How many LPM (laughs per minute) does everyone tend to get, assuming you have a good crowd? My comedy routines range from about 2 to 4, so I'm currently getting about 3 per minute (excluding my serious routines).

I've never totted up the LMP in my act. But I work fast and furious and so by default end up packing in as many as possible. This isn't done in order to keep my LMP rate up but because that's the way I feel most comfortable working.

As a comedy performer I know that pauses and silences can be used to augment and strengthen laughs but I have to admit to not being comfortable unless my audience is laughing. Stand up comic and writer Ben Elton was known for his machine gun speed delivery. he said it originally stemmed from fear... in other words if something doesn't get a laugh he had another shot at getting one in about 10 seconds.

I can imagine though that if you have a relaxed style of delivery a slower LPM rate might result in a bigger overall comedy effect and impact.

Looking at a LPM rate I guess can be helpful but I think looking at the overall impact of ones act in an honest way is a more appropriate way to gauge how ones act is going over.

Focus more on momentum.

I heard an interview with Tim Vine recently who said pretty much the same thing as Ben Elton. He went down the one-liner route so if one gag didn't work another one would be along in a minute.

I will usually work much the same way Neal does especially if I am not on for long. I entered a competition recently and the first round was 5 minutes each. I've just gone through it in my head and there are about 25-30 laugh points in the 5 minutes. If I am doing a proper length set I'd be more inclined to do things with a longer set-up and go for a bigger laugh at the end.

I don't really like the LPM thing it seems too formulaic and doesn't account for the many different things that constitute a good and funny act.

George 25-30 laugh points in 5 mins sounds pretty good... It's when those laugh points come and go with no sign of the laughs that the LPM ratio starts to suffer.

I agree with George, you need to get straight to the laughs when you're performing a short set and 25 -30 LPM is really good.....you can afford to take longer with the set ups if you're doing a 40 min set....check out Jim Jefferies...he's not for the faint hearted, but he's a story teller and is a master at the "Act out" which is something I know I struggle with, I have a tendency to rush them.

I expect 437 per minute especially when doing mentalism

10 in 15 mins, a simple mentalism set with some humorous points but not split your sides funny, get a good reaction because they are well spaced out.

I don't calculate Laughs Per Minute. I calculate Positive Audience Response (per minute). The theory here is getting 3 or 4 chuckles per minute from a small portion of the audience which last 1-2 seconds is not nearly as effective as getting two laughs per minute which are gut ripping full on laughs that last for 8-12 seconds, cheers or applause. Here's a site which describes the theory in greater detail: http://comedyevaluatorpro.com/ I'm not promoting or endorsing the use of the software, simply providing the site as an opportunity to look at LPM from a different perspective.

LVMagicAL, Do you use this site at all? What is your opinion of it?