what stand-up comedians teach us about library instruction
TRANSCRIPT
Long Island UniversityDigital Commons @ LIU
Brooklyn Library Faculty Publications Library
2014
What Stand-Up Comedians Teach Us AboutLibrary InstructionEamon TewellLong Island University, [email protected]
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Recommended CitationTewell, Eamon, "What Stand-Up Comedians Teach Us About Library Instruction" (2014). Brooklyn Library Faculty Publications. Paper1.http://digitalcommons.liu.edu/brooklyn_libfacpubs/1
EamonC.Tewell
What stand-up comedians teachus about library instructionFour lessons for the classroom
Imagine a typical stand-up comedian speak-ing to audiences from a stage in a dark
comedy club, holding a microphone andleaning on a stool, perhaps making observa-tions about airline food. Now picaire a typicalinstruction librarian in a classroom, presentingresources and evaluation strategies to sMdents,perhaps making observations about scholarlycommunication.
At first glance, the two appear to have littlein common. After watching stand-up comedi-ans perform in a wide variety of venues, I havefound that there are not only more similaritiesthan one might expect, but several compellinglessons that librarians can learn from comedi-ans and apply to their own instruction to leadmore dynamic classes.
Stand-up comedy has seen a renaissancein recent years due to a burgeoning num-ber of creative alternative comedians andthe prevalence of tools such as Twitter andYouTube that make access to comics effortless.
Comedians present their jokes, or "materi-al," in settings ranging from neighborhood barsto stadiums, and perform anywhere betweenten minutes and one hour. Given comedians'extensive experience in public speaking,engaging audiences, and performing for newfaces night after night, it is only sensible thatsome rules and techniques for stand-up canbe used to deliver quality library instaiction.
From the beginning of an instmction ses-sion to its conclusion, below are four lessonslibrarians can learn from seasoned stand-ups.
Know how to read an audienceEvery reference librarian has led a class that.
for whatever reason, did not go as well asanticipated. The comedy world has a dramaticterm for unappreciated performances. Bomb-ing—telling jokes and receiving no laughsfrom the audience—is the worst possible out-come for a comedian. Although even a greatcomic has an occasional off-night, bombingis frequently the result of miscommunicatingwith a crowd.
The key to preventing bombing is to as-sess an audience's expectations on the fly.Comedians, like library instaictors, know tovary their material according to the crowd.The jokes that tourists enjoy may be met withblank, uninterested stares by locals in the sameway that graduate students are likely to react tobeing taught freshmen-level research concepts.
Many comedians use crowd work to begintheir performance, which involves callingon an audience member, asking him or hera simple question such as, "Where are youfrom?" or "What do you do?" and quicklyfinding a response that the crowd will laughat. This engages the audience and gives thecomic an immediate feel for what types ofjokes they find humorous.
Eddie Murphy, an immensely popularcomedy veteran who made the transition fromstand-up to famous actor, skillfully improviseswith a large crowd during his classic 1983cable special Delirious.' Murphy not onlyseizes natural breaks in his performance as
Eamon C. Tewell is reference and instruction librarianat Long fsiand University, e-maii: [email protected] 2014 Eamon CTeweli
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an opportunity to acknowledge his audienceand take a moment's rest, but he devises quickretorts to hecklers' remarks, which wins thecrowd's complete attention.
Applying these principles to library in-struction, try commencing class with an ice-breaker or a short humorous anecdote. If thegroup is responsive, ask someone to share a"something-that-happened-to-me" story aboutan experience in a library. A little crowd workas you begin a session can help studentsconnect with each other and yourself, whilesetting the tone for the class.
Vary your teaching methodsLibrarians providing instruction understandthat their teaching methods should go be-yond a traditional lecture. What may notbe apparent is just how many pedagogicalapproaches are at one's disposal. In an enter-tainment industry where standing on a stageand speaking is de rigeur, the cerebral comicDemetri Martin has successfully incorporatedprops, visual aids, and music into his work.Take Martin's 2012 comedy special StandupComedian as an example. In the space of onehour, only ten minutes longer than the typicalone-shot instruction session, Martin captivatesaudiences with his easel pad for humorousdrawings and charts, examples of fake flyershe posted at coffee shops, and by playingguitar and harmonica whue telling jokes.
Thankfully, instruction librarians are notexpected to play multiple instruments whileteaching classes, much less deliver jokes.Taking a closer look at Martin's methods, heexplains the logic behind using an easel padto convey ideas during his performance inStandup Comedian:
Sometimes when I do jokes they don'twork the way I intended, they don'twork as well as I wanted them to, andit's frustrating, but I hate to give up ona joke...these are some of my jokes thatdidn't work the first time around, butI think it's because I didn't convey thepicture that was in my head, the visualthat I was trying to communicate to the
audience. But I think that witli these"material enhancers" they might work.^
Different teaching methods will be ap-propriate for different messages. A task thatstudents often find challenging, such as select-ing pertinent keywords for searches, couldbe made easier and more fun by drawingconcept maps on an easel pad a la Martin'sapproach. Depending on your objectives youmay choose to integrate clickers, an interac-tive game, or a chalkboard into instructionsessions, but Martin demonstrates that the keyis to use a variety of methods to reach theaudience's diverse learning styles and keepthem involved.
