I used to think writing was hard, but I’m starting to think editing is harder.
A few weekends ago, my family and I went to a stand-up comedy show rated PG-13. My 15-year-old was with us. (I wasn’t worried about the content—she’s been to her mom’s improv show 10+ times.)
The show was produced by Nicole and Mickey Blaine. As Nicole introduced the show and the comics, she talked about why it’s so important for teens to experience (and perform) comedy live—not just on TikTok or YouTube.
The six comics who performed that night had ground rules: No (or almost no) swearing, and age-appropriate content only.
The teens in the audience—mostly high schoolers—found the comedians funny and entertaining. A few were even brave enough to heckle them. As an adult there with my child, I found the material mostly relatable and funny, although a few jokes were too cringy for my taste.
The fascinating part was watching the performers self-edit, in real-time, as they performed.
As I understand it, good comedians have their words, cadence, and timing well-rehearsed. They’ve used the topic with audiences before, and they know what resonates.
But at this show, I could see them pause for a reaction—or a lack of one—to see if the relevance was there for the high-school audience. Most did this well, but each performer saw some jokes fall flat.
To recover from a bit that didn’t land, they had to edit, in real-time, what was about to come out of their mouth—for both language and content.
Some handled it better than others, and honestly, watching that struggle was part of the fun for me. Some of the best adult laughs came when a comedian started to tell a story, stopped partway, and said out loud, “No, I can’t go there.” (And that happened to more than one comedian).
We all self-edit (or at least we should) what we’re about to say. The challenge is being in moment (being present) and still considering the audience as we go.
Not Really a Boomer 