full

HB! Live #042 - When to start posting clips, How to organize your sets, Deliver more naturally + MORE - comedy podcast

We're back with another Hot Breath! Live answering all of your comedy questions. Don't forget to join our email list for reminders of future livestreams!

Join the $100 Joke Contest Waitlist: https://forms.gle/zb9QAWzu8xeQmoMb9

Join our email list here: https://hotbreathpodcast.com/vip

Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HotBreathComedyNetwork/


Transcript
Joel Byers:

What's goody Hot Breath averse.

Joel Byers:

Welcome back.

Joel Byers:

It is Hot Breath Live, your weekly comedy tune up with comedians Joel Byers and Yoshi.

Joel Byers:

So there's Yoshi and we're here together every Tuesday at 5pm Eastern Time.

Joel Byers:

We live stream our YouTube channel to answer your comedy questions directly.

Joel Byers:

So if you want to get involved, join our email list linked in the show notes so you can get updates on when we go live and a lot more other Hot Breath happenings.

Yoshi:

Boom.

Joel Byers:

But today we're getting into some good topics.

Joel Byers:

But first things first as we love comics helping comics.

Joel Byers:

The hot breath of earth.

Joel Byers:

Working with the Hot breath of Earth.

Joel Byers:

Yoshi worked with Hot Breath OG Adam Mueller this weekend.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, Adam Mueller's been on the show a few times.

Joel Byers:

He has been doing comedy like seven or eight years.

Joel Byers:

He's already produced two self produced two comedy specials.

Joel Byers:

This guy's a grinder and a hustler.

Joel Byers:

You can hear he comes from a finance background and he has a very analytical approach to comedy.

Joel Byers:

So if you have not heard our interview with him or our live Q&As with him, you learn a lot in all of those.

Joel Byers:

So it was cool to see you out there on the RIS with an OG down at side splitters in Tampa.

Joel Byers:

So tell us, tell us about it.

Joel Byers:

How, how did this happen?

Joel Byers:

How was it tell?

Yoshi:

It was a good show, man.

Yoshi:

It was good shows all around.

Yoshi:

Thursday shows were definitely like the highlight for sure.

Yoshi:

I mean, I don't know why, but it, it just sometimes feel like your first show is like where you kind of blow your cherry.

Yoshi:

You're like, oh, that was felt so, so good right there.

Yoshi:

And then the rest of the shows may not live up to par, but they were still good.

Yoshi:

So that was how, that's how the whole weekend went.

Yoshi:

But it was just fun to like watch his process day after day after day.

Yoshi:

Right.

Yoshi:

So like what happens after the Thursday show?

Yoshi:

It was, you know, he brought his own camera.

Yoshi:

Like it was like he was his own camera crew.

Yoshi:

So he had like camera, a mic setup and then when he synced the audio, he cleaned up the audio, cleaned up the videos.

Yoshi:

And so daily he basically made clips pretty much right after the show.

Yoshi:

So he would send me my part of it, he recorded my version of it and did clips out the gate.

Yoshi:

And what I liked about watching that is like he's figured it out in the sense of here's all the things that I'm looking for from a clippable perspective.

Yoshi:

And he just goes, finds it and then just puts it up.

Yoshi:

He doesn't put a lot of like crazy thought into, you know, is this great?

Yoshi:

Is this not good?

Yoshi:

He just thinks about it a couple minutes and then boom, just kind of like edits it.

Yoshi:

And he's been doing the editing for some time now that he just does.

Yoshi:

It just happens much quicker and just gets it out like quickly.

Yoshi:

So if you see just from this weekend, I want to say there's probably a clip every single day, maybe two clips that he put out every single day.

Yoshi:

And it's most.

Yoshi:

A lot of it is to encourage people to come back out or encourage people to come to the show who are.

Joel Byers:

Oh, that's smart.

Yoshi:

Well, yeah, yeah.

Joel Byers:

Post a clip to say, I'm still.

Yoshi:

Here, still here, come check out the show kind of thing.

Yoshi:

And just like.

Yoshi:

And also, I mean, I think we're both very much like comedy nerds.

Yoshi:

So we worked on, like talked a lot about some of the bits that he was working on.

Yoshi:

He's already working on a third album and he's already got like a lot of fun stuff, like lined up for the third album, which is always fun.

Yoshi:

And I was telling him that I have stuff ready for my second album as well.

Yoshi:

So it's just, I mean, it's just good to watch.

Yoshi:

I'm always like, you know, a geek about watching people's process and how they update things and how they like set things up.

Yoshi:

But he's, I mean, as you said, he's comes from a finance background.

Yoshi:

He's got things organized, stuff is in proper folders.

Yoshi:

He doesn't have a million tabs open like here.

Yoshi:

Yeah, but just like things are organized.

Yoshi:

Like it was easy for him to find stuff.

Yoshi:

He's like, oh yeah, yeah, I recorded this, this is what I did.

Yoshi:

He just, it was just very much like it's.

Yoshi:

I don't want to say, like everything that he is doing, he takes it very, very seriously.

Yoshi:

And he doesn't like take days off.

Yoshi:

It's like everything is set for sending things out, reaching out to people, putting clips out.

Yoshi:

The marketing aspect of it, the follow up aspect of it, like it's just sort of, just kind of a constant kind of thing.

Yoshi:

But then he also just.

Yoshi:

I think what I recognized about his process is there's time set for that.

Yoshi:

And then he's not worried so much about the other time because he's doing the work of like working on the content and the jokes.

Yoshi:

So it's like, oh, if I'm not too worried about this other part, I can just do this thing.

Yoshi:

And then I showed him some AI tools on, like, some stuff to help him with Eclipse.

Yoshi:

He just bought it, started using it, like, so, like, which I love because he's not spending time trying to decide either, which I appreciate because you're like, oh.

Yoshi:

He's like, oh, this is a good tool.

Yoshi:

Imma just use it.

Yoshi:

And it just started using it.

Yoshi:

So it's like, I think taking away that time of like getting or like introducing yourself to some new thing, then just deciding.

Yoshi:

And he just decided, said, oh, I'll just pay for it.

Yoshi:

I'll just use it.

Yoshi:

It was like no thought process.

Yoshi:

And now he gets to use it in his everyday kind of like, grind.

Yoshi:

And he was going to try to see if it saves him kind of the time that he was using from before.

Yoshi:

But it was just a fun process to watch and he was just good.

Yoshi:

The shows were great.

Yoshi:

It was a three, I mean, three man show.

Yoshi:

There was an opener.

Yoshi:

I forget her last name.

