Crowd Work 101

​Let's face it, crowd work is the word these days in stand up. If you perform in a show and don't do crowd work, often the audience will try to draw it out of you. Because of the amount of crowd work clips flooding TikTok and Instagram, audiences have convinced themselves this is the way. It's not too far off from when "impressions" were the big fad. Everyone had their Arnold Schwarzenegger or Bill Clinton voice ready to go back in the day, and now everyone has to brush up on their conversation skills in the realm of crowd work comedy. 

If you ask an audience member what their favorite part of the show was, they'll usually say when the comic worked the crowd. When you ask a comic what the worst part of the show was, it was when they had to work the crowd. People think writing jokes is easy and talking to people is hard. That's because people think they're hysterical but not interesting.

People Think Off the Cuff Is Harder 
Think about that for a second. People think they can write jokes, but showing interest in others is hard. For comics, 90% of crowd work is just letting a person say something and then repeating it and watching everyone laugh. 

"What do you do for a living , sir?"

"I'm in pharmaceuticals."

"So, a drug dealer."      

LAUGH. 

It's hacky yet reliable. But in the eyes of the audience, it's actually more authentic. They know you didn't know what the guy would say - yet somehow you turned it into a joke. That's what impresses them. 

Had this been a dinner party, you would have asked "How long have you been in pharmaceuticals?" But in comedy you go straight for the joke. That's the twist or turn audiences wouldn't dare try in real life. But had the comic gone on stage and said, "So I work at CVS pharmacy. I'm a legal drug dealer. Anyone need any Ozempic?" maybe the crowd laughs. Maybe they groan. But when it feels off the cuff, they go wild.      

But the great irony is people think that this is harder to do than actually writing a real joke with a setup and punchline. 

Failure First, Laughs Second
Crowd work, like anything else takes time and patience to perfect. About three years ago I saw crowd work as the new trending vibe in stand up. So, I started dedicating 1/3 of my set to the most awful crowd work every. I would bomb horribly. Like, I once did so bad I hid in the kitchen of a venue after a show. But after a lot of trial and error I was able to figure out my crowd work strengths and weaknesses. 

In the beginning I was actually quite mean. I would try to roast people more than just make comments or quick witted observations. But you have to cross lines to know where you feel comfortable. For me, it became a magic trick of using my "good guy" persona against myself by acting as if every woman in the room wanted to be with me, usually after making fun of how silly and dumb I am for the first five to ten minutes. Instead of roasting the crowd, I reversed gears and roasted myself by turning myself into a silly alpha that I'm clearly not. But to get into that headspace I had to fail repeatedly.  

How To Tap Into Your Crowd Work Skill
Here is where it gets tricky. Crowd work is either a comic fully embracing a sort of "on the spectrum" reaction to what's going on in the room OR it's being that class clown that makes people at work and in life laugh. Either you ask questions like an alien from Mars, trying to gather awkward information or you take every word said and turn it into a zinger. 

Dane Cook takes the info from the crowd and makes silly observations. Matt Rife tends to go more the roast route, making fun of the young girls screaming at him. Mark Normand can go either way. But there's a few major differences in their approach that's reliant on their appearance and history with comedy. 

Cook is the one time top dog in comedy. He was a movie star for a few years too, staring in big budget rom-coms. He's also been the villain to many, even being called a hack and joke thief. So if he gets too mean, he'd lose the crowd and they'd heckle from the cheap seats. 

Rife is considered so good looking, that he can get away with being a little more offensive. He's a young man being a bro. If Cook or a middle aged "mid" attractive guy responded the way he did, they'd be boo'd off the stage. It's his boyish charm that glides him through the crowd work. 
Normand is a mixture of the sweet and sour. He can be whimsical and silly but also a ruthless joke assassin. He taps into an old school style of comedy, with a shrug after every appropriate or inappropriate crowd work joke. 

But these people have a clear personality and persona that allows them the freedom to play in that sandbox. If you want to do crowd work, you have to be willing to do the work as a writer to find a voice that allows you to use crowd work to either double down on your style or to reverse your stage presence and create a fresh surprise. 

You Might Have To Be Born With It
While I believe anyone can write a joke, I'm not sure everyone can be a (good) crowd work comic. Steve Martin talks about great stand up being that sort of "Id" where you get people to laugh like you did in high school. You reach into an inherit almost "force like" power where you tap into an instinct. Writing jokes and practicing at open mics can help put the proper finish or shine on a bit. Crowd work is in the moment. Even a "canned response" can go wrong because the previous crowd was just different, whereas there are jokes I've said over the years that I just know will go over well regardless of the venue, city, or audience. 

At some point you have to trust your comedy instinct. I started becoming better at crowd work when I didn't "think" about the joke but instead went with a word association game. Someone says something, and whatever first came to me I just went with. It's a high wire act, no doubt. And even I am surprised by what comes out of me sometimes, but by tapping into my instinct, and embracing it, I've found a solid way to keep material feeling fresh.

Final Thoughts
Right now, crowd work is the best bet to go viral on TikTok. It's also the fastest way to tank a set. But it's also a great tool to sharpen if you have the chance. Too often, comics only get up a few times a month and don't have the luxury to try to build up a few ways to deal with disengaged crowds and hecklers. But, I would encourage you to try a few Q & A sessions with audiences, even if for just a minute or two. 

You might find a new bit. I just wrote a whole two minutes about being a dentist in a hick part of town where no one has teeth and explaining to bank why you can't pay back the loan. It was something that stemmed from a crowd work moment. I also learned a lot of what crowds are willing and not willing to hear from me. 

​Some comics never do it. And they have great careers. But if you are thinking of moving into this area of stand up, I encourage you to go from the gut and risk it all. Worst case scenario is you just get off at the light. Like any other show.