A question from Brian Dreger, who sends me a lot of good questions…
You've apparently been around stand-up comedians a lot…know a lot about the business, etc. One thing I've always been curious about is how they decide what the last joke will be.
Often when I watch a standup special, towards the end of the show, I get a bit of anxiety because I'm wondering if the joke they're going to tell last will generate a loud enough laugh that they can say "Thank you, you've been a great audience. Good night!" and then walk off comfortably to a great round of applause. I've seen many performances when the last joke generates just a tiny little dud of a laugh, but they still have to say "Thank you, good night, you've been a great audience!" It's very awkward to me, and I would think that if you were on stage it would be somewhat demoralizing. Is it? Do you know if there is much thought put into what the last joke will be?
Sure…but it isn't thought so much as trial-and-error. When you see someone doing a standup special on TV, you're almost certainly seeing them do material they've done dozens, if not hundreds of times before. The last joke is what they've found is the best joke for that moment. Comics are always moving things around in their acts and trying this or that to determine what works best.
A standup comedian may also use what magicians call "Multiple Outs." Magicians have tricks where they can change course in midstream because you don't know what the final "miracle" is supposed to be. If the selected card doesn't turn up where they want it to appear the first time, the trick goes on until it does turn up and they act like that's where they always expected it to be. A comic on stage might have several jokes to tell near the end of his or her set and as soon as one of them gets a huge-enough laugh, he or she ends on that one. If it gets that "tiny little dud of a laugh" that you mention, they go on to the next joke and, if necessary, the next one.
As for the moment when the comic says, as you quote, "Thank you, good night, you've been a great audience," a lot of comics don't want the last thing they say on stage to be a joke. They want to drop the "funnyman" posture and say something sincere to the audience. Again, this is a matter of doing it night after night after night and finding what works for them.
Lastly, I should point out that a lot of standup specials you see on TV are edited. In many cases, they record several performances and take the best moments from each. I would imagine in some instances, if the last joke doesn't get the desired response, it's edited out of the show and they just cut from the last joke that did get a big laugh to the comic saying "Thank you and goodnight." So thank you and goodnight, Brian.
