Memory

 
 
 
 

Transcript:

The best jokes aren’t difficult to remember.


I’ve had various methods for memorizing my bits over the years.  Many of them, not very effective.


I’ve stumbled over a lot of words, forgotten many sentences on stage.  Often, the most important ones.


It doesn’t help much to come up with a brilliant line if you forget to say it.


It’s weird to forget something that you wrote.  It comes out of you, and then you can’t remember how it goes.  That’s odd.


But I think it’s a good metric to judge how much of you is actually in what you wrote.


Cuz sometimes what we write can be contrived.  We’re trying too hard to fit things together in a way they don’t naturally go.


You’re not being honest with yourself and you’re trying to manufacture something that isn’t there.


That’s gonna be hard to commit to memory, cuz it’s false.  You’re just memorizing a blank series of words.  They’re not attached to anything that resonates with you.


If the words are attached to strong feelings in you, boom, you’re off to the races, you can pull that outta your butt whenever you need to.  As long as that’s how you actually feel.


You want that tight, honest, emotional connection between you and everything you’re writing.  You should feel close to it.


That being said, what are the best ways to memorize stuff?  Cuz you still gotta say the sentences in somewhat the right order.  Getting the gist of an idea will get you most of the way to the funny, but you can supercharge it a little bit with proper word choice and timing.


Once I’ve written the bit, I used to try to memorize it word for word right away.


That was a mistake.  Big mistake.


Cuz as soon as you take the bit on stage, it’s gonna change.  Maybe the essence of it isn’t gonna change that much, but often it does.  And every single time, some a’ the wording an’ the order of ideas —- that’s gonna get shifted around.


You just never know how it’s gonna hit with audiences until you’re in it, an’ then you gotta get creative and play around some more to optimize it.


So I don’ try to memorize bits in detail anymore when I first write ‘em.


I write it.  I kinda half memorize each little chunk of the bit.


I do still record the bit again after I’ve written it an’ then I listen to those recordings.  Most people listen to music in their cars.


Half the time if I’m not listening to a podcast I’m listening to my own jokes on repeat.  Bit of a recipe for mental illness.  Don’t necessarily recommend it.


Also, based on studies of what helps you remember things, passive listening, apparently, is useless.


So, I should probably stop bothering with listening to me reciting my own jokes, cuz science says it’s not effective.


Active listening can be useful.  What’s active listening?  That’s paying attention to particular words or themes in whatever you’re listening to.


So if you’re gonna listen to your bits, you need to be picking out and noting key words and phrases throughout.


I used to write out bits in their entirety.  Also, according to science, not helpful for memory.


I still type up my jokes in full.  I have hundreds and hundreds of typed pages of jokes.


But typing them a second time or rewriting them again is NOT the way to go.


Writing can help you remember though.  You just have to be more selective.  If you want to remember a bit you’re supposed to write out keywords and phrases.  The same as with active listening.  You wanna write down core ideas and emotions.  But you don’t write out every sentence – that’s too passive of a process.  Not focused enough to help with recall.


Picking out key words and phrases and writing those – that’s an active process.  You will form new associations in your memory.  That’s science.


So, the best bits aren’t difficult to memorize.  They just flow out of you because they reflect your perspective naturally and resonate with you emotionally.  They’re a natural extension of you.


But if that isn’t working for you and you’re in a pinch, best bet is to write out keywords, practice the bit as you would perform it in front of anyone else.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat.


But don’t get married to the bit, cuz the more you do it on stage the more it will morph over time.  At least it should.  There’s always ways to amplify a bit once you’re reading the energy of how people react to it.


Also, the brain works best for memorizing stuff if you spend 30 minutes on practicing and then take an hour break before you try reviewing that same information.  That’s known as the spacing effect.


What methods help things to stick in your memory?


  1. Repetition - do it over and over

  2. Novelty - are you seeing/hearing something new

  3. Association - what else can you tie the joke to in your mind?

  4. Emotional Resonance - does the joke ring true with you as a person?


Some things to think about when you’re struggling to say the correct words on stage.  Ideas on how to prepare more effectively.


And you can always cheat.  I’ve been bringing a notebook with keywords on stage to help me remember stuff.  Never used to do that for years in comedy.  It is very helpful.  Quite nice to be able to glance down at a page and know exactly what direction I’m going in.  Shoulda started doin’ that a lot sooner.


I think I jus’ didn’ wanna carry a notebook around.  Which is a dumb reason not to use that tool if you’re a comic.  Put in the effort to carry a small notebook.


I’m forgetful already; so part of it is I didn’ wanna lose the notebook.  You can’t lose what you don’ have.  Which isn’t the best circular logic, but… just get a notebook.  Write down your keywords and phrases.  It’ll make your life a little easier.  Helps you keep working through new bits at a faster pace.

Michael Franke