Yoshi:

His name's Natasha.

Yoshi:

But she's very funny.

Yoshi:

She was our opener for the show.

Yoshi:

I did 20, 25 and then 25 each night.

Yoshi:

And then.

Yoshi:

But yeah, and then I.

Yoshi:

At least for my process, I just tried to do different stuff where if you came to all three shows, you would hear different.

Yoshi:

Or all four shows you would hear different jokes.

Yoshi:

But it wasn't like completely separate jokes.

Yoshi:

I just had some stuff that was like the staple, but I was interjecting, like, different things.

Yoshi:

It's a.

Yoshi:

So none of my shows were the same.

Yoshi:

And it's very similar to his show as well.

Yoshi:

Like, he didn't have all the same jokes.

Yoshi:

And then also one of my favorite things that he did, he spent a lot of time, like right at the beginning, just kind of getting to know the audience right up top and just like conversing with them, just kind of like bouncing stuff off of them.

Yoshi:

I mean, it was all crowd work stuff, but that's where he got and used a lot of the clips as well, so.

Joel Byers:

Right.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

So I think just like being conscious of.

Yoshi:

Well, if you do the same jokes every single show, you don't need to put a clip of every single joke in a different room that you do versus if you do clips of crowd work and all these other things, those are easy and they come naturally.

Yoshi:

And so just getting good about being on your feet is also a fun little, like, exercise and you never know what comes up.

Yoshi:

And some of the stuff that came up was freaking amazing stuff.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

And just.

Yoshi:

Just showing those natural moments too, were awesome.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

I went and watched Jeffrey Atmos this weekend.

Joel Byers:

Atmos.

Joel Byers:

Oh, wait, Atmos.

Joel Byers:

Right.

Joel Byers:

I'm butchering some names today.

Joel Byers:

But I went and watched him this weekend and I mean, he had like a three camera setup.

Yoshi:

Yep.

Joel Byers:

And there were like two people walking around taking photos of him while on stage.

Joel Byers:

But he kind of.

Joel Byers:

He kind of opened up similarly with like a little crowd work at the beginning, calling out some people and kind of getting to know people.

Joel Byers:

And then he would call back to them throughout the night.

Joel Byers:

And he kind of played it in that direction as well.

Joel Byers:

So you're saying, like, Adam kind of being his own production team and Singapore's own camera.

Joel Byers:

And Mike, he.

Joel Byers:

I don't know if this is someone that travels with him or not, but they had like the recorder hooked up to the board to get the sound.

Joel Byers:

Like, I mean, it literally looked like a comedy special shoot just as his Friday night show, so.

Yoshi:

For sure.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yoshi:

I mean, and Adam has.

Yoshi:

I mean, Adam just uses one camera, but he's got a, like a Lavelle mic and he's using like two and he's got like a recorder.

Joel Byers:

That's hilarious.

Joel Byers:

Lavelle or Lavelle Crawford?

Yoshi:

Oh, I think I.

Yoshi:

Lavalier.

Yoshi:

Yeah, yeah.

Yoshi:

Okay.

Yoshi:

Yeah, he's got lav.

Joel Byers:

If you're in the industry, we're both just butchering stuff today.

Joel Byers:

We don't even know what we're talking about.

Yoshi:

We're just.

Joel Byers:

We're making up these words as we go along.

Yoshi:

We got to do bell mic.

Joel Byers:

He's got.

Yoshi:

That's that uppity microphone.

Joel Byers:

Hilarious.

Yoshi:

Yeah, yeah, but he's.

Yoshi:

I mean, but he's got microphones and, like, it was just fun just to watch him do the process.

Yoshi:

But, like, you could just tell he's done it so often that when he.

Yoshi:

When we got back to the condo, there was in essence, sort of a process of dumping that stuff and then just getting rid of it and then just like shooting it all and then editing.

Yoshi:

But it would just like happen like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

Yoshi:

Edit is done.

Yoshi:

You're no longer thinking about it.

Yoshi:

And I think that was my favorite part of not overthinking all the stuff that you have to do after a show.

Yoshi:

So for, you know, not everyone gets, you know, a three, four day weekend of a show to do the same show, to do shows at the same venue.

Yoshi:

But it's like, oh, I can just get a lot done out of that.

Yoshi:

Right.

Yoshi:

And you know, he's a.

Yoshi:

He's a regular at the Comedy Store, so he actually had a show at the Comedy Store the night of seller.

Yoshi:

Sunday night at the Cellar.

Yoshi:

Sorry, at the Cellar in New York.

Yoshi:

I'm just butchering everything I rubbed off on you.

Yoshi:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yoshi:

He's a regular at the Mothership, guys.

Joel Byers:

But he lives in New York.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, yeah.

Joel Byers:

He is a lot.

Joel Byers:

Comedy seller.

Yoshi:

He is a paid regular at the Comedy Seller.

Yoshi:

I think this was a recent thing.

Yoshi:

I think this just happened in:

Yoshi:

Very cool.

Yoshi:

And so he's got, you know, he does gets to do the rotation with some of the heavy hitters in town in New York.

Yoshi:

People come in town and so, you know, I, I think, you know, one thing that he mentioned is you never know who's going to show up.

Yoshi:

So you just got to bring it all, especially at the Cellar.

Joel Byers:

And so iron sharpens iron.

Yoshi:

Iron sharpens iron.

Yoshi:

And yeah, he's just, you know, and then like, it's just fun just to watch, like, his joke writing process as well.

Yoshi:

And I, you know, he gave me some tags.

Yoshi:

I gave him some tags.

Yoshi:

And I think he just appreciated sort of an outside perspective on some of this stuff because I was watching and I was like, oh, just.

Yoshi:

It's just fun to watch someone who you've also seen put in work for so many years, right?

Yoshi:

Like, we, you know, when in 04, I mean, during the pandemic, right.

Yoshi:

Like, we just saw how he was working at the craft.

Yoshi:

And so I think it's just fun to watch, like, how work gets to someone who's really good at this and then you just see their process and you're like, okay, I see why you're successful because you've put in work.

Yoshi:

So that's always fun.

Joel Byers:

Wait, all right, there he is.

Joel Byers:

He has his own sound effect.

Joel Byers:

He won.

Joel Byers:

He won the hundred dollar joke contest so many times that he ended up getting his own sound effect.

Joel Byers:

All right, so that just shows you how much this guy is putting in work.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, it is really cool to see and very inspiring just to see a comic just out there creating their own success, which is what we're all about.

Joel Byers:

And it was really interesting us starting to talk in this direction because I got a DM from a younger comic this weekend and her name is Maddie B.

