{"id":8541,"date":"2026-10-16T17:39:06","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T21:39:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/?p=8541"},"modified":"2026-10-16T17:39:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T21:39:06","slug":"three-strikes-and-youre-out-when-to-drop-a-bit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/16\/three-strikes-and-youre-out-when-to-drop-a-bit\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Strikes and You\u2019re Out: When to Drop a Bit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Hi Dave \u2013 At what point do you drop a bit? Is there a magic number or amount of time that you spend refining before you shelf a joke or bit? Thanks! W.K.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8546\" style=\"width: 379px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8546\" class=\"wp-image-8546 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Umpire-Strike-Out-Call-e1792186210906.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"369\" height=\"250\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-8546\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>The Rule of Three!<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p>Hey W.K. \u2013 I enjoy this type of question because it will always start a debate. In fact, it\u2019s already started one \u2013 with me. In other words, I have two answers\u2026<\/p>\n<p>The first falls back on my dedicated opinion that comedians are creative artists. Writing and performing original material is an ongoing process. You create something and continue to develop it and make improvements.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Will it ever be perfect? Not really\u2026 at least for a creative artist.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what I mean. A lot of comics I\u2019ve worked with have had killer sets. They come off stage knowing they\u2019ve nailed it \u2013 the crowd laughed all the way through and both the performer and audience feel pretty good.<\/p>\n<p>But then the performer (artist) can usually find some fault. It could be delivering one line a different way or even using another facial expression that could\u2019ve taken everything over the top.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8545\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8545\" class=\"wp-image-8545 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Mic-with-red-curtain-e1792186273359.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-8545\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Take it on stage!<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p>Could it be called a perfect set? Maybe for the audience, but a creative artist will probably always feel there\u2019s some room for improvement. It\u2019s the curse of being creative.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Here\u2019s another example\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve heard too many interviews with recording artists who\u2019ve had No. 1 songs but can pick out moments (that listeners wouldn\u2019t notice) where \u2013 if they could record the song again \u2013 they would do something different (in their mind, something better). The song may have hit No. 1, but they can see room for improvement.<\/p>\n<p>The artist doesn\u2019t stop selling the music &#8211; because it\u2019s still good. It\u2019s just not perfect. They might continue to change and develop the songs in live performances, which is something that has driven fans of Bob Dylan crazy for decades. He never seems to play his songs the same as the recordings.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Okay \u2013 now back to your question about comedy bits.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Just because a bit doesn\u2019t work, that\u2019s no reason to think it will never work. If you think it has promise and you\u2019re dedicated to working on it\u2026 well, there\u2019s always the chance.<\/p>\n<p>In that case you would keep working on a bit for as long as you believe it can be made funnier. It will never be perfect, because in the back of your creative mind you always think it can be better.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Okay \u2013 that was answer No. 1. Now I\u2019ll share with you a different opinion that I\u2019ve also heard from so many comedians that I can\u2019t ignore it.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Showcasing Tips | How To Be A Working Comic #33\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/E77NanE8pWY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I also share this in my workshops as a method for putting together a comedy set that might someday get you hired. It doesn\u2019t take away from your creativity, but it saves the audience \u2013 and also importantly the club booker \u2013 the agony of paying for performances where the comedian is continually working on improving the same not-yet-working bit.<\/p>\n<p>By the way, that\u2019s great for open-mics and what open-mics are for. But when customers are paying upwards of $20 for a ticket, a two-drink minimum and parking it makes good business sense to give them a show with proven material.<\/p>\n<p>This different opinion also shares the name of another comedy writing theory:<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Rule of Three<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The best-known example of this in writing comedy concerns the actual structure of a joke or bit. For an explanation I saved you time and looked it up in Wikipedia. Here\u2019s the scoop:<\/p>\n<p>One of the best examples of the power of rule of three is in comedy, where it is also called a comic triple. Two is the smallest number of points needed to establish a pattern, and comedians exploit the way people\u2019s minds perceive expected patterns to throw the audience off track (and make them laugh) with the third element. Example: \u201cHow do you get to my place? Go down to the corner, turn left, and get lost.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Okay, okay\u2026 That sounds too much like textbook theory, which is something creative artists don\u2019t worry about (at least too much). It also doesn\u2019t pertain to your question, but it leads me to a different Rule of Three\u2026<\/p>\n<p>I remember conversations about this at the NYC Improv. As I like to say, I don\u2019t make this stuff up and this idea seemed to be a general opinion with a lot of the comics hanging around the bar waiting to go on stage.<\/p>\n<p>The idea is to try a bit or a joke three times in front of three different audiences.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Three things can happen:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The audience will laugh<\/li>\n<li>Some of the audience will laugh, but not all<\/li>\n<li>The audience won\u2019t laugh<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>After doing this three times, you add up the score:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>If they laugh all three times, you keep the bit or joke in the act<\/li>\n<li>If you get some laughs, but not a lot \u2013 rework it and repeat the process<\/li>\n<li>If they don\u2019t laugh, cut the bit from you act<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Of course, the first result is the goal, while the last one is pretty much a death sentence for the material.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/index.php\/online-comedy-workshop\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8172 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Online-Workshops-2025-e1782143886868.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">New online groups start October 28 and November 2, 2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/index.php\/online-comedy-workshop\/\"><strong>LINK<\/strong><\/a> for details!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>The second should spark the creative mind to continue improving the bit or joke. But eventually you\u2019ll need to decide. If it\u2019s only going to be a mediocre piece of material no matter how many changes you make, file it for later or dump it for something new and funnier.<\/p>\n<p><strong>If you want to work in this business, you need material that works in front of an audience.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The creative artist will always continue to develop new material. The working comic will have material that has already been proven to work in front of an audience \u2013 and that\u2019s what they will be paid to deliver. So, if the bit or the joke is not working, then follow a similar Rule of Three from the game of baseball theory:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Three strikes and you\u2019re out.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thanks for reading and as always &#8211; keep laughing!!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"4099\" data-end=\"4168\">*<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Click on the banner below to sign up for Dave\u2019s free newsletter.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/visitor.r20.constantcontact.com\/manage\/optin?v=001jarSHX2McaTyP3Ymgn_YyXYEHLc8-iFY0gJB4e-TSzz5xHxH14Kft1qGWv7bo5TATdSz2InvP8kGc3wje2bFQAL0ysYXLh9qtlXl1fafTkEYQjgfjsHYFHbpTfcVHhls\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-184 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Newsletter-Banner-copy.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Newsletter-Banner-copy.jpg 500w, https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Newsletter-Banner-copy-300x71.jpg 300w\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"119\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The creative artist will always continue to develop new material. The working comic will have material that has already been proven to work in front of an audience \u2013 and that\u2019s what they will be paid to deliver.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,110,11,4,18,122,123,6,254,45,96,7,43,51,5,211],"tags":[291,236,207,232,335,417,193,384,231,432,274,395,450],"class_list":["post-8541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advice","category-audience","category-comedians","category-comedy","category-comedy-clubs","category-comedy-writing","category-creative-artist","category-entertainment","category-jokes","category-open-mics","category-open-mics-2","category-performing","category-showbusiness","category-stage-time","category-stand-up","category-writing","tag-audience","tag-comedians","tag-comedy-clubs","tag-comedy-material","tag-creative-artist","tag-on-stage","tag-performing","tag-rule-of-three","tag-stage-time","tag-standup-comedians","tag-standup-comedy","tag-working-comics","tag-writing-comedy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8541"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8548,"href":"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8541\/revisions\/8548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}