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Dylan Avila bashed onstage, returns to perform soon after

1/18/2015

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There's a widely held perception that comedians tend to be more sensitive and therefore angrier than most people. Finding life so perennially frustrating and hurtful, they get their revenge by making mock of it.

I think there's a lot of truth to that. I've met quite a few successful comedians and many of them do seem to have sizeable chips on their shoulders.

Given that successful comics harbor more rage than most, what about the ones who try comedy but fail at that? They must be even angrier!

Here's a story from Renton in Washington that certainly feeds that stereotype:

Dylan Avila was hosting the weekly open mic comedy night at Local 907 when he was attacked.

Witnesses said Steven Baldwin rushed on stage and began striking Avila with an aluminum bat.

"He was one more hit away from killing me," Avila said.

Avila's friend, James Taylor, and several others jumped in to save him. They fought off Baldwin and held him down until police arrived.


The man wielding the bat was actually a wannabe comic who had performed at previous open mic nights at the venue. But because his act was so inappropriate, Avila banned him from the stage. That's what set him off. Given his reaction, you get an idea about what his act might have been like!

Even though Avila's skull was fractured in the attack, he managed to return only weeks afterward. This would have been remarkable in any profession. But in the field of standup comedy, it seems doubly so. Being such a physically and psychologically resilient bloke, I suspect Avila is the exception that proves the rule!
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Hashtag humor makes everyone a comedian

1/16/2015

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If you've gotten into Twitter you're sure to have encountered, and probably engaged in, the hashtagging craze. This is where tweeps compete to see who can come up with the funniest, wittiest contribution relevant to a suggested hashtag.

Hashtagging is so popular on social media now that it almost constitutes its own sub-genre of comedy. But instead of practitioners standing up in front of a hundred people in a bar or club, hashtag homorists sit down with their laptops, tablet and smart phones to make people laugh all over the world.

Needless to say professional comedians love this game, and often contribute the most retweeted tweets. But they don't dominate entirely. Sometimes the very best of them come from people who have no  aspirations to be professional funny men and women. So it's a real meritocracy in this regard.

But if you are either a professional or aspiring comic, then getting into hashtagging is a good idea. The challenge of creating relevant, funny tweets for the hashtags suggested is a good writing exercize apart form anything else. And some of the lines you submit as tweets could no doubt be turned into gags you could perform live. In a way, you've already tested them out, because they've been seen by many people already. The ones that get a lot of reaction online in the form of retweets and mentions will be much more likely to elicit laughter from a live audience.

As well as the practice the activity gives you, it's also a good way of lifting your profile. Get known as an accomplished hashtagger and this could have benefits for your live career because more people will have heard about you, as well as being acquainted with your comedic style. Considering how many people use social media, odds are that persistent hashtagging will get you known by more people than live gigs (with the exception of TV, of course).

Regardless of whether you contribute your own funny hashtags, just noting them gives insights into comedy. For example, you'll notice how so many of the hashtag suggestions involve widely known popular culture references such as celebrity names, movies, TV shows and hit songs. These are paired with incongruous elements to inspire lots of creations that the greatest possible number of people will find funny. Examples include #ElderlyTVShows, #ShartCelebs
, #AlcoholAFilm and #RejectedTVShowNames. This basic structure can be of use if ever you are at a loss for ideas for comedy material.
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    Author

    My name's Matt Hayden. I'm a blogger and writer in Perth, Western Australia. I have a lot of experience in live comedy and maintain a keen interest in the subject.

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