Both Stand-Up Comedians and Lawyers directly look at their ‘audience’- for the lawyer, it’s the Judge, Arbitrator, Hearing Officer or Jury.

– Actors don’t do this. They look at each other, or if on stage, they look out at a point above the audience.

Both Comedians and Lawyers want to connect with their audience so that the audience’s attention is exclusively on what the comedian or lawyer is saying and doing. In a well written and well performed comedy set, the audience is attentively anticipating the next word or phrase.

Both Comedians and Lawyers use language to engage the audience.

– For both the Comedian and the Lawyer, what they say and how they say it is of the utmost importance.  Writing and performing comedy- even a short set- can help in four (4) ways:

1. Your use of words.  In comedy, no unnecessary words and the words have clarity and context, one phrase connects to the other and the conclusion (for the Comedian- the punchline) has impact.

–Creativity? Writing a joke, a comedy set is an act of creation.

2. How you pace what you say– in comedy, this is timing.

3. Your tone of voice– tone informs what you say and vice versa.

4. Ease of delivery, connection to the ‘audience.’

– If you’re very good at all of the above then this ‘cross training’ can’t hurt and it’s fun!