Ever wonder how big-time performers memorize their stuff? Living near New York City, I'm fortunate to meet people in show business. I like to ask them how they master their material. Comedian Colin Quinn was kind enough to talk with me after his hilarious one-man show, The New York Story.
"Memorization to a comedian is important. Every comic has their own technique, I guess. Mine is to tape sets and listen to them before I go on. It's tedious, but it works pretty well. Every comic has tales of woe where they said something in a certain order, and they can't remember the little word that was not the punchline, but it made the joke work. It could even be a preposition. And you go, 'why doesn't that work anymore?' And it's lost forever. But most comics never really have a logical technique or order that's consistent, partly because we are ADD in my opinion, and partly because we became comedians because we don't like logic or rules or techniques (again in my opinion)."