You should not throw sexist jokes if there are many women in the crowd or you may bear the grudges of feminist advocates in the audience in an instant. Then, identify with the audience. As mentioned, you need to make sure the standup comedy material is very much appropriate for the audience. Applying common sense would help you a lot during the act. Now it is given that part of being a novice in a given field entails you to get the good stuffs from the veterans but it would be better for your long-term career to come up with a material that you can proudly call as your own. You have to go with the basics like the standard length of routines, the signs of appropriate responses from the audience, and the manner in which you should carry yourself while you re under a very bright and glimmering spot. Thus, to be constantly effective, be sure to rehearse on time and regularly with the manager around (for constructive criticisms) so you would know how to deliver jokes and punch-lines better and much funnier. Take formal standup comedy classes. To learn standup comedy, one has to truly learn the art of effective throwing of emotions. There is one good news about this though: most people have ideal sense of humor that only needs developing to be adapted or performed on stage. Better strategy: Be yourself so you could appropriately apply your sense of humor when performing on stage. You do not need to assume the personality of another comedian. You can either imitate them and inject humors to what they are going through or you can try to tell your version of the story in, of course, funny way. 2. Help yourself to remember things. There are many incidences and experiences that you will witness everyday, which you can use on your comedic acts. The baptism of fire could either make or break you. Because it is your first time to air your jokes and antics, you could not help but feel nervous. This feeling of nervousness could possibly affect your overall performance if you would let it rule over you. So how could you possibly get fully and adequately prepared for your first big night?