The Funny Muscle Podcast

Creating Distinct Voices with Darren McStay

To improve their character voices, Mike and Chris chat with actor, musician, filmmaker and voice coach Darren McStay whose Youtube channel “Improve Your Voice” has millions of downloads. 
Darren teaches warm up techniques, why it’s important to commit to a character and tips on sticking with that character.
Maybe the best advice Darren teaches during the episode is how to use physicality and body-focus to perfect your voices. 
If all your characters sound the same, this episode is perfect for you.
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Turning Topics into Premises

"Cats" is a topic, but it's not until you say something like "Cats bother me as an economist." have you transformed your material into a premise.
In this episode we make that distinction.
We also learn how Mike's comedy teaching classes in Dallas are coming alone. 
And we talk about Mike's aha moment during improv training.
Listen to this episode if you're unclear how to morph a topic into a premise, if you want improv advice, or you want to learn how Mike's brain works when punching up jokes for someone else's writing. 
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An Hour a Day to Write Jokes? Here's What the Pros Do (Advice from 12 Comedians)

We asked each of our last 12 comedy pro guests what they'd tell new comedians to do if they had an hour a day to write jokes. Here's a compilation of their best advice. 
Lenny Schmidt
Nathan Timmel
Steph Clark
Kevin Rogers
Dan Bakkedahl
Dan Carlson
Doby Maxwell
Tom Clark
Dr. Caleb Warren
Jake Vevera
Rich Talarico
Adam Bloom
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Comedy Drills and Comedy Specials with Jake Vevera

New York comedian and co-host of the podcast “Idiots on Parade” Jake Vevera (@jakevevera) stops by the Funny Muscle Podcast to talk about his upcoming comedy special, which is about to be released on YouTube.  
Jake is full of advice for new comedians like his three-sentence joke writing drill and his advice on stage time.
Find out why Jake also tells new comics to pretend that their audience doesn’t speak English.
(hint: It forces you to work on your cadence and timing.)
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Comedy on Cruises with Lenny Schmidt

Lenny Schmidt stops by the Funny Muscle Podcast to teach us about the logistics of planning comedy material for 5 nights in a row on a cruise ship (hint: you got to keep track of your call-back jokes).
Lenny, who has been doing comedy since the 1980s, also studied improv in Chicago. You may recognize Lenny in movies like “Joe Dirt” and “The Ugly Truth”, and TV shows; “Castle”, “True Blood”, “Big Love”, “ER”, and “Desperate Housewives.” 
The episode is full of great advice on how Lenny brainstorms, writes, organizes and perfects his comedy craft.
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Corporate Gigs and Comedy for the Troops with Nathan Timmel

Headlining comedian, author, and host of the podcast “Idiots on Parade” Nathan Timmel invades the Funny Muscle Podcast to talk about the current state of comedy, to tell us tricks for doing corporate gigs, and to tell us stories about performing for troops overseas. 
As always, we get his advice on writing and creating new material for new comics.
You can find his latest comedy special “Unapologetic” on YouTube.
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Writing Comedy Monologues with Ben Alper

We learn about writing monologue jokes with Ben Alper who has written jokes for several decades and has seen them performed by the likes of Jay Leno and Dave Letterman.  
We discuss his recently published book: Live from the Beginning of Time: Late Night Comedy Monologues Through the Ages. 
The book imagines if there were late-night talk show hosts during things like the discovery of fire and the development of democracy.
The episode will give you tips on writing jokes for topical news stories.
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Mike's first set in 10 years and Book 3 Flexing Your Funny Muscle

On the same week that Mike released the third book in the Funny Muscle series, he did something he hasn’t done in 10 years: he strolled on stage and performed a 5-minute set.
We talk all about it in this episode. 
We also dust off the Humor Blueprint to diagram a few pro comics’ bits to give the listener practice identifying joke structure, humor heightening devices, and misdirection. 
And we debut our Humor Blueprint jingle.
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Booking Talent with Dan Carlson

Comedian, Director of the Chicago Comedy Festival, and former General Manager of Zanies Comedy Club in Rosemont, Dan Carlson, stops by the Funny Muscle Podcast.
Dan teaches us how to capture a booker’s attention in the first minute of a set, how the finances between the comic and club work, and when to know if you are ready to jump from opener to middle to headliner.
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An Academic Look at Why Things are Funny: Benign Violation Theory with Dr. Caleb Warren

Dr. Caleb Warren joins the podcast to give Mike and Chris an academic and research-based look at why things are funny using a framework known as the “Benign Violation Theory.”
Dr. Warren is a professor in the Marketing Department at the University of Arizona and one of the authors of a paper called “Benign violations: Making immoral behavior funny.”
His particular areas of research focus on what makes things funny, what makes things cool, and what helps people reach their goals.
We put his humor theory to the test chatting about tinkling, roasts, and comedy crowds. 
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