The Funny Muscle Podcast

You’d think comedians would be the ones giving lessons on timing. But this week, we flipped the snare. Our guest is Tim Alexander, the legendary drummer for Blue Man Group and Primus, who joins the Funny Muscle Pod to teach us about timing. Turns out, drummers and comedians share the same secret weapon: the pause. The space between the beats, or between the setups and punchlines, is where the tension builds and where the audience leans in before the payoff.

Think you saw the punchline coming? Good comics make sure you don’t. In this Funny Muscle Pod, Mike and Chris break down bait and switch — the move where you’re sure you know the joke’s ending, then wind up face-down in a completely different punchline. We analyze the tape of the Naked Gun’s deadpan reveals, Dave Barry’s elegant sentence swerves, and stand-up jokes from comedians Tom Cotter, Jon Stewart and Jim Jeffries. We show how great comics bait the hook before yanking the rug. Plus, we share tips for crafting setups that make the “switch” land every time.

Not every room will be packed—sometimes you’re on stage for fewer people than your car’s backseat can handle. In the latest episode of the Funny Muscle Pod, Mike shares battle-tested tips for how to turn a modest crowd into a memorable performance, like boost your pace and go local.  We also learn how to say what they’re thinking—lightly. If your audience is thinking, “Is this crowd supposed to be this small?”, Mike teaches how to nudge that thought without making anyone feel self-conscious.

Why do we feel so good when a waiter says “excellent choice” after we order the salmon instead of the flank steak?
Mike and Chris break down the psychology behind that little dopamine hit and show you how to use the same principle to level up your comedy, corporate communication, public speaking, and even your skills as a great emcee. They also dig into the respective articles they wrote for Finding Your Funny Muscle:
How to Strengthen Your Corporate Communication Using the Funny Muscle Method - Finding Your Funny Muscle
What Great Comedy MCs Actually Do (Besides Just Not Sucking) - Finding Your Funny Muscle
Stand-Up Techniques for Public Speaking: For Professors, Policy Nerds, and People Who Sweat in Blazers - Finding Your Funny Muscle
Tune in for practical tips, emcee hacks, a few laughs, and the occasional menu metaphor.

On this episode of Funny Muscle, the team tackles one of the most important — and  often overlooked by new comics — steps in joke creation: assigning an emotion to a topic. Because “air travel” isn’t funny. But your deep personal betrayal by a TSA muffin confiscation? That’s a premise. They look at how pros use an emotional POV to instantly transform a generic idea into a living, breathing premise that’s ready for punchlines.

In this episode, we cornered a dozen comedians—some voluntarily—and asked:“If you had one hour a day to train your comedy off-stage, what would you do?” There’s a wide range of answers. One practices in front of a mirror. One writes down everything that irritates them until they become punchlines. One looks up 20 facts about a topic. And yes—several review their sets like it’s game tape, pausing to say things like “Here’s where I lost Iowa.” This episode will give comedy training ideas for you to try out.

Nationally touring comedian, actor, and verbal hurricane Jimmy Shubert stops by the Funny Muscle Pod to talk about his legendary career, offer some top-shelf joke-writing advice, and reveal his secret weapon: the “20 Facts, 20 Jokes” method. Basically, he starts with facts and then writes jokes about them. That’s it. That’s the system. And it works, because he's Jimmy Freakin’ Shubert.
Described by some as a “renegade wordsmith who works to the top of his intelligence” Jimmy shares wisdom, war stories, and maybe a few borderline-illegal punchlines.
Also, he’s dropped four albums that sound like either comedy specials or monster truck rallies: “Animal Instincts,” “Pandemonium,” “Alive & Kickin’,” and “Zero Tolerance”—plus a Comedy Central special. Take notes. Jimmy did not come here to mess around.

Here at the Funny Muscle Pod, we chat a lot about the skills in crafting jokes, but in this episode, we take a hard turn to the business side of comedy. And although the business of stand-up is as glamorous as a motel continental breakfast, it’s needed. We grill Mike, a seasoned touring comedian, on crucial survival skills, such as how to avoid burnout on the road (step one: don’t live entirely on gas station taquitos), why you need an EPK (which we promise is not a new cryptocurrency), and the dark, mysterious science of venue pricing. Also, we talk about selling merch, because nothing says 'comedy legend' like convincing strangers to buy a T-shirt with your face on it.

How do you market your comedy brand? How do you get more likes, shares, and followers without resorting to bribery or adopting an emotional support ferret for viral content?
The biggest comics know the secrets of online marketing—like how to trick the algorithm into showing your jokes to more than just your mom and that one guy from high school.
To help us crack the code, we invited David Uribe—marketing consultant at comedybranding.com, dabbler in comedy, and full-time knower of things—to our podcast. David shares expert tips on how to grow your brand, land gigs, attract fans, and—most importantly—monetize your humor so you can finally afford something fancier than gas station burritos.

Join us on the Funny Muscle Pod as we sit down with Kenny Lee, winner of the 2024 Purvis Wilson Funniest Stand-Up in Dallas Competition. Known for his sharp, cunning comedy, Kenny (@KennyLee270) takes us behind the scenes of his joke-writing process, shares how he developed his comedic persona, and talks about the power of working clean. Plus, he breaks down the strategy behind competing in stand-up competitions and how he crafted his sets to win each round.