Joel Byers:

And she was actually asking, and this is on the topic of, like, clips and all this.

Joel Byers:

And just real quick, which AI tool did you tell him about?

Joel Byers:

Was it Opus?

Yoshi:

Yeah, I told him about Opus Clips.

Joel Byers:

Okay.

Joel Byers:

I know someone heard you say AI Tool.

Joel Byers:

And then this whole time they're like, they're not going to say what the tool was Opus clips.

Joel Byers:

Yes.

Yoshi:

For those of you, and there's many others, but that one is just the one that I use.

Yoshi:

I've also used one called Minvo as well, but I'd say Opus has probably the.

Yoshi:

Been the most consistent for me.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

So you're welcome.

Joel Byers:

For those of you that had that seed planted.

Joel Byers:

I got you.

Joel Byers:

I know.

Joel Byers:

I know you.

Joel Byers:

I know who you are.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

So her question was really.

Joel Byers:

I mean, she's super duper new to comedy, and her question is basically.

Joel Byers:

I mean, it's a whole paragraph, but it was essentially like, how do you.

Joel Byers:

How does she know what to post versus not what to post?

Joel Byers:

Because she's been doing comedy.

Joel Byers:

Let me even see if she says it's very.

Joel Byers:

I mean, very, very new.

Joel Byers:

Maybe done like within a.

Joel Byers:

It seems like less than a year is what is.

Joel Byers:

I think, is what I'm picking up on.

Joel Byers:

But she also thanked us for all the amazing resources within HOT Spread as well.

Yoshi:

I mean, I think.

Yoshi:

I think.

Yoshi:

Well, I don't know.

Yoshi:

I.

Yoshi:

I know I'm gonna come off like someone who sounds like an old timer.

Yoshi:

I don't think you should post clips unless you are on showcases.

Yoshi:

You shouldn't post of your open mic stuff.

Yoshi:

Open mic, like, clips and open mic laughs are not the kind of bar that you, I would say that you want to set because you're still working on your joke.

Yoshi:

So if you are on a showcase or you're on a show that's like, got a killer lineup or a lot of comics, and you're expected to do the, like, your best version of your five minutes, 10, whatever time you have, that's when I think you should post clips of, like, your material.

Yoshi:

Anyone who's like a working comedian who's like, doing this regularly and, you know, getting paid and doing weekends and traveling, I mean, the formula has kind of been out there for some time now, but you post clips of your crowd work to get people to come to your shows, and then at your shows, you do your material.

Yoshi:

You're not always posting clips of all of your material because you don't want to necessarily.

Yoshi:

Not that you want to burn them, but when people are coming to your shows, you don't want them to have seen everything that you've already gotten already.

Yoshi:

So which is the reason that's the Matt Rife formula, right?

Yoshi:

Everyone was just posting clips from.

Yoshi:

He was just posting clips from all his crowd work stuff just out of the gate.

Yoshi:

And the crowd work is what got people to want to come to his shows.

Yoshi:

So his shows became like 15, 20 minutes of crowd work and then the rest straight material.

Yoshi:

Right.

Yoshi:

But you got to see a real comedian doing actual written material, but he does the crowd work stuff for like the people, you know, I'm saying the clips and stuff.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

Like it's for you.

Yoshi:

Like I'm doing the clips for you guys so you can share it.

Yoshi:

So then people can come to my show and watch me do the work that I've put.

Yoshi:

Put in.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

It looks like she's based in New Jersey just for anyone in that area or whatnot doing comedy shows.

Joel Byers:

But she's posted a handful.

Joel Byers:

Maybe like 9 or 10 so far as I was just checking out her account.

Joel Byers:

But I think my advice to her was, I mean, I can't remember who we.

Joel Byers:

I feel like we just had someone on who was like, I would wait five years to start posting clips.

Joel Byers:

I don't remember who said that.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

But I mean, the thing that.

Joel Byers:

I mean, the thing I told her was basically like, if whatever you post, just make sure you don't mind living on forever.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

Like it's a representation.

Yoshi:

Yeah, It's a representation of who you are.

Yoshi:

And I'm, you know, I'm of the conscious state to know that not everything that I'm posting is like in a perfect state.

Yoshi:

But I'm also not posting things that I'm working on.

Yoshi:

I want to post things that I feel like are at least in like a.

Yoshi:

I don't know, be grade or an A grade.

Yoshi:

That's what I mean.

Joel Byers:

You're also at a different stage.

Joel Byers:

I'm talking like she's super duper new.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Maybe doing it less than a year.

Joel Byers:

You know, I mean, I don't.

Joel Byers:

I mean, if I'm so glad my comedy a year in is not anywhere accessible to anyone.

Joel Byers:

You know, you change and evolve so much as a comedian, you get better exponentially.

Yoshi:

Here's what I'll also say is that if you are comfortable with the kind of reaction that you are getting on stage.

Yoshi:

So, like, I guess I'm also making a very bad assumption, and this is on me, that when you go to an open mic, you're not getting consistent laughs.

Yoshi:

Right.

Yoshi:

Maybe you're getting laughs on some stuff and not getting laugh on other things.

Yoshi:

If you are comfortable with the types of laughs that you are getting at a open mic, post it.

Yoshi:

I think what's hard, and what I'll say is it's really hard for people to absorb comedy, that you're saying a joke and no one is laughing and there's silence afterwards.

Yoshi:

That's what I mean.

Yoshi:

Like, and I think if you, if, if that's what's important to you, unless laughter isn't important to you, you're like, oh, I just want people to hear what I'm saying, then by all means put it out there.

Yoshi:

There's no rules to this game.

Yoshi:

There's no rules as to what is going to hit versus what's not going to.

Yoshi:

Like, people have done stuff.

Yoshi:

People have audio clipped in laughter and made it big.

Joel Byers:

People, people have literally performed in their room and added laughter and are selling tickets.

Joel Byers:

Like there's several comedians who post them doing stand up like in their room and just add laughter and they make it look like it's at a show and they're like, have big followings and they're moving tickets and stuff.

Joel Byers:

So yeah, it, it's so hard for me to be in their shoes as like a super young comic and seeing, oh, this is what you do as a comedian, you perform and you record and you post clips.

Joel Byers:

But I mean, in hindsight I would not want my early stuff out there because you will look back on what you, I mean we, even today, you know, at every level, we all look back on who we were a year, two years ago and what we're talking about and are like, oh, that's not even me anymore.

Joel Byers:

Like, I would never want that to be a representation of who I am as a comedian.

