The Best List of Comedy Tips Of All Time [FREE POST]
Read Gary Gulman's full list of comedy tips here
I’ve been reading comedy advice books since I started. They used to be thin and ugly, with weird geometric graphic designs or clip art on the cover. They’ve always been written by people I’ve never heard of. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I mean, I’m sure there are just *a couple* people who haven’t ever heard of Jessica Delfino!
The books were always helpful and interesting, if dog-eared from being passed from comedian to comedian, or found in the $1 pile at a book store.
But the best, best comedy advice I’ve ever read didn’t come from a book, per se. It came from a comedian who I am eternally impressed by, and that is Gary Gulman.
I first heard of Gary about 10 years ago, and met him when he came through the door of The Unicorn, a small storefront theater I managed in downtown Manhattan from 2015-2019.
Soon after, the pandemic started, and he began writing and sharing comedy tips on Twitter, one at a time. He did this for a year.
I lived for his tips—they were enthralling, funny, impactful and true. Gary was acting as a comedy pastor, in a sense, and I was there for his gospel. I collected the list of them, one at a time, and compiled 300 something of them into a document, but others did a much better job of it.
YOU CAN READ THE ENTIRE LIST HERE, compiled by Patrick Mallah. Thanks, Patrick.
Some of the pieces of advice are things many seasoned comedians have read before, heard elsewhere or even know innately. Others were totally new to me. But what made them so special was the fact that he committed to writing one a day, and did so, in his very unique voice.
Do yourself a favor: Bookmark this list. Read it often. Do what he says. As he said, there’s no guarantee that they’ll help, but they worked for him. Maybe they’ll work for you, too.
Daily Musings:
The entire list of Gary’s tips, in order | Patrick Mallah / Google Docs
About the list, in Gary’s own words | Vulture
Thoughts on his tips | Reddit
Etc.:
I’ve written about Gary’s list before | Medium
I’ll be performing tonight at Renegade in Stroudsburg, Pa. with Alice Wetterlund
I think I might be autistic | TikTok.com/@TheJessDelfino
So long, sweetheart.