Comedy Theory Articles

[unfrufru]

i've put both the original article and the reference here.

Stand-up Comedy Addict? Comedian Identifies Stage Addiction

New article reveals stunning similaries between drug addiction and addiction by performers to live comedy stage performances and humorous presentations.

(PRWEB) February 28, 2005 -- Is it possible for a comedian, comedy entertainer or humorous speaker to actually be addicted to the stage? Comedy guru Steve Roye points out some stunning similarities between an addict in search of a drug and a performer in search of stage time in a just released article entitled "Stage Addiction: Myth or Reality".

Roye is quick to point out that unlike most addictions, stage addiction can have positive or negative ramifications, depending upon the skill level and expertise of the performer. "Drugs provide a 'high' for the user. A successful comedy show or presentation provides an extreme 'high' for the performer. Drug users are driven to get the 'fix' – performers are driven to get stage time, which provides a very potent type of 'fix', even though no external chemical is involved. One of the significant differences between drug addiction and stage addiction is that a stage addict won't break into your house to get stage time."

According to Roye, everyone craves attention, respect, admiration and acceptance – all of which can be provided in huge doses from a superb performance on stage. These emotional attributes of live performing are extremely powerful and can keep even the most mediocre performers searching for stage time year after year.

The article "Stage Addiction: Myth or Reality" is available for review now for free at: http://www.killerstandup.com/stage_addict.htm.

Roye is a professional comedian, author and one of the world’s leading experts on spoken comedy. He is also the founder of the Global Comedy Network, an internationally recognized organization dedicated to business systems development, product research, quality improvement and marketing strategy development for world entertainment markets in the field of live comedy entertainment and presentations incorporating humor.

Stage Addiction: Myth or Reality?
By Steve Roye, Professional Comedian

Recently I received correspondence from a journalist in the process of writing an article on why people perform comedy. He had seen a recent news release about me and wanted my thoughts on the matter. His inquiry inspired me enough to put my ideas down on paper – ideas I have been aching to write about for a long, long time.

I strongly believe that comedians, comedy performers and speakers are actually addicts - in many ways no different than cocaine addicts or alcoholics. Here’s why I say that…

A drug addict craves a drug or substance. What ALL people crave the most is:

• Recognition
  
  
• Attention
  
  
• Appreciation
  
  
• Admiration
  
  
• Respect
  
  
• Acceptance
  
  
• Adoration
  
  
• Acknowledgement
  
  
• Gratitude
  
  
• Love (the basic foundation for the above list)
  

This list is not all-inclusive, and I am certainly not a psychologist. But here’s something interesting to note…

Ray Romano made an interesting statement in a recent TV interview. He said:

"If my Dad had hugged me when I was a kid, I wouldn’t be where I am at today."

It makes me wonder if comedians like Chris Rock, Jamie Foxx or George Lopez ever got enough hugs from their dads. I know I didn’t.

When a performer, improv group or speaker steps on the stage, they have the opportunity to obtain very high "doses" of the things that people crave most. Laughter is the most powerful form of recognition and acceptance that I know of. The larger the audience, the more powerful the recognition becomes (along with the other things I mentioned in the list above).

There is an unmistakable "high" or "buzz" associated with a successful performance, if you have any performance experience at all. There is immediate gratification from the acceptance that audience laughter gives a performer. It’s that high that keeps performers and speakers going back to the stage under any circumstances.

The first time I performed for 1500 people and had the audience unable to catch their breath from laughing so hard, I couldn’t sleep for 3 days. I can’t think of a single substance that can produce that kind of effect after a single exposure.

A drug addict will break into your home to steal things in order to get money to feed his habit.

A comedian will drive 180 miles one way for 10 minutes of stage time in front of a dozen AARP members for $50. I know this because I’ve done it.

I fully realize that because of the negative connotations associated with the word "addiction", there will certainly be a strong reluctance to accept a term like "stage addiction". But in my opinion, the similarities between a drug addict and a performer are truly significant:

• A drug addict will do whatever it takes to get the drug. A performer will do whatever it takes (almost) to get stage time.
  
