I heard some really bad advice since I started doing stand-up over 8 years ago. I had one guy tell me all it took to win the crowd over was volume. Yes, crowds really love to be yelled at over hearing funny material. Another young open miker told me it was better to make people squirm over making them laugh. “I love hearing silence, it means I shocked them!” Get used to silence, then. You’ll have lots.
In 2008, I got my first chance to work a professionally booked show (I had worked shows set up by other comics, but never a booking agency) and the headliner was Jim Wiggins. He was in his 60’s, wore all black and had a cane. He looked like a biker and sounded like his cigarettes smoked cigarettes – his raspy voice was shocking, and I’ve been told I have the deepest voice most people have heard. He called himself the Last Hippie and he constantly was drinking tequila, but I never saw him look even remotely intoxicated. Impressive and kind of scary.
I went up and did OK – the crowd was older than I was used to, but I got some laughs. I then watched him go up and absolutely destroy for almost an hour. He could have ignored me so he could sell more t-shirts or just ignored me like he should have, but instead he offered advice. The way he said it wasn’t condescending, he even said I could take it or leave it. “You don’t look at the front row. If you can make them laugh, the people in the back will see them and laugh too.” I realized at that moment I looked over the first rows because it felt weird to stare at people that close.
I worked with him again and he was overly nice, especially for how raw my set was. He then told me to have fun; it looked like I was too serious onstage. To this day, it’s probably two of the best pointers I’ve ever received. That meant he actually watched my set, which I have found out over the years a lot of headliners don’t do, especially for new acts.
I found out he passed away this week. I’m not going to be a sympathy whore and act like we hung out or talked on the phone every day, but I thought people should know he was not only a funny comic; he really had a great time doing comedy and was a very nice guy. You can check out his stuff at lasthippie.com. After doing comedy for three decades, he finally got to perform on the Tonight Show and Last Comic Standing, showing that good things can happen to good people. RIP Jim and thanks for the help.