Funny stuff happens when you’re an artist. You’re traveling, you’re meeting new people, and all the while, you’re making memories as you pursue your craft. Most of my funny stories happen to take place in the theater (like the time I provided the background crash for a children’s production of Bridge to Terabithia when I fell into the scrim, breaking it into a million pieces). One of the best things you can do with your constantly accumulating stories is to share them on your website in blog form! It’s the perfect way to educate and entertain your audience (and yourself!) when you aren’t in performance mode.
One of my all time favorite comedians is Mike Birbiglia. A few years ago, my brother and I went to see his stand-up performance called What I Should have said was Nothing, after which I hurried home to look him up online. His website does pretty standard good-website stuff: broadcasts tour dates, places, and merchandise availability. If you dig into the site a little bit, you’ll find the Easter egg: Mike’s Secret Public Journal!
In his named-by-a-comedian blog, he posts funny pictures of himself linked with his jokes (so you have to go to/watch his shows to understand them), and he writes “Dear Journal” entries about his performances that are specific to where he was performing. So if you see his stand-up show in Salt Lake City, you can be sure he’ll write an anecdote about his performance there. This is a great lesson — people love it when you recognize the place where they live.
if you see his stand-up show in Salt Lake City, you can be sure he’ll write an anecdote about his performance there
BUT (and this is a magical ‘but’) if you’re going to have a blog, you need to be consistent. Sitting down to write a blog can be a push if you’ve had a busy performing week, but once you get started, it’s easy to keep going. You’re writing about yourself, so it’s not as hard as writing a book report. Consistency doesn’t have to mean writing every single day or for every single performance. Post once or twice a week. Also, if you mention to your audience that you have a blog and will be writing about them and that night, you’re likely to get some pretty good traffic
Check out Birbigs and start your own Secret Public Journal. Make it funny, personable, and don’t forget to tell people how cool you are.
