Comedy Introductions Gone BAD!!
Yes, I've had all of these and worse!
“And now, coming to the stage, is the Working Girl!” Yes, I’ve been introduced several times as a “working girl,” which is a whole other profession from comedian and makes the audience wonder just what kind of entertainment the group hired. I do a lot of work humor in my comedy act, so I go by “The Work Lady” and my website is TheWorkLady.com. Some people confuse the two.
Introducing me seems TO ME to be one of the easiest things in the world to do. I hand you my intro and you read it. But sadly, being called a “working girl“ is not the weirdest introduction I’ve had. Like swapping my short into for my loooonnnggg bio, which is a 2-page list of my accomplishments that my mom likes to hear about; the audience not so much.
In another case, the person didn’t read my bio, she read the
marketing email that I had sent to her to get the gig! She introduced me by telling the audience about all the good things I had done and that I hope they would consider me as their keynote speaker. People were looking at me as if to say “she’s right over there – are we voting on her?” That was awkward.
And on several occasions, the introducer actually read some of my jokes, which made the jokes lose a little something when I told ‘em. The introducer is killing with ‘em and I’m backstage trying to figure out how to follow myself.
Speaking of comedy, some introducers want to be comedians themselves, so they insert humor into my intro. One women actually said “We have a comedian coming to the stage. She had better be funny or we’re not paying her.” Now THAT’S pressure, and kinda not really funny when my mortgage is riding on these jokes. Luckily, I was funny, and I got paid.
If you’re trying to get the room quiet, may I suggest you NOT
begin my introduction by screaming “Hey everyone, we have a funny comedian coming up. So shut the hell up!” They did shut the hell up and it was deadly silent as I walked to the stage. The audience was NOT on my side, and it was a tough event.
It’s also tough when they mix up my credits. The only thing guy could remember about me was that I had freelanced for a major entertainment outlet (“The Tonight Show”), and so he blurted out, “Coming to the stage is a writer for Reader’s Digest.” Great, the audience is probably thinking, “How hard is that? Can’t anyone just send in an article?” That introduction still cracks me up.
I noticed that these bad introductions were happening mostly since I had switched from working comedy clubs to corporate events. In comedy clubs, I got pretty good introductions, but when I made the switch, the introductions got weirder. And then it dawned on me.
In comedy clubs, the comedians know how to introduce someone.
At corporate events, they don’t. Something that I think is extremely easy, like reading an intro, is not. I realized that this may be the ONLY time in the introducers life that they’ll have to introduce someone, so they THINK they know how to do it, but they don’t.
I cleared up my introduction issues by giving my clients a “cheat sheet” on how to do an introduction. It lists things like don’t try to be funny, don’t read my jokes, don’t read my bio, etc. . . I now rarely have to worry about a messed-up intro.
There’s a big lesson here. Don’t mess up on the easy stuff. Don’t presume that a task you give someone is easy just because you think it’s easy. Help people help you be a success by helping them with the details, like how to introduce someone. They’ll look good, and more importantly, you’ll look good.
Jan McInnis is a Keynote Speaker, Comedian, Comedy Writer, and Master of Ceremonies. She has written for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show monologue as well as many other people, places, and groups – radio, TV, syndicated cartoon strips, and even guests on the Jerry Springer show (her parents are proud). For 20+ years she’s traveled country as a keynote speaker and comedian sharing her unique and practical tips on what business leaders can learn from comedians (no, it’s not all about telling jokes). She can be reached at www.TheWorkLady.com, or Jan@TheWorkLady.com She’s also a GREAT Master of Ceremonies. Click here for her emcee site
Some of the stories in this newsletter are taken from Jan’s popular book:
Convention Comedian: Stories and Wisdom From Two Decades of Chicken Dinners and Comedy Clubs.
Since I'm most often talking about either death-&-dying or abortion, my intros are seldom hilarious. But one time, as I stood just to the side, an organization chair finished some preliminary remarks, said, "Now we're so glad to welcome today's speaker . . ." as she shuffled & shuffled & shuffled more papers, presumably looking for an intended intro, finally "Uhhhh. . . Fran." I started by saying, "Susie wanted to tell you why I'm here. . ." It was uphill from there