Relate on a personal levelBuilding empathy and relating with studentson a personal level is an effective means ofdecreasing barriers and the library anxiety ofthose who may see librarians as unapproach-able. All good comedians understand theimportance of relatability and incorporatingindividual experiences into their acts, butperhaps none more so than Louis C.K. As adivorced father of two attempting to balancehis longtime comedy career with being asingle parent, many of C.K.'s jokes are basedon his personal life.
In his critically acclaimed television showLouie, C.K. touches on the same subjects asin his stand-up, from living in New York City("I like New York. This is the only city whereyou actually have to say things like, 'Hey,that's mine. Don't pee on that.'") to divorce("Being single at 41 after ten years of marriageand two kids is difficult. That's like having abunch of money in the currency of a countrythat doesn't exist anymore.")
The best way to create relatability is toteach as your authentic self. If you do notconsider yourself a naturally funny person,there is no need to laboriously work jokes intoyour instruction routine. Instead, try smilingand being natural, and be conversational if thesession calls for it. In both the comedy cluband the classroom, a dash of personality andspontaneity will improve your performance.
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and has the added benefit of making youmore approachable afterwards.
Use feedback to hone yourperformanceIt is not unheard of for superstar Aziz Ansariof the TV series Parks and Recreation to makesurprise guest appearances at small comedyclubs in New York City and Los Angeles.Lucky audience members will see Ansari walkonstage, take his iPhone out of his pocket,press "record," and set the phone on a stoolnext to him. After approximately ten minutesof testing new jokes, he will thank the audi-ence and leave to go try his material at anotherclub. Well-known comics will visit up to fourshows in one night, recording reactions totheir jokes at each appearance. Later theylisten to what got big laughs, and what didnot, to fine-tune their performances.
Librarians must assess their instructionfor the same reason that Ansari records hisimpromptu performances: to get feedback.Whether asking students questions regardingcomprehension using Poll Everywhere, sug-gesting to a colleague that he or she attend asession to offer advice, or concluding class byhaving students complete a One-Minute Paper,it is essential to solicit feedback frequentlyand from a variety of sources. No successfulcomedian would attempt to spice up a punchline by delivering the identical joke every nightwithout gauging each audience's reaction. Inthis same way, instaiction should be modifiedaccording to the reaction of students, faculty,and colleagues to improve delivery and, con-sequently, maximize learning opportunities.
Try it againAfter receiving feedback on your perfor-mance, rework your material and try it againwith a new audience. Joan Rivers, a comedianand entertainer for more than 50 years, un-derstands the importance of persistence. The2010 documentary/oßw Rivers: A Piece of Workportrays the comedian's continual struggle ofmaking people laugh despite in-the-momentchallenges she would never have anticipated.In one interview Rivers claims, "The worst
thing that ever happened to me on stage issomeone ran forward to tell me they lovedme and projectile vomited all over the stage."^That scenario would certainly make for aninstniction session one would rather forget,but the lesson of perseverance in the face ofunexpected obstacles speaks for itself.
In the classroom there will invariably begood and bad days, and as instructors it is es-sential to keep our daily work in perspective.Some sessions may indeed bomb, and whenthey do, the most productive reaction is tolisten to audience expectations, adjust one'sapproach, and try again the next day. As anycomedian at his or her first open mic can tellyou, doing untested material is an arduousundertaking. Remember that no act is perfectthe first time. When testing, redesigning, andretesting new material in the classroom, per-sistence will eventually pay dividends.
ConclusionComedians are experts in effectively readingan audience, diversifying their presentationmethods, relating to people on a personallevel, and tirelessly reworking their material.The next time you watch a comedian payattention to more than the punch lines. Youwill find that the methods underpinning theperformance apply directly to providing betterlibrary instruction and can be easily adopted.Whatever path you take to improve yourteaching based on the tried and true methodsof stand-ups, please do everyone a favor andrefrain from beginning your next class with,"I just flew in from the third floor stacks, andboy are my arms tired!"
Notes1. Eddie Murphy: Delirious, directed by
Bruce Gowers (1983; Los Angeles, CA: En-tertainment Studio, 2007), DVD.
2. DemetriMartin: Standup Comedian, di-rected by Ryan Polito (New York, NY: ComedyCentral Records, 2012), DVD.
3. Terry Gross, "Joan Rivers is a Real 'Pieceof Work,'" NPR, June 9, 2010, www.npr.org/2010/06/09/127556307/comedian-joan-rivers-is-a-real-piece-of-work/. ^ ^
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