Students
Knock2Bag Comedy Night
SPECIAL HALF PRICE STUDENT DISCOUNT
£4 ENTRY
Josh Widdicombe - Humphrey Ker - James Acaster - Ben Target - Diane Morgan - Russ Powell
Wednesday 8th February @ Bar FM, London - Doors 7:30pm, Entry 18+ - Room: Main Room
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TIPS & ADVICE FOR STUDENTS FROM COMEDIANS
“Do everything you possibly can and not all of it is the sort of thing that should be encouraged. And as much of it off-piste as possible – make sure you do your work but having done that, try everything! This is your last chance to take every risk you possibly can and seize it. If you have half an inkling to jack it all in and do something else or pursue some slightly unorthodox career path or do anything that’s just slightly left field – do it now, this is the time. If it goes tits up it doesn’t matter, you tried! Because the terrible pressure of grown-updom is just around the corner and that’s when people do then start looking at thinking “What are you going to do with your life?” And make sure you’ve tried everything because it would be too sad to go into some humdrum job if you really felt you should be doing something else. And once you’ve left university give yourself a year to do something exciting! Take a step into the unknown and a leap of faith!” - Alexander Armstrong, Armstrong & Miller
“I was a student but I didn’t complete my course (for no particular reason, I think maybe just because I could). So in some ways I’d say complete your course. Also, read in bed a lot!” - Craig Brown, Private Eye
“ I was a student at Cardiff University between 1999-2003, and it was the happiest four years of my life. That said, I didn’t pay back my student overdraft until I was 28, so it’s probably best you’re better with money than I was. Also don’t get a credit card. And drink more. I watched too much telly. There were a few hot babes I liked but didn’t ask out, which annoys me looking back – I just made do with asking them ‘if they were alright’ every couple of weeks which wasn’t quite what I wanted. Try to eat properly. Give stuff a go, because you might not get that opportunity again. And believe me – the year you’re temping after you graduate sucks. Remember to floss. Plaque can really take you by surprise.” - Elis James
“Work out what you want to do with your life and spend some time doing it every day. If you can’t make money from it straight away, find something that you can earn from but never let a day go by without doing something towards pursuing your passion.” – Tom Goodliffe
“Enjoy your time as a student while you can, get involved in everything that you love. Make mistakes, as now is the time to make them without getting in too much trouble. You lucky bastards.” - Chris Cox
“In terms of comedy advice for students, most universities have a comedy club or society that I suggest you join and perform at. But for students, especially in London, you need to do some open mics and stuff. Go and watch as much comedy as you can, both live or on the internet. Be confident, don’t see it as a battle, don’t hate the audience because they’re the ones making you feel nervous – love the audience!
Just keep gigging and write about the things that matter to you. Think – if you sat down a stranger and said, as if in a weird psychological study, “So what do you find funny?” they wouldn’t be able to answer the question – funniness is so dependent on context so talk about what you find funny in real life and you’ll just start writing. The trick for me is to think about the things that interest me and in a weird way what troubles me about humanity. These things and weird little patterns in your head tend to be more interesting than what you contrivedly think is going to make people laugh. It’s all about hard work – gigging and thinking and analysis, so come at it from that perspective and enjoy it!
In terms of general student advice – live as much as you can and try as many different things as you can because that will set you up for proper life. Be active and energetic and be interested and open and challenge your perceptions and don’t do things according to routine as much as possible because when you leave you’ll miss all those opportunities. If you’ve really pushed yourself in every way for the length of your degree, at the end of it, although this all sounds very fatuous, you’ll be better served to go into the world. The one thing that is really useful is to remember that things get better because it feels shit when you first get out of university, but then in a year’s time, you look back and think how naive you were and that there was nothing really to worry about. The only way to get past the fears and worries of inexperience is to keep experiencing them until they become little. And drink a lot.” - Liam Williams
“Always get as little out from the cash point as possible; Don’t go to any foam parties; Stay at university for as long as possible; Have some good baths; Don’t live with dickheads.
If you’re a girl, don’t be a tart
Be careful how many pictures get taken of you, because you could end up with a lot of photographs that expose your entire wardrobe as being a disaster and when you look back, your future self will thank you. The current generation will be saved on hard disk whereas my photos are in the loft.
Never grow a chin beard – I grew a ginger chin beard, it looked like I just dipped my chin in red paint and I had it for about 8 weeks… I regret that so much! Male Students – DO NOT EXPERIMENT WITH FACIAL HAIR!!! It is only going to lead to the future catastrophe of your dignity and women will not get off with you! No matter how much you think they’ll think it makes you look different, it makes you look like a fucking tramp! Don’t do it!” - Tom Price
“It depends what the advice is on! I have never been a student so I don’t know what it’s like. If you want to do comedy then I would say to just do it and try every idea you have and experiment and keep on doing as many gigs as possible and being critical with yourself and honest with yourself as go. If you want advice on being a student…um…study hard?” - James Acaster
DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS & ADVICE FOR STUDENTS? COMMENT BELOW!
