Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Marcus Monroe. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Marcus, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I started performing when I was around 9 years old. I got into magic which led to juggling which led to stand up comedy. So by the time I started stand up (7 years ago) I was already comfortable on stage and knew how to handle a crowd.

My brother and I took a stand up comedy class together to learn techniques and writing tips but honestly, the only way to learn stand up is to do it. It’s not an art form you can do alone, it’s a dance with the audience so you need to get on stage and do it. Even if you just talk about your day without any jokes, that’s a start!

There’s really not much you can do to speed up the process but writing. You need to write every single day. Even if it’s just for two minutes. Put pen to paper and write. Some people think they can just go on stage and be funny. That’s true. Some people can, but you can tell the difference between someone who is prepared and has written a joke versus someone who thinks they can just be silly on stage without any substance.

Go to open mics at your local bar, ask friends to watch you perform on a zoom, do whatever you can to get up. There’s unfortunately no cheat code to this process that I’ve found. Immerse yourself in the world of stand up and study the people you enjoy watching. Ask yourself, why do I like this person?! Why do I find that funny?! Then take a look at your own life and write what you know. Write about you because no one has the same life experiences that you have. By doing that you won’t be a carbon copy of your favorite comic, but your own person. You have your own voice for a reason.

There’s an infinite amount of resources available online for people wanting to start comedy such as classes, comedy specials, transcripts, late night sets…. There’s an endless amount of examples on YouTube of comedians bombing too. Watch all of it. Watch people kill on the tonight show and watch people bomb during an open mic. Then when you’re ready to try it, record yourself and watch your set back. What worked, what didn’t?! The audience will tell you exactly what’s working. You don’t have to guess. That’s the beauty of stand up. Many comics just starting out will spend too much time on a build up with little pay off. Make sure there’s a joke coming quickly and take out unnecessary words. That’s something I learned when I was starting out and it sped up my process.

The obstacles standing in your way is just you. Your fears. “What if no one laughs?!” “What if I forget my jokes?!” “What if I get heckled?!” The only way to get good at stand up is by doing it consistently. Even as a pro, there are times I forget a joke, there are times no one laughs and of course everyone will get heckled. But instead of thinking of these things as bad things, try to find out what you learned through those experiences. Failure makes you stronger and sometimes bombing on stage will help you more on the long run. You learn what not to do and that’s just as important as learning what to do onstage.

Stand up is a lot of work, and it’s scary at times but there is no greater feeling than when a new joke you wrote makes a room full of strangers laugh. It’s addicting and you won’t be able to stop!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I knew from a very young age I wanted to be a performer. I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin right outside of Milwaukee. I was fortunate enough to have supportive parents who would take me to the library to watch a magician, a juggler, or a clown. I loved that. I was hypnotized by them. Then I realized that there wasn’t an age requirement to learn these tricks so I taught myself how to juggle and became one of the most successful jugglers in the world. But I wanted more. I realized during my juggling show that my favorite part wasn’t the juggljng, but the banter between the tricks. So I threw out my juggling props and started focusing on stand up. For the last 20 years, I’ve lived in NYC. It’s the best town for comedy in the world. I auditioned at the Comedy Cellar and got accepted so now I’m performing on stages with the best comedians in the world including Dave Chappelle, Louis CK, Sarah Silverman and Dave Attell.

Social media plays a giant part in my career now. To sell tickets, it helps to have a giant social media following so I started creating videos. I would post clips from shows and they did okay it nothing too great. Then, after some trial and error, I decided to see what would happen if I went onto the subway in nyc dressed as a character and performed stand up as that character. Well a lot of these videos started to go viral and for the past year that’s what has helped me sell tickets and get my name out there. They’re ridiculous and weird and cringy which is why they work. People enjoy watching me bomb on purpose on the train. It’s fun but I hate it.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I enjoy making people laugh. It’s the most rewarding part of my job. I feel like a conductor at times when I’m on stage and the bigger the laugh the better the song. Making people feel good after a crumby day at the office or at home or whatever is a great feeling.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I did have to transition from a juggler to a stand up comedian. That was scary cause for years I had made my living by playing catch with myself. I just ripped the bandaid off when I was ready and removed all of the juggling references off my website and became a stand up comic. I put in the work and wrote joke after joke and got onstage as much as I could.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.MarcusMonroe.com
• Instagram: @marcusjmonroe
• Facebook: https://Www.facebook.com/marcusmonroecomedy