Memory Techniques From a Comedian, part 4

It's Zanies comedy club in Chicago, IL – a big club. It's 1 a.m. when I get onstage to close out the third show. The crowd is younger than me, and I'm tired. Three 45 minute shows doesn't sound like a lot, but it IS. I head into my act, the one I've done a lot, and boom. I repeat 3 jokes! The crowd still laughed, but I caught it! I forgot those jokes seconds after I said them because I didn't do them in the same order.

I'm talking about memory techniques this week, and my memory tip today is to group similar things together. Grocery stores do when they put the same foods together. For me, All my kids jokes are together, all my work jokes, etc and then I picture them in my head in filing cabinets that I just pull out and do the jokes in that cabinet.

If you've got to remember your 5 nieces and nephews, maybe you'll need to put girls together in your head or maybe the kids whose names start with a T. The only time I don't group a joke with similar jokes is when it's a new joke. . .then I put it in the beginning of my set because I'll remember it easier. I move it later once it becomes a part of my set. But if I put it 20 minutes into my show, I'll probably forget to do it. Otherwise group similar things together and you'll remember them easier.

Repeating jokes isn't the worst thing that's happened to me in comedy. Check out my book on Amazon for some other stories about my comedy career highs and lows. Called Convention Comedian,  stories and wisdom from 2 decades of chicken dinners and comedy clubs. 

That's it for today. Take care and enjoy your journey.