Joel Byers:

So just keep that in mind when you post stuff.

Joel Byers:

Would you be okay, yeah.

Joel Byers:

With being known for this forever, basically, because the Internet is pretty much forever.

Joel Byers:

You may be able to take it down, but if it blows up and gets reshared, it's, it's, it's a wildfire out there.

Joel Byers:

So that was basically my advice to her was for sure.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Just whatever you post, make sure it's something you're proud of and you don't mind living on in eternity for sure.

Joel Byers:

But I don't want to stifle anyone's creativity or anyone's hustle.

Joel Byers:

So yeah, it's like you said, there's, there's no rules to this game.

Joel Byers:

We're all out here trying to find a way.

Joel Byers:

There's no right way.

Joel Byers:

There's your way.

Yoshi:

Boom.

Joel Byers:

So that would be a fun poll to post though, of just when I bet that would get some discussion going of like, when is it too early for comics to start posting or how could we word it to where it's implying Should a comic six months in be posting or should they wait a couple years?

Joel Byers:

I guess when is it Too early for comics start posting clips is that track.

Yoshi:

I mean it feels a little leading.

Yoshi:

But I would just ask the question, just straight out, when should comedians start posting clips and then just put timelines on it like zero to six months, six months to two years, two years to five years.

Yoshi:

Five years plus.

Yoshi:

Right.

Joel Byers:

At what experience level or.

Joel Byers:

Yep, there we go.

Joel Byers:

Cool.

Joel Byers:

We should have just chat TBT it.

Yoshi:

Sure.

Joel Byers:

But because that, I mean that's the thing like with Adam is he's released two full length specials in like seven or eight years of doing comedy which just a few years ago it's unheard of.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

You wait 10 years, you put out a special and then you do.

Joel Byers:

You do it that way.

Joel Byers:

You know it.

Joel Byers:

So it's a completely different game now.

Yoshi:

Game changer.

Joel Byers:

But yeah.

Joel Byers:

So you do you.

Joel Byers:

Anyone out there, you boo.

Joel Byers:

Let's be sure it's something you're proud of.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

And Alvaro says in the comments there's.

Joel Byers:

It's good to film yourself even if you don't post everything.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

It's still good to record and like.

Yoshi:

Review your sets and stuff to get into as well.

Yoshi:

It's just get in the habit of recording yourself and also like don't be afraid to watch yourself afterwards.

Yoshi:

I know it's.

Yoshi:

No one likes it.

Yoshi:

I hate it.

Yoshi:

I still do not enjoy it.

Yoshi:

But it's a good exercise just to get through, just to watch your mannerisms, to watch your set.

Yoshi:

It's a good edit editing tool for you to know how the audience received your material as well.

Joel Byers:

Very, very valuable.

Joel Byers:

But that's it.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, that's a great.

Joel Byers:

Ooh, that's a great topic there.

Joel Byers:

That's a hot topic right there.

Yoshi:

Bars.

Joel Byers:

So the question we're getting here in the live chat and we got comic.

Joel Byers:

We got comics from El Salvador and South Africa.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, we all over in here.

Joel Byers:

This is a question that came up in the pre show before you got here but I think would be helpful is Drew Beechler had asked about how do you organize your jokes.

Joel Byers:

He's tried Notion, then Evernote and apple notes and 100 others.

Joel Byers:

He's just open to ideas which I'm.

Joel Byers:

I'm currently working on like a notion template to hopefully help comics.

Joel Byers:

I'm giving it a test run in this four week cohort I'm doing.

Joel Byers:

But I'm trying.

Joel Byers:

This is something we all kind of struggle with and I'm trying to help fix this.

Joel Byers:

But Notion has been the best way I've been able to organize stuff.

Joel Byers:

So I'm trying to create a template to kind of help keep track of shows and jokes and how they're graded and stuff.

Joel Byers:

So I'll keep you posted on that.

Joel Byers:

But I don't know if you have anything specific that's worked for you.

Yoshi:

I would say the way that I have to get my first five minutes, I did an honest assessment of how many laughs per minute I got on a joke and what I rated that joke.

Yoshi:

Basically kind of like I think, was it, Was it Steve Harvey?

Joel Byers:

Was it Earthquake Was talking about it.

Yoshi:

Earthquake, yeah.

Yoshi:

Who got it from Cedric?

Joel Byers:

I think he got it from Steve.

Joel Byers:

Steve taught him how to like great jokes.

Yoshi:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yoshi:

So that's kind of what I do.

Yoshi:

I just grade my jokes and for my first five minute set, I just picked the five, I think five or six best jokes.

Yoshi:

I think they were about a minute long, five or six best jokes.

Yoshi:

And then I ordered it literally number two, the second best joke, the third best joke, the fourth best joke, the fifth best joke, and then the first best joke.

Yoshi:

That's how I graded it and that's how I ordered it.

Yoshi:

That's typically how I order my sets in terms of how I do it.

Yoshi:

Now if I'm doing like a super tight five or like a super tight set, like an eight minute set or even like a ten minute set, but for like longer sets, I organize my stuff based on themes.

Yoshi:

I like to sort of tell a story from beginning to end.

Yoshi:

It's very similar to the way that my specialist shot is that I start sort of of my background.

Yoshi:

Here's where I started and then here's where I moved to and here's what I'm dealing with now and sort of here's my future kind of thing.

Yoshi:

So it's like the immigrant experience, my family and then marriage and then kids.

Yoshi:

That's kind of how I order a lot of my sets today.

Yoshi:

Very rarely will I talk about my kids before I talk about marriage.

Yoshi:

So for me it's also sort of like I'm also storytelling, but that's kind of the comedian that I am.

Yoshi:

I'm a storytelling.

Yoshi:

I would consider myself a storytelling comedian.

Yoshi:

I have more stories than I have just straight one liner jokes or sort of quick hits.

Yoshi:

A lot of my stuff is themed around big topics.

Yoshi:

Family, kids, marriage, hoa, suburban life.

Joel Byers:

Where do you keep them organized?

Joel Byers:

Like, do you keep them in a Google Doc?

Yoshi:

Yeah, I use that up note.

Yoshi:

Everything is an up note.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

And we talked about this maybe last week.

Yoshi:

Yeah, yeah, everything.

Yoshi:

All my notes are an up note and I just took them from Evernote which is what I used to use before, but they got stingy and wanted to charge away too much money.

Yoshi:

So I got up note and just moved everything in there.

Yoshi:

And then I just organized everything in upnote.

Yoshi:

I've been using Notion to organize like my long sets.

