Vulgarity: Not a Neccesary Ingredient in Comedy

There is a thought by some aspiring comedians that you have to be vulgar to be funny. This is completely untrue! Those who think vulgarity will automatically earn laughs tend to not be funny themselves or just have very limited exposure to the comedy circuit. Sure, there are clubs one can perform that kind of bit at and people will think it is hilarious. Just look at the success funny people like Sarah Silverman. Her success prompts people like my friend Ellen to think that you have to be a bit vulgar and offend people to get laughs. Well, that is not the type of humor I enjoy and I think there are many others like me. I prefer a more high brow type of comedy, but not stuffy. Just give me something smart, thoughtful, relevant, and fresh. Instead of trying to emulate another person's success, find something fresh that works for you. If all else fails, have someone who is funny write your jokes and work with you on your timing because nothing is worse that watching a comedian completely fail on an open mic night (okay, there are a lot of things that are worse but it is pretty uncomfortable).