A comedian’s super power is making people laugh.
But for a great comedian, the other super power is being able to make people feel comfortable when they don’t laugh.
We all have a picture of what the optimal response from our audience is…but when we don’t get that response, have we done the work for them to gladly give us another shot?
When a pro sports team isn’t winning enough games they fire the coach.
Did the coach need to be fired? Maybe…but firing the coach is a sure way to signal to everyone that we’re shaking it up, things are going to be different now, it’s a new day. The firing changes and resets everyone’s mindset.
For most of us we don’t have a coach to fire when we need a reset.
But we will need a reset.
»» And as you may have guessed, it’s best to know how to get a reset before you need a reset.
You feel like you gotta do something.
(That could be the reason there are so many podcasts.)
If you wait until things are slow to figure out what you’re going to do when things get slow it’s easy to for your vision to get cloudy. It’s easy to let the anxiety and restlessness of the moment inform your next decision rather than already having a plan for the down time.
We don’t stop the song half way through.
We don’t turn off the mystery before we find out who the murderer is.
We don’t throw a couple puzzle pieces into the backyard.
Puzzles and mystery movies and songs offer completion. They offer resolve. That’s a big reason we like them and make them.
Real life is not having all the puzzle pieces and probably not having the box with the picture on it either.
That tension is what inspires us to make art that tells a complete story.
Are you a good laugher?
Do you give the compliment?
Do you listen and keep eye contact and ask good questions along the way?
A good audience is pure gold when we’re sharing our thing. It gives us confidence and amplifies all the good parts of the interaction.
We can’t change the audience but we can be a good audience when it’s our turn.