Yoshi:

Like if I have like a 30 minute or 45 minute or I'm doing a weekend headlining gig, I will organize that inside of Notion.

Joel Byers:

Nice.

Yoshi:

And it's still themed.

Yoshi:

And I think with my material, I always like, I have a separate place for my premise.

Yoshi:

I have a separate place for my punchline.

Yoshi:

And then I have a separate place for any kind of tags.

Yoshi:

And then I.

Yoshi:

Within the tags.

Yoshi:

I don't use all of them, but I have them just in case I need it.

Joel Byers:

Very nice.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Hopefully that helps you there, Drew.

Joel Byers:

We have minor.

Joel Byers:

I hope I'm saying this right.

Yoshi:

Probably not.

Joel Byers:

But he's from.

Joel Byers:

This is the gentleman from El Salvador.

Yoshi:

Let's go.

Joel Byers:

He calls it the great kingdom of El Salvador.

Yoshi:

He said.

Joel Byers:

But his question is, I started about a year ago and performed a few times as an opener.

Joel Byers:

My question is, should I join a group?

Joel Byers:

I'm realizing the scene is kind of cultish, if that makes sense.

Joel Byers:

He says join a group.

Joel Byers:

Well, you're in hot breath.

Joel Byers:

So.

Yoshi:

Yeah, I think it depends on.

Yoshi:

I think the key to joining a group is basically making sure that you are getting something out of the group and the group is getting something out of you.

Yoshi:

Make sure that this is a mutual relationship, that you're providing something to them and they're providing something to you as well.

Yoshi:

Like, don't make it a one sided relationship when you join the group.

Yoshi:

Like if you're joining the group and you're just joining them just so you can perform everywhere that they are, they may not keep you there because what kind of value are you then adding.

Yoshi:

But if you're adding value to the group and they're getting something from you, and I think that's.

Yoshi:

That makes it a bit more healthier in terms of.

Yoshi:

Oh, there's value both ways here.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

And even in our Facebook group, I've seen people posting about writing together or doing like a comedy book club together.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

So I know there's people doing some meetups and stuff even within our Facebook group as well.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

And that's always good because.

Yoshi:

Which really what you're doing is just, you know, providing value to somebody else.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

And accountability.

Yoshi:

Accountability.

Yoshi:

Which is super important.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

So there's a few options for you there.

Joel Byers:

And he said.

Joel Byers:

I did pronounce it right.

Joel Byers:

I did pronounce it right, and he said, pedophiles get upset.

Yoshi:

That's really funny because his name is minor.

Joel Byers:

So there we go.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Clean comedy.

Yoshi:

Clean comedy.

Joel Byers:

Comedy.

Joel Byers:

Next we have a.

Joel Byers:

Oh, this is a good one.

Joel Byers:

Speaking of clean comedy.

Joel Byers:

Tes McGee.

Yoshi:

Tes McGee.

Joel Byers:

Tes McGee.

Yoshi:

Oh, my God.

Yoshi:

Reminds me of buttered ass.

Joel Byers:

I remember.

Joel Byers:

I remember that.

Joel Byers:

That was very funny.

Joel Byers:

That's a callback for all the hot breath regulars.

Yoshi:

Oh, my God.

Yoshi:

Yes.

Joel Byers:

Tes McGee asks, Do you write punchlines first or.

Joel Byers:

The setup.

Yoshi:

Typically set up for me, but I've.

Yoshi:

I have, like, done exercises while I write a punchline and then do a setup, because I enjoy the punchline as well, but probably, like, 80% for me is set up first, punchline later.

Yoshi:

How about you?

Joel Byers:

Yeah, and it's.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, it's kind of personal preference for some people.

Joel Byers:

Start with a punchline and then work backwards and vice versa.

Joel Byers:

I'm.

Joel Byers:

I'm not married to.

Joel Byers:

Either way.

Joel Byers:

It's kind of how it organically comes out.

Joel Byers:

I'm like, I literally just had the thought yesterday there was a big recall on carrots giving you E.

Joel Byers:

Coli.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

So it's a recall on carrots.

Joel Byers:

So now I'm thinking of, like, the.

Joel Byers:

The joke or like, the punchline is basically how I have all these jokes about cereal.

Joel Byers:

So now I'm thinking about the healthy food is actually the processed food, and the vegetables are the ones that's poison.

Joel Byers:

So now I'm trying to figure out how to work backwards to get to that, but I think there's something there.

Yoshi:

There is, yeah.

Joel Byers:

Of, like, the truth is the act.

Joel Byers:

The vegetables are actually the food that's killing us with all these recalls.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

That's funny.

Yoshi:

Like, my.

Yoshi:

My initial thought was, carrot cannot.

Yoshi:

Can't do it.

Joel Byers:

Carrot cannot.

Joel Byers:

Oh, my gosh.

Joel Byers:

That's so silly.

Joel Byers:

That's so silly.

Yoshi:

Yeah, because there's other things that have been recalled.

Yoshi:

And so I think even if you did, like, just wordplay stuff on all the things that have been recalled, because it has happened, like, a lot, I think.

Yoshi:

What was it?

Yoshi:

McDonald's.

Yoshi:

It was onions.

Joel Byers:

Onions.

Yoshi:

Onions at the McDonald's?

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

Onions make you want to cry.

Yoshi:

Onions make me want to, you know, just something.

Yoshi:

Yeah, onions make me want to cry.

Yoshi:

Back to, you know, make me want to cry about not eating at McDonald's or something of that nature.

Yoshi:

Like, just.

Yoshi:

There's just something there, to your point about, like, each of the food that you have.

Yoshi:

But I like that premise, though.

Yoshi:

I like the premise that the processed.

Joel Byers:

Food is the, the healthier option.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, yeah.

Joel Byers:

Is like Tony the Tiger never got E.

Joel Byers:

Coli.

Yoshi:

Yeah, yeah.

Yoshi:

That.

Yoshi:

It's so bad now that it's like, that's the option.

Joel Byers:

The safe.

Joel Byers:

And dog food's healthier than all of it.

Joel Byers:

That's the thing.

Yoshi:

Even better.

Joel Byers:

That's where it all ties in.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

Which is why RFK is going to lead that effort, because he does sound like a dog.

Joel Byers:

Oh, I'm keeping that one.

Joel Byers:

Oh, that's hilarious.

Yoshi:

Yeah, that's.

Joel Byers:

You gotta eat.

Joel Byers:

Eat your veggies, kids.

Yoshi:

Or make sure there's no fluoride in your toothpaste, kids.

Joel Byers:

There's no dyes in your doggy treats.

