How to deal with having a bad set

How to deal with having a bad set.

“The easiest thing is just to blame it on the audience. Otherwise, I just try to shake it off, and do another one as soon as possible to get the taste out my mouth.” -Arj Barker

”Any time I have a bad set I think about killing myself until the next time I get on stage and have a good set. Actually now that I’ve done stand up for as long as I have, I only hate myself for about an hour after a bad set.”

-Bill Burr

“I have never had a bad set.”

-Dante

“Get really angry at myself and be funnier next time.”

-Greg Fitzsimmons

“Shake it off and keep getting better. You do have to be really honest with yourself about whether it was you or the crowd. You can't always blame them, even when they suck. You have a job to do. If you didn't get laughs you didn't do your job and you shouldn't expect someone to hire you for any kind of real money unless you can deliver. If I hired a plumber and he fixed one pipe and ruined everything else and then blamed the last plumber for being to good or not good enough I'd tell him to get knotted and never hire him again. And neither would you.”

-Hal Sparks

“I got booed by 10,000 people I just don't let it bother me anymore. You’re never that good and you’re never that bad. No one bats 500 during the season.”

-Jimmy Shubert

“Just try to forget it and move on. That’s one of the benefits of getting up a lot. You have a set that same night so you learn to move on.”

-Maz Jabroni

“Get back on stage. Well all have bad sets. With time you learn from them.”

-Alonzo Boden

“By going and trying to have a good one... and cocaine.”

-Greg Behrendt

“I beat myself up and then I let it go. I dissected what it was that I did and what went wrong.”

-Anjelah Johnson

“Do another set.”

-Doug Benson

“I have had a lot. Everyone is different. When I was newer at doing it I dwelled more. Now, I don’t care. I know I’m funny.”

-Jeff Richards

“I've eaten shit plenty of times. Hell, I ate shit on national television during the LCS Roast my season. It sucks, it never gets any better, you always remember THAT set, but you dust yourself off and go play a room you love to feel like a comic again. Failure on stage stings, and makes us correct mistakes. It's "usually" not the audiences fault. Eating shit builds character...period.”
-Kristin Key

“Take it like a man. You got to shake it off. Now, I’ve been doing it long enough that I know it’s not me anymore. That’s not being cocky that’s just experience. I know when a sets not going well and I like to try to scramble and come up with something. I think it’s good for you. Just try not to have it be a TV set.”

-Dobie Maxwell

“The same way I deal with troubled relationships, unpaid bills, new shoes, plane delays or coming in last place. I drink.”

-Doug Stanhope

“Are you shitting me? If you don't have bad sets you're not trying hard enough or taking risks...I beat my wife”

-Nick De Palo

“Booze and Halo?”

-Nick Swardson