Writing a new stand up show

Starting a new one man stand up comedy show is terrifying. Especially the way I do it. I realized a long time ago that without a deadline, I don't write anything. I'm too lazy and there are too many enticing distractions. To make myself write I need a deadline.

STEP 1: BOOK THE PREMIERE DATE..

By booking a 60  minute slot in a festival I create a tangible deadline. In this case it's February 12th, Leicester Comedy Festival, when I'm going to debut a new show. That's approximately 4 months away, so that breaks down to, I need to write 15 minutes of jokes per month. Not that daunting.

Except, not every joke I write is good enough. My average is a 25% success rate. In every four jokes I write, one gets laughs every time I perform it. I toss out 75% of my jokes. This means, ideally, I should write 240 minutes of jokes in the next 4 months, toss out the dead weight, and I'll have a perfect show.  Daunting again.   

STEP 2: BREAK THE BIG THEME DOWN INTO SMALLER THEMES

Where do I start when I have to write a new show?  I don't start with jokes.  I start with themes each of which I aim to write 5 minutes of jokes about.  12 themes x 5 minutes of jokes about each = new show.  The show I'm doing in February is a Valentine's themed show called 'Love Sucks' so all my first 8 themes are about why love sucks and then the last 4 themes are about the value of love (i.e. why we still chase it despite it sucking).  So Day 1 of writing the show, this is what was on the page.

LOVE SUCKS, a one man show by Daliso Chaponda

THEMES

GETTING OLDER

LONELINESS

REJECTION

DATING

BETRAYAL

INCOMPATIBILITY

JEALOUSY

BREAKUPS

HOPE

ROMANCE

LETTING DOWN ARMOR

BETTER VERSION OF SELF

The 12 themes are all vague.  Very specific themes shut down creativity, big ones ignite it.  Write a joke about anything = SCARY.  Write a joke about brushing teeth = TOO SPECIFIC AND LIMITING.  Write a joke about getting older = CREATIVITY IGNITED.

STEP 3 - START WRITING JOKES

The first joke I wrote about GETTING OLDER tries to illustrate the premise that expectations lower as you get older.  Below is filmed the fourth time I have performed the joke, or more accurately jokes.  There are three mini jokes, in the one longer routine.  I'm happy with the final joke, but the first two, the one about the gym, and the one about getting rich, are not yet strong enough so may be tweaked a lot before February.

The whole routine is about 30 seconds long.  59 minutes 30 seconds to go.