Joel Byers:

No high fructose corn syrup syrup for your doggy treats.

Yoshi:

Yes.

Joel Byers:

Oh, there's something there.

Joel Byers:

There's something.

Joel Byers:

He sounds like a dog.

Joel Byers:

That's hilarious.

Yoshi:

RFK sounds like the white dmx.

Joel Byers:

He does.

Joel Byers:

That's great.

Joel Byers:

I, I, I did.

Joel Byers:

I had a joke at one time that I think maybe past due now, but it was about, like, how dog food is healthier than people food.

Joel Byers:

And I was.

Joel Byers:

And then I said, like, that's why migrants are eating the dogs.

Joel Byers:

It's the only healthy food we have.

Yoshi:

That's funny.

Joel Byers:

No GMOs.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

I did a migrant bit, I think I might have told you about it, of just like.

Yoshi:

And I started combining dogs versus like.

Yoshi:

So I had like, chimichanga Chihuahua.

Joel Byers:

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yoshi:

And like.

Yoshi:

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Yoshi:

There was the one on Go.

Yoshi:

Golden Doodle Noodle, I think.

Yoshi:

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yoshi:

The chimichanga Chihuahua hit.

Yoshi:

I actually did that this weekend.

Yoshi:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yoshi:

That's funny.

Yoshi:

I think I can only do one once.

Yoshi:

I did two, they were like, okay, that's enough.

Joel Byers:

Right?

Joel Byers:

All right, move on.

Joel Byers:

Oh, this is great.

Joel Byers:

Mike Betancourt said they loved your special reparations on Ice Killed me.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Yoshi special is available now on the Hop Breath YouTube channel.

Joel Byers:

Go watch it.

Joel Byers:

Give it a view.

Yoshi:

Yeah, man.

Joel Byers:

Let's get it in the algorithm.

Yoshi:

Absolutely.

Yoshi:

We're working on it, baby.

Joel Byers:

Next joke.

Joel Byers:

Not next joke.

Joel Byers:

Next question from Alvaro.

Joel Byers:

Who?

Joel Byers:

Alvaro also said they've booked corporate gigs from their reels, which is interesting.

Joel Byers:

And Kim said she booked some local work from her reels.

Joel Byers:

Kim Cattrall said that?

Joel Byers:

So, I mean, yeah, there's value to it for sure, but Alvaro's question was, does writing jokes ever get easier?

Yoshi:

I think so.

Yoshi:

I think it definitely gets easier from the standpoint of it's easier to.

Yoshi:

For me at least, it's easier for me to come up with premise punchline, kind of like that setup.

Yoshi:

What I would say gets harder for me is when I want to have like longer bits.

Yoshi:

Like quick jokes and like small tags are easier for me now versus longer bits or things that I'm like, oh, this, I want to let this cook or has like a lot of legs to it.

Yoshi:

Those take me much, much longer and harder to come up with.

Yoshi:

But I'll say when I get in the mode of just writing regularly, it becomes so much easier.

Yoshi:

I think that's always works for me is if I'm having a hard time writing, I get back in a regular writing routine and it becomes so much easier to just spit the stuff out.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, I think you get a better feel for how to write jokes and what to do with an idea and where you can maybe take it.

Joel Byers:

But the actual work of writing and developing jokes is just tedious and incremental and at every level.

Joel Byers:

I mean, you even hear big time comics say once they release a special and they have to start over, they're like, oh my gosh, can I do this?

Joel Byers:

Do I know how to do this?

Joel Byers:

Like, we all go through that kind of insecurity of like, I have nothing or I don't know what I'm going to do.

Joel Byers:

And you have to just slowly develop the jokes over time on stage and reviewing and refining and rewriting.

Joel Byers:

So you learn the skill of joke writing the more you do it.

Joel Byers:

But you have to exercise that muscle to keep it essentially.

Joel Byers:

So it's kind of half and half.

Joel Byers:

You get better at the skill, but the actual showing up and putting in the work does not get easier.

Yoshi:

Yep.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Good question there, though.

Joel Byers:

Oh, we have Bobby Sutton back from Vegas.

Joel Byers:

We shouted her out last week going to Vegas for the Keenan Thompson Festival.

Joel Byers:

So that was very cool.

Joel Byers:

That's so great.

Joel Byers:

She said it was worth it.

Yoshi:

Noice.

Joel Byers:

Thank you.

Joel Byers:

She got invited to the clean comedy set in Vegas.

Joel Byers:

One of her biggest successes of her career.

Joel Byers:

Oh, yay.

Joel Byers:

Love to hear that, Bobby.

Joel Byers:

Congratulations.

Joel Byers:

That's so cool.

Joel Byers:

I love to see the hot breath of earth out.

Joel Byers:

Very cool.

Joel Byers:

I'm glad to hear it went well.

Joel Byers:

I know you had.

Joel Byers:

We showered you out last week, so that's good to know.

Joel Byers:

And we also had Beardo in the live chat.

Joel Byers:

Talk about they were doing their first.

Joel Byers:

They did recently did their first show as well.

Joel Byers:

So a lot of.

Joel Byers:

A lot of exciting happenings for people in hot breath verse.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

So next question.

Joel Byers:

And we can start to.

Joel Byers:

We can start to run through these here we'll try to rapid fire as we're, we're running the light right now.

Joel Byers:

We did start a little late, but never that.

Yoshi:

Never that.

Joel Byers:

Andrew Morgan, I'm extremely indecisive and have trouble selecting which jokes to put into my set list.

Joel Byers:

Any tips on how you choose?

Yoshi:

I mean I, the biggest thing for me is within a set list order is important based on the order of funny, not necessarily order of topic.

Yoshi:

Just make sure that you're.

Yoshi:

The first thing that they hear is either the funniest or the second funniest thing that you have and the last thing that they hear is either the first or the second funniest thing that they have.

Yoshi:

Everything kind of in the middle.

Yoshi:

You have sort of leeway to sort of go in and out about and it can be, you know, based on how you tell stories, based on how you deliver your jokes.

Yoshi:

It's all going to be based on that.

Yoshi:

Which is why it's important to watch your set, watch your material and ask yourself does this flow from one thing to the other and is that important to you?

Yoshi:

Right.

Yoshi:

I know many of comedians that are just one liner comedians and the topics go from variations or whatever.

Yoshi:

But there's many comics who just tell sort of stories around, oh, I've been dating so they tell dating stories for a little bit and then they tell stories about their own personal like.

Yoshi:

So there's like almost a theme to how they talk.

