Why Stand Up Comedy Can Be Transformational for Both Performer And Audience
The Power Of Cognitive Reframing
Stand Up Comedy can be as simple as a fart joke. “You ever had a fart, identify as a shit? I once had a fart whose pronouns were He / Shit Himself.”
It can be as simple as saying a silly thought out loud and offering the audience a moment of escapism through laughter.
AND…it can be something more. Beyond escapism, it can be something meaningful and transformational for both the performer and audience, by tapping into the power of Cognitive Reframing.
In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Reframing is a technique that describes the process of shifting your perspective on situations, thoughts and feelings. It’s not about changing the situation itself. It’s about shifting the lens through which you view the situation, so you can develop a more helpful and constructive meaning to the negative aspects of life.
So…what is the structure of comedy and what does it have to do with Cognitive Reframing?
THE STRUCTURE OF COMEDY
The broadest structure of comedy is contrast. Every moment of comedy has two ideas that contrast each other. To be more specific, every joke has the following foundational structure:
The beginning of the joke is the setup. And in the setup, you are setting up an expectation. The end of the joke (where the laugh should be) is the punchline. The punchline is breaking the original expectation in some way.
So comedic contrast is simply:
Setting up an expectation, and breaking that expectation.
Usually in the set up of a joke, the comedian shares something about a situation, observation, or idea that gets the audience to “expect” a particular perspective (usually a common or normal perspective). The punchline then shatters that expectation by shifting to a different perspective (usually an uncommon or unusual perspective).
When comedian, Charles McBee (IG @charlesmcbee), opens up his Don’t Tell Comedy set with —
“I reached a milestone financially...I‘m finally done paying my student loans!” and the audience cheers, he continues with “Thank you. I mean, I still owe them a lot of money, I‘m just done paying them.”
— He shifts perspectives from what we expected (He’s paid off his student loans in full) to the unexpected perspective (‘Done paying’ actually meant he just quit paying and he’s still has a lot of debt).
Most people would agree, having a lot of student loan debt that you can’t pay off is a stressful, negative experience.
But for a comedian, nothing is ever ONE THING. Everything for a comedian has multiple meanings. Every comedian interacts with life through a “2 Meaning Minimum”:
The common, original meaning / perspective
The uncommon, comedic meaning / perspective.
The structure of comedy is all about REFRAMING.
Charles McBee reframed a life situation from one of stress, to one of humor. And he not only did that for himself, he shared it with the audience, made them laugh, and invited them to reframe their own relationship with student loan debt.
COMEDIC REFRAMING FOR THE PERFORMER AND AUDIENCE
As a comedian, I’ve experienced and observed countless interactions of audience members saying something to the effect of: “After that joke, I’ll never look at (fill in the blank) the same way again!” with a big smile on their face.
Stand Up Comedy IS the power of reframing. For yourself, and the audience.
I used to do this joke about “Sexy Giraffes” where I acted out the physicality of how they walk, and how they bend over and throw that ass back to drink water. It was a silly joke and everyone came up to me and said that was their favorite part of my set and that “I’ll never look at a giraffe the same way again.” That’s the influence comedy can have. Giraffes are somewhat neutral in terms of people’s perspective on them. But even reframing something from neutral to hilarious is an uplifting gift for an audience.
There are also jokes that deal with trauma and the negative aspects of life that can be healing and transformational for both the comedian and the audience. I’ve been a stand up comedian since 2010 and a stand up comedy teacher since 2020, and well into my 2nd year teaching in person Stand Up Classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles. Through the hundreds and hundreds of students I’ve worked with and clients I’ve coached, I’m always amazed each time I’m reminded that: YES, stand up comedy can be silly and frivolous, AND it can also be one of the most meaningful forms of self expression, and can allow all of us to reframe the traumas of life into hilarious pieces of art (see how I fit the “YES AND” in there lol).
I’ve used my obsession for the craft of stand up comedy to create an ever expanding curriculum of principles, tools, techniques and exercises to guide students who want to transform the heaviness of the past into levity in the present.
TURNING STRUGGLES INTO GIGGLES
I have been in tears laughing at my students’ brilliant comedic reframing of dealing with abuse, drug addiction, family trauma, cancer, recent death of loved ones, betrayals, mental and physical health issues, and more. It’s inspiring to see the change that happens in the students when they realize they have the power to share something vulnerable to a room full of strangers, through a creative process, and have that room full of strangers laugh in appreciation of their craft and their personal perspective. It’s also remarkable when you realize the audience now has a piece of comedic art that they can use to reframe their own challenges in life. To add giggles to their struggles.
