The Funny Muscle Podcast
Guided by the belief that anyone can learn to become funnier once they understand what to practice, the Funny Muscle Podcast aims to break down how pro comics get their best laughs. Comedian turned author Mike Lukas and cohost Chris Stiffler, an economics professor and open mic-er, use the game plan and concepts outlined in the Funny Muscle Book series to give listeners a better idea of how original (and funny) jokes are crafted.
Episodes
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 ...
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.
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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 nee...
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 comedybrandin...
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 ...
In this episode of the Funny Muscle Pod, we sit down with rising Dallas comic CAIN (@funnycain_) to talk comedy, persistence, and the art of refining bits. He shares valuable advice on not giving up on jokes, reworking material, and navigating the Dallas open mic scene. Plus, CAIN reveals how he draws inspiration from professional wrestling and magic to elevate his act. Don't miss this insightful conversation.
Comedian and author Brad Tassell joins the Funny Muscle Podcast to talk about joke writing, performing comedy on cruise ships, and how the comedy scene today compares to the 90s. As the creator and co-host of the Virtual Comedy Show, Brad brings years of experience and insight into crafting punchlines—sharing advice that’s simple yet often overlooked.
What better person to teach us how to do your first year of comedy more efficiently than someone who recently did her first year of comedy very efficiently. Payton Payne, a Dallas comic, joins the Funny Muscle Pod to teach us how she uses stage time to craft jokes, and how, when you constantly are looking for ways to make things funny, typically annoying instances no longer bother you.
Paul Varghese is a comedian and actor who appeared on the reality show Last Comic Standing 2. He’s toured with Joan Rivers and Gabriel Iglesias. He has been doing stand-up since 2001 and lives in Dallas Texas, so Mike (also in Dallas) had some questions about the local scene. We talk a lot about comedy writing, what it’s like being a comic of Indian descent, and the evolution of comedy over the past 3 decades. Paul has a completel...
In this episode we chat with Dwayne Kennedy, a stand-up comedian, actor and writer. Dwayne has also written for The Arsenio Hall Show and The Orlando Jones Show. He has played roles in such classic series as Seinfeld, Martin, 227, and Amen. Having done comedy for more than 3 decades, Dwayne is in the unique position to talk about the state of comedy today. His advice on “being yourself” on stage is a great tip for younger comedian...
The Funny Muscle Podcast welcomes our first Blue Man in this episode. Which is challenging since the Blue Man Group doesn't talk. Fortunately, this Blue Man is also Nickelodeon Famous. Jeffrey Nicholas Brown is most known for his role as "Jake Hart" on Nickelodeon's Henry Danger. (So, he can talk and does so during the interview) Jeffrey also does stand-up. His advice about getting laughs without talking like he does as a Blue Man ...
Chris travels to Dallas for this one. He joins Mike's comedy office hours on Wednesday at the Dallas Comedy Club to workshop material with students. They talk about crafting comedy bits in a group setting. They also chat about Mike's journey to improve his writing using a challenge: The Ice Bucket Writing Challenge which involves writing Hemingway-like prose or taking an ice bath. (Kidding! Though such prose would look like “I took...
The Funny Muscle Podcast chats with a comedian, a storyteller, an award-winning radio host, a mom and a comedy teacher in this episode. And they are all the same person: Magen King. She was a finalist in the World Series of Comedy and a finalist for three consecutive years in the Funniest Comic in Texas. She teaches at the Dallas Comedy Club. We talk about booking talent in the Dallas area, her tips on writing new material, her c...
The Funny Muscle welcomes to the podcast its first guitar. And accompanying that guitar is comedian and songwriter Tim Cavanagh, who has been in the comedy business for almost four decades. His first CD, “Sounds Like Fun!” was released in 1997. Tim tells us how he credits deadlines and his weekly segment called “The One Minute Song” on “The Bob & Tom Show” for his ability to create laughs. Tim gives us advice on finding conne...
To improve their character voices, Mike and Chris chat with actor, musician, filmmaker and voice coach Darren McStay whose Youtube channel “Improve Your Voice” has millions of downloads.
Darren teaches warm up techniques, why it’s important to commit to a character and tips on sticking with that character.
Maybe the best advice Darren teaches during the episode is how to use physicality and body-focus to perfect your voices.
If a...
"Cats" is a topic, but it's not until you say something like "Cats bother me as an economist." have you transformed your material into a premise.
In this episode we make that distinction.
We also learn how Mike's comedy teaching classes in Dallas are coming alone.
And we talk about Mike's aha moment during improv training.
Listen to this episode if you're unclear how to morph a topic into a premise, if you want improv advice, or y...
We asked each of our last 12 comedy pro guests what they'd tell new comedians to do if they had an hour a day to write jokes. Here's a compilation of their best advice.
- Lenny Schmidt
- Nathan Timmel
- Steph Clark
- Kevin Rogers
- Dan Bakkedahl
- Dan Carlson
- Doby Maxwell
- Tom Clark
- Dr. Caleb Warren
- Jake Vevera
- Rich Talarico
- Adam Bloom
*** If you enjoy the podcast, be sure to give us a share, like, and follow! Thanks :)
New York comedian and co-host of the podcast “Idiots on Parade” Jake Vevera (@jakevevera) stops by the Funny Muscle Podcast to talk about his upcoming comedy special, which is about to be released on YouTube.
Jake is full of advice for new comedians like his three-sentence joke writing drill and his advice on stage time.
Find out why Jake also tells new comics to pretend that their audience doesn’t speak English.
(hint: It forces...
Lenny Schmidt stops by the Funny Muscle Podcast to teach us about the logistics of planning comedy material for 5 nights in a row on a cruise ship (hint: you got to keep track of your call-back jokes).
Lenny, who has been doing comedy since the 1980s, also studied improv in Chicago. You may recognize Lenny in movies like “Joe Dirt” and “The Ugly Truth”, and TV shows; “Castle”, “True Blood”, “Big Love”, “ER”, and “Desperate Housewiv...
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