Yoshi:

So it just depends on how you deliver and what you're comfortable with which is why it's important to watch your material.

Yoshi:

But in terms of just picking, just pick something, just start with something and see what happens on stage, record, get yourself some feedback, watch yourself and see how you perform and then try it again somewhere else and see how you do and just keep tweaking.

Yoshi:

Oh, this works better there, this works better there.

Yoshi:

Every comedian, especially that headlines does this exact same thing every single weekend.

Yoshi:

They're always tweaking the order.

Yoshi:

They're always looking at how certain things go from one to the other, whether they should have set up with this joke.

Yoshi:

That way the last joke that they've got hits a little differently.

Yoshi:

That's a never ending process.

Yoshi:

But if you're super indecisive, I would say just pick something.

Yoshi:

Like even if you make it random, just pick one thing to start off with and see what happens from there.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, that is the rule of thumb is usually open and close with your two strongest jokes.

Joel Byers:

You want to start with a laugh as quick as possible and then end on a laugh as well.

Joel Byers:

And a great way to test new material within your set, like in the middle and such is maybe you have an older joke, then you say a newer joke, and then you say like an older joke again.

Joel Byers:

So you kind of couch it in between jokes you're more confident in in case that new joke falls.

Joel Byers:

You can kind of bounce back to whatever degree.

Joel Byers:

I know when you're newer, you're like, gosh, this joke works 60% of the time.

Joel Byers:

Which is more than all my other jokes.

Joel Byers:

Maybe I'll open with this.

Joel Byers:

So it is kind of a trial and error and kind of using your judgment.

Joel Byers:

But I will.

Joel Byers:

The stuff I'm working on, I will, like put in the middle of my set and try to kind of tent pole my sets with something I know will get a laugh and get the waves moving at the beginning and then just kind of experiment in the middle from there and then try to close on something that I'll know at least leave them feeling good if the middle kind of sinks.

Joel Byers:

You know, this is working out material.

Joel Byers:

This isn't like a headlining set or something.

Joel Byers:

This is more just out trying stuff.

Joel Byers:

But the same rules apply of even longer sets.

Joel Byers:

You want to open strong and finish strong and then try to weave in and out of trying things, but then also making sure they're still laughing at more established jokes.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

And the more jokes you get, the more you'll have to draw from.

Joel Byers:

So it does take time to build up that library of material for you to then be able to start plugging and play a little bit more.

Joel Byers:

Very nice.

Joel Byers:

Good questions today though, man.

Joel Byers:

And Steve Polger.

Joel Byers:

I think I missed this one.

Joel Byers:

I need to remember to say this, but for people posting questions, be sure to put question in front of your question, or otherwise it'll just kind of look like a comment.

Joel Byers:

It's kind of tough to decipher the differences.

Joel Byers:

But I think Steve asked about.

Joel Byers:

Oh, the.

Joel Byers:

The Dr.

Joel Byers:

Phil Adam Ray special on Netflix.

Joel Byers:

Our thoughts.

Joel Byers:

I have not seen.

Yoshi:

It just came out today.

Joel Byers:

It just came out today.

Yoshi:

Yeah, yeah.

Joel Byers:

But I mean, incredible.

Joel Byers:

I mean, what he's done with that character to where it's now a Netflix special with the dude he's imitating.

Joel Byers:

I mean, incredible.

Yoshi:

Yeah, yeah.

Yoshi:

I mean.

Yoshi:

But Adam Ray is also one of the most talented, like character free flowing.

Yoshi:

He does so many fun characters.

Yoshi:

He's good at stand up comedy.

Yoshi:

He's good at characters.

Joel Byers:

Oh, yeah.

Yoshi:

And just like.

Yoshi:

And I mean, let's not get it twisted.

Yoshi:

Just master improviser.

Joel Byers:

Yes.

Yoshi:

Like in terms of just being so quick on his Feet.

Yoshi:

If you ever watch The Adam Ray Dr.

Yoshi:

Phil show itself, he's just asking a lot of audience members questions and he's just got zingers just ready for anything that they respond to.

Yoshi:

And it's just like there are just bits and you could just tell he's just very seasoned at this.

Yoshi:

But, yeah, I'm.

Yoshi:

I'm excited to see.

Yoshi:

I can't imagine that it'll be bad, to be honest.

Joel Byers:

No, yeah.

Joel Byers:

And shout out to Hot Breath alum Jeremiah Watkins as well.

Joel Byers:

I know he's been doing those shows with Adam doing characters and stuff.

Joel Byers:

They just sold out the Beacon Theater and Jeremiah was dressed up like a apple pie.

Joel Byers:

And they had Jason Biggs come out on stage for American Pie and it was like their first time seeing each other since the movie.

Joel Byers:

Incredible, dude.

Joel Byers:

Unbelievable.

Joel Byers:

Is so good.

Yoshi:

That's so funny, dude.

Joel Byers:

You could tell Jason was game.

Joel Byers:

Like, it was like a pretty scheduled skid and Jason, like went all in on it.

Joel Byers:

He was a good sport about it.

Joel Byers:

It was so funny.

Joel Byers:

That is so funny, dude.

Joel Byers:

Brilliant.

Yoshi:

God, that's so funny.

Joel Byers:

So let's see.

Joel Byers:

We may be coming down to the last question here or so as we are running out of time.

Joel Byers:

I just heard my wife get home.

Joel Byers:

My wife is home.

Joel Byers:

But the soup is cooked, so.

Yoshi:

It's cooked.

Joel Byers:

The soup is cooked.

Joel Byers:

That's not a euphemism.

Joel Byers:

I just want people to know.

Yoshi:

I think teach McGee the teacher have a question.

Joel Byers:

I thought they already asked one.

Yoshi:

Oh, yeah, they might have.

Joel Byers:

Oh, I was just trying to make sure everyone got one.

Joel Byers:

One in, I swear.

Joel Byers:

Oh, here we go.

Joel Byers:

Adam Vale.

Joel Byers:

I post my set on YouTube because I heard it's the best way to copyright material so people don't steal it.

Joel Byers:

What is your opinion?

Yoshi:

Yes.

Yoshi:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yoshi:

I mean, I forget who was.

Yoshi:

What's.

Yoshi:

The guy from Comedy Central has his own show on.

Yoshi:

Com on CNN now.

Yoshi:

Roy Wood, Jr.

Yoshi:

Roy with Jr.

Yoshi:

Yeah, he would post his jokes on draft in Twitter in case anyone would ever say that they had, like stolen a joke from him or something like that.

Yoshi:

Because when you get bigger like that, people like, oh, that's my joke.

