so much valuable information. I had to listen to it again, write it all down and now publish it here. 

Again, I can not thank Tracey enough for sharing so many important lessons that can only be learned by being in the trenches and figuring them out along the way. 

This is posted with her permission and the Stereo talk is available to listen to as well.

COMEDY TALK FUN TIME w/ Tracey MacDonald

  • Start your own open mic if there isn’t one available
  • If you have 30 minutes of material,  you will never starve 
  • It’s much easier if you are likable & have a good voice….  80% there
  • You only get funnier with age 
  • 3 lines then punch line 
  • Make them laugh in the first 10 seconds 
  • Don’t talk about your BF / say single (for women) 
  • Read the Judy Carter book (Stand-Up Comedy, The Book)
  • Call back to a joke… not needed but works well
  • Do crowd work gives you 2x material (Andy Kindler)
  • Off the top of your head = they love it 
  • Talk to the crowd 
  • Don’t trash famous comics online
  • Don’t publicly post sets on YouTube unless it’s amazing with a large crowd
  • Don’t get hammered or super high before sets
  • Tape your sets / save your notebooks
  • Notes are fine / no harm in saying “going to try some new stuff”
  • Art to glancing at notes 
  • Gene Perret (Bob Hope’s writer) Comedy Writing Workbook
  • Don’t say “how are you”
  • Always say first last name at the end (beginning too)
  • Don’t say “that’s my time”
  • Don’t discuss negatives (Margaret Smith)
  • Don’t speak badly about yourself 
  • Spitshine the truth 
  • Self-deprecating, there is an art to it 
  • Self-deprecating, kinda out of style
  • Clean material = pay
  • Get on stage 100 times 
  • Save notebooks
  • Big time = jerks

Summary

  • Get on stage as much as you can
  • Try not to do drugs where you’re working
  • Don’t trash other comics
  • Don’t say “hi how are you?” 
  • Have notes if needed / be sly about it
  • Talk to audience 
  • Talk about personal stuff nobody can take
  • Always audio record 
  • Don’t put it on YouTube if not ready
  • Have interests other than just comedy 
  • Be happy making people laugh 
  • Learn from going on stage… stage time. 

Cody Beeson