  
  
• A drug addict will exercise poor judgment in pursuit of the drug. A performer will exercise poor judgment in pursuit of a stage to perform on.
  
  
  
• A drug addict will lose their family in pursuit of the drug. A performer will lose their family in pursuit of performing opportunities.
  
  
  
• A drug addict will take different drugs to overcome the high of a particular drug. A performer will take drugs or alcohol to overcome the high from the stage.
  
  
  
• A drug addict will wait for hours and days to get the drug. A performer will wait weeks or months for time on stage.
  
  
  
• Drug addicts will prostitute themselves for low dollars to get the money they need to feed their addiction. Performers will prostitute themselves for low dollars to feed their addiction to the stage.
  
  
  
• A drug addict desires the instant gratification that a drug provides. A performer desires the nearly instant gratification that the stage can provide.
  

So, what are the differences between a drug addict and a stage addict?

Performing on stage is 100% legal. There is no rehab for stage addiction or "Performers Anonymous". There is no physical withdrawal if you don’t get stage time (although many performers will experience depression if they are away from the stage too long). No one breaks into a house to perform comedy (but if it were accepted as a means to get stage time, they would). If you have a poor performance (bad "drug" experience), no one ends up in jail or in the hospital.

If the performance is fantastic, it is possible that some audience members with weak hearts could end up in the hospital from laughing too hard.

Drug addiction is rarely, if ever, associated with any positive benefits. Performing, on the other hand, can be highly beneficial for both the performer and the audience for which he or she performs.

But to me, those differences do not relieve or discount the highly addictive nature of performing on stage.

I’ve been to many open mikes over the years. I watched literally hundreds of people get on stage and suck month after month, year after year with little improvement. So my questions have been:

1. Why do they do the same lame material over and over again?

2. Don’t they realize from the audience response that they aren’t doing well?

I have come to the conclusion that they are addicts as well - no different than those performers that can actually deliver the goods. They still crave the things that all of us crave in the huge quantities that they KNOW the stage can provide. Why?

Because somewhere along the line, they’ve tasted it. Somewhere in the beginning, they got a sip of the "drug" – even if only 3 people out of 50 laughed at what they had to say or did on stage. And they see those who CAN deliver the goods experience the ultimate high from a killer performance, which makes them crave the acceptance and admiration the stage can offer even more.

It appears to me that even a small exposure to this powerful substance (laughter from an audience) is strong enough to keep people going for years, no matter how well or poorly they perform. I have this statement in the very beginning of my Interactive Writing Guide:

"Once you've performed for an audience and have gotten the really big laughs, the only difference between performing stand-up comedy and heroin is… you can quit heroin."

Oddly enough, I wrote that years ago, long before I came up with the conclusions you are reading now. Now, I believe you don’t even need the really big laughs on stage to get hooked. Once you’ve tasted it – even a little bit of it – you always want more. Just like any other addictive substance, the cravings never go away.

In my quest to educate comedy performers and speakers, I have figured out that what I am really doing is…

Showing people how to develop the skills they need to feed their legal addiction and to channel the drive associated with that addiction in a meaningful, highly effective and financially rewarding way.

Unfortunately, the bottom line is this…

Many performers - stage addicts - don’t care to truly develop the skills they need to effectively manage their legal and potentially profitable addiction. They are merely looking to score stage time and get the "fix" that goes with it.

It is that aspect of the comedy business that I am trying to change. It can be a bit of a challenge, mostly because…

Addicts are generally difficult to work with.

[Bob3]

Is this the same guy who invented some machine which "proved" he was funnier than Eddie Izzard? Is it just a coincidence that he's selling dodgy online books about comedy? I mean if a doctor was saying this I might believe it wasn't a ploy to sell books.

[Gutter Monkey]

Originally Posted by Bob3

Is this the same guy who invented some machine which "proved" he was funnier than Eddie Izzard?

Yep, that's him.

It's a software program that calculates the ratio of how much the audience laughs compared to how long it took to tell the joke, or something.