Looking on, it seems that the time of me producing all my comedy specials entirely on my own is behind me. There have been three in all. Each of which have taught me much about how I prefer standup comedy to be captured, the lessons from which will hopefully provide much ammunition for me to pedantically bother the unfortunate soul that ends up being contracted to produce my next. I’ve also begun looking into producing and directing those of friends, and occasionally giving advice on the matter to those that are thinking of following a similar path themselves. In the interest of this, I thought it might be of use to collect my thoughts on the matter.
Make sure the show is done. That it is as good as you can imagine it being under your care. This will be more difficult the earlier you are in your career, both for reasons of craft, but mostly because refining a show requires an audience to perform said show to, and such things are hard to come by. Or were for me at least. I would recommend picking up another job and saving some money to put into “promotion,” so that you may perform your entire hour to a crowd of at least 20 people, at least 20 times. Free food is a particularly good lure. Pizza tends to be most economical, but depending on your location, tacos are also a viable option.
Much of Monsoon Season was worked out to crowds promised a free entry comedy show, with free tacos served beforehand. Many left before the show began. In hindsight, serving during an intermission in the show might have served me better.
In the choice of location, it should be a city or town where there are at least 70 people who are somewhat excited to see you. If this will be your first special, in which case such circumstances become unlikely, 70 people who are excited, just in general, will do. Even if you are capable of selling in excess of 500 seats or so in your location of choice, shows shot in a smaller room lend themselves better to capturing the intimacy of the live experience.
There is no need for the best cameras money can rent. As of the time of this writing, however, there is a need for something more than an entry-level offering. But if you rent your equipment for the evening, which you undoubtedly should, it is safe to assume that if a professional rental house carries the camera, it’s good enough for a single-location shoot whose end product will be watched almost entirely on phone screens.
DO NOT light the stage with a flat anaemic wash of white light. Shadows are good. They create separation from you and everything else in the frame. They draw the watchers eye to where they are supposed to look.
DO NOT allow there to be meaningless Edison bulbs, HMIs, and other bulb-based paraphernalia littering the frame behind you. A comedy special consists of a single setup, in which whatever else is on stage with you is 40% of your production design. Choose these items wisely.
The remaining 60% of your production design is what you will be wearing. Also known as wardrobe. Make sure this is something that enhances your stage persona and expresses your personality in some way. If that means at this moment your wardrobe is a neutral-coloured T-shirt and trousers, please take 2-3 more years to develop more of a persona and personality before filming your comedy special.
Hire the best crew you can afford. Always pay for a professional sound person. I was once told that you can skimp on every other department, even camera, because at least bad camerawork can be mistaken for a creative choice. Bad sound is bad sound. Pay what you need to pay for it.
Even if budget allows for paying an editor, I would recommend to sit on their shoulder through the entire post-production regardless. At which point, you might as well do it yourself. The edit determines the timing of the finished piece, and if you are a comedian of any competence you will understand the importance of this inherently. The type of editing a comedy special requires is simple, and a skill set that is a couple of hours of YouTube away.
After it is done, get people to see it in any way you know. If you are earlier in your career and someone somehow offers to pay you money to put it behind a paywall of any sort, say no. The possibility of a touring audience does leagues more to ensure your career as a working performer than a one-off check ever will.
This will be how your work will be recorded and remembered. Take it seriously.
That is all.
P.S. - Beware of sweat patches.