Yoshi:

I want credit for this.

Yoshi:

Blah, blah, blah.

Yoshi:

But it's like the Internet is like wild and crazy.

Yoshi:

People on Reddit think they should be getting credit for jokes and things like that.

Yoshi:

You're like, yeah, you said the same thing that everyone else thought of.

Yoshi:

And so I think, yeah, if you are worried about that, then post it.

Yoshi:

And that way, you know, you're the first one to have the joke.

Yoshi:

Like there's this.

Yoshi:

I don't know if you seen.

Yoshi:

Did you watch the Mike Tyson, Jake Paul.

Yoshi:

So literally, I don't know.

Yoshi:

I think I've seen five people make this exact same joke about how the reason he lost is because they did the show at midnight and he would have won if they made it like a 4:30 show or like a 6:00 show, which is very funny.

Yoshi:

Very, very funny.

Yoshi:

But it's like everyone did the exact same thing.

Yoshi:

And I don't know who's trying to take credit for it or whatever, but it's like, yeah, we saw it.

Yoshi:

But also it's like, I don't know how you take credit for something when everyone had the exact same idea.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, yeah.

Joel Byers:

On that topical stuff.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, it's.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

But, yeah, that's.

Joel Byers:

In short, that's not a bad idea, Adam.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yoshi:

Why not?

Joel Byers:

And I see the final question here from Theory House.

Joel Byers:

I'm writing a ton, but it's so scripted on stage.

Joel Byers:

Any suggestions for breaking free from this shell?

Joel Byers:

I feel like we've been.

Joel Byers:

I guess this is something people struggle with a lot.

Joel Byers:

I feel like we get asked a version of this as we're talking about original jokes.

Joel Byers:

Now we're talking about original questions.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

Yes.

Yoshi:

I think there's an element of people want writing scripted when they first start out, but not feeling like themselves when they are saying it.

Yoshi:

I.

Yoshi:

I have a hard time thinking that this is a problem.

Yoshi:

And I.

Yoshi:

Part of it is, I think you do the script for some time and then you just have to know your joke well enough to then break free from it.

Yoshi:

Does that make sense?

Yoshi:

So I just think, like, just make sure you know your joke and then be willing to try it.

Yoshi:

Maybe in a different way more than anything else.

Yoshi:

Or just like in the middle of your set, ask a question, like, derail yourself.

Yoshi:

Like, actually make yourself do something different that you normally don't do in the middle of your set and it'll kind of keep you on your toes.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, it's kind of a.

Joel Byers:

I feel like it took me several years to get conversational.

Joel Byers:

I feel like I was very scripted for, I mean, five or first five or six years.

Joel Byers:

I think all I did was like one liners and it was very just here's a joke and then there's a joke.

Joel Byers:

And I was just kind of learning how to write a joke and piece it together into longer and longer sets and it just kind of got conversational the more confident I got on stage.

Joel Byers:

So I think it'll help the more you do a joke, the more it will become more conversational because you are more confident and you're not thinking about, oh, is this joke gonna work?

Joel Byers:

Or not?

Joel Byers:

Or doubting the wording and trying to remember it word for word, syllable for syllable.

Joel Byers:

It's just kind of something you kind of.

Joel Byers:

In my experience, you write a joke that works and you kind of say the joke, and over time, it kind of massages into being a little more conversational.

Joel Byers:

But it kind of just takes time to really have that polish on your material.

Joel Byers:

I mean, even jokes now for me, as I develop them, they are a little more rigid at first, and you kind of find a flow to them and it becomes more conversational.

Joel Byers:

But early on, it is still.

Joel Byers:

You try.

Joel Byers:

It's kind of on stilts, and it's a little wonky, and you're trying to figure out how to make it flow.

Joel Byers:

But what will help is you to write jokes based on topics that you enjoy talking about anyway, so it will come off more natural because you are naturally interested and naturally exc.

Joel Byers:

Excited about talking about these things.

Joel Byers:

So I think that's a shortcut to getting more conversational and less scripted is making sure you're writing about topics that you're excited to talk about and not just for the sake of.

Joel Byers:

It's a setup punchline, and it works.

Joel Byers:

So that's a good.

Joel Byers:

That's a good place to start, is just what you're writing about, making sure it's something you could talk about.

Joel Byers:

Even if there weren't, it wasn't funny, you would just want to talk about it anyway.

Yoshi:

Yeah, I like that.

Joel Byers:

Good question, though.

Yoshi:

Bars.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, that Bars.

Joel Byers:

It kind of.

Joel Byers:

Kind of just takes time to get that conversational polish on it, though.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

You know.

Yoshi:

Yep.

Joel Byers:

But it does come down to confidence, which is what comedy is all about.

Joel Byers:

Anyway, good stuff today, fam.

Joel Byers:

A lot of good questions.

Joel Byers:

Every Tuesday, we're out here answering your comedy questions.

Joel Byers:

So join us out here.

Joel Byers:

You're doing it every Tuesday, 5:00pm Eastern Standard Time.

Joel Byers:

But alas, we must land this plane.

Joel Byers:

Is there anything else you want the hot breath verse to know?

Yoshi:

Yeah, the Iron man mask is doing good.

Yoshi:

It's still in one piece because I did the iron I showed your son.

Joel Byers:

Came in the Iron man mass that day.

Joel Byers:

Taylor was asking about it.

Yoshi:

Yeah, it's still in one piece.

Yoshi:

Yes, all is well.

Yoshi:

They still have it.

Yoshi:

It has not broken, which I'm very surprised by.

Yoshi:

So, yeah, they got it.

Yoshi:

So all is well.

Yoshi:

And yeah, go watch the special.

Yoshi:

Come check me out wherever I am.

Yoshi:

Go check the website yoshi.com also on Instagram yoshi.

Joel Byers:

So yeah, and you can follow us at Hot Breath Pod.

Joel Byers:

If you want to reach out with any questions, subscribe to our newsletter as well, where I update you on these lives and other Hot Breath happenings.

Joel Byers:

And join the waitlist for next month's 100 joke writing contest.

Joel Byers:

Linked in the show notes.

Joel Byers:

We'll see y'all next Tuesday.

Joel Byers:

We love you all.

Yoshi:

Bow Bye y'all.

Yoshi:

Bow by.

Joel Byers:

Hot Breath.

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

About the Podcast

Show artwork for Hot Breath! (Learn Comedy from the Pros)
Hot Breath! (Learn Comedy from the Pros)

Listen for free

About your host

Profile picture for Joel Byars

Joel Byars