WHY AREN'T MY JOKES WORKING???

Hey guys

Didn’t write for a while, mostly because I hate writing.
Things are good tho! Finally getting paid spots in NYC!!! finally getting consistent
laughs and not hating myself after every set. I don’t tap myself in the back enough (did I write it right??) I do sometimes have to remind myself when I do well and when I don’t that I started doing comedy from scratch, my english was good, but my first language is Hebrew and iv’e only been here for 8 years, and today i’m getting paid to make people laugh in my second language, which is pretty fucking cool. And trust me, I wanted to quite time and time and time and time again, but every time I decided to quite I got more gigs and was like Fuck it, I’ll keep doing it.
So as you know, I host open mics and produce shows,I see all of you hard working trying to formulate a joke, trying to get that laugh at this sad open mic.. Well let me try to help, I don’t know anything, but maybe this could help.
95% who come to my mic keep doing NEW JOKES every time, every week new jokes, this is not how this works. I book people for shows who keep doing new jokes every week and they can’t even come up with 5 solid funny minutes . YOU HAVE TO MASTER you jokes, you have to to the same joke, that you love, and can do forever, over and over and over again, until you squeezed every aspect of that joke. Stop caring if people already heard that joke, if it’s funny they will laugh again .. You have to build up from one little premise to unlimited tags for a joke. Stop running from topic to topic, stay and BREAKDOWN a topic, keep asking, why this why that.. A lot of you go to mics and think that that’s the reaction you will get in a real show. This couldn’t be father from the truth. Unless your jokes really stink, which is possible and the only way for you to tell is to keep doing the same joke and try it in different open mics, even if you get a chuckle thats pretty good!! built on that. Try to find some real stage time, you will have to SOCIALIZE for that, like actually go outside and talk to other comedians who produce shows.
There’s so much stage time in NYC. But honestly, the more you do your jokes the funnier those jokes will be.
When do you start writing new stuff ? when you have SOLID HILARIOUS 15 MIN that you can say while you sleep. Get those TIGHT 15, of course start with tight 5, challenge yourself make it clean, or not, and then keep going, once you have those killing 15 you will know exactly why you getting paid because you know this shit works and will kill everywhere you go.
NOW, i’m not expert, i’m no CK or Prayor, but I started just like you guys, I’m still not where I want to be, but I am making my steps towards it.
These days I headline around NY, get hosting gigs and feature spots. Never in my life I thought that would be my job. So believe in yourselves … keep going, be nice to everybody, stay humble no matter what, and help to those you can. We all need help, & you never know it might be you one day.
Sorry to sound kitchy but fuck you guys, it’s my blog.

Anyways, come to my mics, come to my shows, i’ll help if I can, but if you can take anything from this blog is do the same jokes until it’s hilarious. If you think it’s funny, then figure out how to make them see it.

Good luck

xoxox

Ricki Sofer

How to start getting booked?

Hey Strangers.
It's only been 2 years since my last post. 2 years and 1 boyfriend ago.
I'm not really sure where do I start to continue this mess but i can tell
you telling jokes is still the reason I wake up in the morning. Well, at
least the mornings I have shows.
I think I should at least share how I came to get booked on clubs all over the
city and other great shows, where there's no doubt audience will show up. I'm not really sure when exactly it happened but at some point I stopped counting my open mics like i'm making money and started counting the jokes I have left after a shitty open mic.
If you can't figure out how come you can't get booked ask yourself a few questions and see where you stand. Being a female comic, and dating one, it's never easy to prove your'e funny, people assume your'e getting booked because the booker is trying to fuck you, never that
your'e actually funny. And you can't hate on your men for thinking that everybody thinks your'e smoking' hot sexy
but you can defiantly get mad that he doesn't think you're funny enough to actually get booked.
At some point, I did think bookers were trying to fuck, but I got rebooked and nothing ever happened.
The best was when females book you because then you know you're winning. This is a very hostile environment for women. We talk about our vagina on stage yet we will not talk about it with anybody off stage, we portray ourselves as easy going and putting out fast yet we will never have sex with a guy after a show. Because were' not men & we don't have that privilege. I'm doing stand up comedy for almost 7 years, I don't think this is where I planned to be after 7 years, but it's moving up, it's building, and new and amazing things are happening. I see a lot of funny comedians who
don't get booked and doing it as long as I am. I'm not an expert on this... I can just give you my point of view.. Ask yourself
are you consistently funny on every show? If a booker were to pay you will you guaranty laughs ? Are you only doing open mics?
If your'e trying to take it to the next level, you should surround yourself with people you look up to, or hang out at a club
you want to perform, TALK TO PEOPLE, the problem with comedians, is that we are great on stage but off stage we are this introverted monster
who wants to burry itself on their phone. But there's always the bartender at each comedy club that will let you exactly what you gotta do to
start getting booked there. Before putting yourself out there just make sure you have something to offer, can you make people laugh if you get up
first, last or during checks? Being funny takes time, take your time and build your set. MASTER YOUR JOKES before you move to a new one.
I started at Stand Up NY, Broadway Comedy Club & Greenwich Village Comedy club at a check spot positions FOR YEARS. Now I get guest spot. I set people for shows, I sold tickets, whatever it took to get on stage. At some point I told myself I'm good enough to get the time without busting my ass, it didn't happen right away, but as I refused to work the door, and do checks.. a year later I got guest spots. THIS is probably not going to work for everybody, everyone has their own track, i'm just trying to help and show you how it's working for me. I still don't get paid, so IM NOT WHERE I WANT TO BE, but it's defiantly a step forward and i'm not taking it away from me.
I love doing comedy in NY appose to LA. In New York you can hustle your way on stage EVERY NIGHT, you can perform in front of live audience every night!! think thats amazing, you can bark for shows, seat people, sell tickets and be a horrible comic but you will still get up. If your'e in NYC your'e in the right place to do comedy, it's all happening here, live from Mcdougal st. straight to your heart. I got banned this year from a bar/club, won't mention the name, because there was a band playing during my birthday show and i wasn't having it. I'm a firm believer that Stand Up Comedy is an art that needs to be respected, we need a stage, a mic, a spot light, and no fucking band playing in the background, and i will fight for it. Respect yourself and respect your surroundings, be open to everything because you never know where it might come from next :)

xoxo

Ricki Sofer

- Also check out my podcast RICKIS SOFA on iTunes :)