And I say “add” and not “replace” for a reason. Joking about something serious is not denying the severity of that thing. It’s adding another meaning to that thing. An additional perspective. So that now when you experience or think of that situation, you have multiple choices, instead of one choice. The one negative meaning, transforms into multiple meanings that now include humor, laughter, irony, satire, absurdity, etc. You can still honor the truth of the trauma while adding the truth of the comedic perspective.
Stand Up Comedy IS the power of reframing.
Comedians have the power to take the neutral or negative aspects of life and reframe them into hilarious aspects of life, for themselves AND the audience.
And when you work the craft of stand up comedy with enough commitment, soon your mind starts to shift from Reframing to Pre-framing. Meaning, when the “negative” situation, feeling or idea occurs, you’re already hardwired to find the humor in it. To find the additional perspective outside of the common, negative one. Once again, I’m not talking about denial. I’m talking about being hardwired to expand past the restrictions of a single perspective at the moment you experience something.
My life is so much more joyful and empowered since I’ve dedicated my life to comedy. Arguments end in laughter much quicker than they used to and feelings of helplessness are transformed into creative, comedic work sooner than they used to.
Because now there’s a deeper purpose. I’m not only reframing for myself. I’m reframing for others as well.
If I can create a brilliant joke from a seemingly negative life experience, it’s an offering to the audience.They too can use that perspective, that joke, to reframe the challenges in their lives. Struggles to giggles.
Stand Up Comedy IS the power of reframing and can be one of the most meaningful forms of self expression, and selfless expression, by sharing the gift of comedic reframing with the audience.
“BUT NO ONE CARES ABOUT WHAT I HAVE TO SAY”
Some comedians will still have this negative thought:
I know I care about this and want to talk about this. But no one else cares. Why would someone sit in an audience to hear a stranger share their silly thoughts? It’s meaningless and it’s so arrogant of me to stand up there with a mic and say ‘Everyone, sit there, be quiet and listen to me, what I have to say is important.’
Most of us have had this thought at one point. Even I had that fleeting thought while writing this essay: “What’s the point of writing this essay. No one cares and it’s self indulgent.” And yet…
In 2025, more stand up comedians than ever before in history are selling out arenas, going on tour, growing their fan base, and have amassed multi billions of views digitally.
Audiences clearly have a need for stand up comedy. Whether it’s to use humor to escape the stresses of their life or to feel connection with other people and experience the power of reframing the neutral or negative into a perspective worthy of genuine laughter.
If you have a need for self expression, there is someone who needs to receive it. The creative urge doesn’t exist without its counterpart. Even if the audience is one person, it's meaningful. I’ve had some of my favorite shows at 1am with 2 people in the audience.
In nature, pollination occurs when plants produce and release pollen, not knowing where each grain of pollen will land, but that doesn’t matter because they are in an ecosystem designed for connection, and the pollen will find the corresponding flower.
If you produce an idea that you want to send out, you may not know who your audience is, but human beings are designed for connection, and like the flowers, there’s always someone ready to pick up what you're putting down.
CONCLUSION
Now to my original point…the moment you shit your pants as an adult, the first thought isn’t “this is gonna kill in my stand up set tonight!” It’s usually humiliation and panic. But when you think like a comedian, it doesn’t take long to reframe humiliation and panic into a hilarious gift for yourself and the audience. Because like Daniel Day Lewis, we’ve all had a fart that went METHOD. We’ve all dookied our pants once because a fart thought it was shit and refused to break character.
Yes, I tricked you. This whole essay is actually an elaborate “shart” joke disguised as an earnest think piece. I just reframed dat ass!
WHERE TO FIND ME
UPCOMING SHOWS and other links can be found here: https://www.hopp.bio/londalejr
COMEDY COACHING: Work with me 1 on 1 virtually.
FOLLOW ME ON IG @LondaleJr for Stand Up Clips, Shows, and Announcements on Classes and Workshops!
ONE HOUR COMEDY SPECIAL “BIGGER, BLACKER, VEGAN-ER” on YouTube.
UCB STAND UP CLASSES: Check availability for future Intro To Stand Up and Advanced Stand Up Classes I’m teaching.
MIC IT UP! 1st, 2nd, 3td Tuesdays 7p at UCB Annex. FREE Stand Up Comedy Mic. 5 Min Sets.
Wow wow wow I will not look at comedy the same way again and I appreciate even more all the work that goes into it… thank you!!
This is absolutely brilliant, insightful and FUNNY! I needed that. Thank you for taking the time to create such a thoughtful piece. You are correct in that if you feel the need to share - trust me someone out there is waiting for it!