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Points of View - POVs are a truly amazing comedy technique. Once you understand joke structure, you'll soon realize the reason comedians act out characters isn't just to show off their acting skills, but because they've discovered how easy it is to pop a laugh by shifting from one POV to another POV. This chapter teaches you how to incorporate POVs into your comedy bag of tricks.

POINTS OF VIEW (POV)S
Narrator POV
Self POV
Character POV

POV EXERCISE
Round 1: Self POV Only
Round 2: Character POV Only
Round 3: Self POV and Character POV
Round 4: Self POV, Character POV, and Narrator POV

STREAMLINING THE POV EXERCISE

POV APPLICATIONS
Joke Structure
Generating Material
Bringing the Material into the Present
Identifying and Portraying the Character POVs
Expressing Your Opinions
Combining POVs
Foundation for Rehearsing

POV EXERCISE FORM

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Let's take these one at a time and look at an example of each.

NARRATOR POV: HOW YOU PERCEIVE THING AS A NON-PARTICIPANT OR OBSERVER
In Narrator POV the comedian is never directly involved in the experience that the joke is about but, rather, observes, reports, talks about, or. . .narrates it. This is a very common approach in the joke-telling style of stand-up. For instance, the following joke is stated entirely from Narrator POV:

"Last night, I was talking to my friend Bob when I mentioned that I recently was sitting at a stop sign and this car rear-ended me. He asked if I was hurt. I told him that I couldn't tell until I talked to my lawyer."

As long as the comedian relates to the experience within the joke as something being talked about rather than something that is being reenacted, it's from a Narrator POV.

SELF POV: HOW YOU PERCEIVE THINGS AS A PARTICIPANT
When doing Self POV the comedian is involved in the experience, which is happening or being acted out as if it's happening in the present. Since audiences want to hang out with the comedian, it's much fun being involved in the scenario that is happen, rather than one just being described. Here's the same joke with both Narrator and Self POVs.

Narrator: "Last night, I was talking to my friend Bob when I mentioned,"
Self: "I was sitting at a stop sign and this guy rear-ended me."
Narrator: "Bob asked if I was hurt. I told him,"
Self: "I can't tell until I talk to my lawyer.

It is extremely important you thoroughly understand the difference between Narrator POV and Self POV. It can be confusing because they are both you. But remember, when you're in Narrator POV you're explaining, setting up, making an observation, or talking about something you're not currently participating in; whereas when you're in Self POV you're participating or reenacting an experience as if it's happening.

CHARACTER POV: HOW YOU PERCEIVE THINGS AS SOMEONE OR SOMETHING ELSE
Character POV is anyone or anything the comedian can act out as a character. This includes people, impersonations, animals, objects, even concepts such as emotions. Here's the a variation of same joke including the Character POV:

Narrator: "Last night, I was talking to my friend Bob when I mentioned,"
Self: "I was sitting at a stop sign and this guy rear-ended me."
Character: "Were you hurt?"
Self: "I can't tell until I talk to my lawyer."

For my taste, this is a much more interesting joke to perform because there's a conversation happening in which the audience becomes involved.

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