One piece of advice for any comic starting out is to tape your performances. That way, you can view them later and take notes on how you're doing, what you're doing right and more importantly, what you're doing wrong.
A lot of comics I've spoken to hate watching themselves on tape. But you have to do it. It is a tough exercise, but you will only get better by critiquing your performances. And yes, you will be your worst critic. At least I was, and still am. Because you know what you are capable of. You know how your show was supposed to go, or at least how you hoped it would go. So even if it looked like you had a good show, you might think it could have gone better. Only you know the little mistakes. But you're gonna make those mistakes. Let 'em go.
You should be able to learn from every show, even the good ones. Especially the good ones. Just keep on doing the right things.
I've been taping my last few shows with my voice recorder on my phone. Just to get an idea of how much time I am actually onstage, as well as what jokes work in front of what audiences. So far the shows have been going great. I listen to the audio of the shows and I realized the shows I've been doing have been a lot better than I originally thought. There are a few mistakes here and there, but at least I recognize them and can make adjustments.
I have a video clip on youtube and I asked a comic friend what she does to get past a writing block. She told me to view my video and remember that I am a quality comic and that I am more than capable of writing good jokes. So there's another reason to tape your shows. Positive reinforcement.
If I ever figure out how to post audio links, I'll post one of my recorded shows.
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