When beginning a stand-up comedy career, one of the biggest challenges was how to use a microphone. I honestly couldn’t remember if I’d ever used one, since maybe college praise band– how many cool points did I just lose? I Googled everything I could about it, and just didn’t find what I was looking for. So, this will basically be exactly what I was looking for way back when, four months ago.

Some of you might have experience using a microphone. I did not. I went to my library to ask if they had a mic, amp and stand to experiment with. They had one, but it was checked out. I had to practice with my daughter’s play microphones and an extension to a vacuum cleaner. It was more helpful than having empty hands while I practiced, but not really that helpful.

So, I’ve observed other comedians and practiced with some styles myself, and here are some styles of holding a microphone to consider:

Shaft hold

This is the classic hold. It also shows some level of faith in your mic cable. This is mostly what I do. It’s failed me once, but I’m sticking with it until I get my special or learn to hold it in an up-and-under.

The base hold

You’ll see a lot of comics holding a mic by the base. It’s like when you brush your teeth. Half on the teeth, half on the gums. The main advantage I see here is securing the cable connection. You also have a lot of control and keep as little mic and hand in your face as possible.

The rockstar

You can always just leave the mic in the stand. It give you control and support over the cord at a lower base. It makes you look kind of cool. I could never get away with this for two reasons. One, I’m not cool. Two, I’m not adept enough with a stand to adjust it if the host or comic going before me is short.

Here’s A Clip of Joe Frommert, a Fort Collins comedian, using the whole mic stand. It totally fits his vibe.

The rapper

Holding the microphone up top like that shows a lot of faith in your cable connection. My mic came unplugged halfway through my first set. I wouldn’t do this one. Also, unless you’re a pro, like Phil here, you want to be extra careful about covering your mouth to the audience.

The prayer

I like this one. I’ve started using it over just keeping the mic in one hand. I have full control of the mic and cord. I also like being able to trade which hand is holding, so I can gesture with either.

The up-and-under

This is a variation of a base hold. Imagine you cut a New Yorker off, and he turns around and shouts, “Hey I’m walkin’ here!” and then take that up-yours hand gesture he gives and put a mic in there. I see it quite a bit but didn’t get a great picture.

Some final thoughts:

There’s no one right way to hold a microphone. Different styles have different advantages and disadvantages. But, it is important to weigh those pros and cons and work in the way that fits you the most.

There are terrible ways to hold a microphone. Depending on what you have to work with, holding it too close or covering your mouth are no-nos.

Some comedians do multiple styles. I recommend playing with many, BUT if you’re a delicate snowflake like me, Go ahead and start off with The Prayer, so you can have as much security as you need from the offset.

Hope that was helpful. If so or if not leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on holding a mic for standup comedy. Be sure to subscribe and like all my stuff on YouTube and follow me on Instagram.

Also, after reviewing this post and reading all the headers, I realized that the SEO would also match a post about How to Give an Amazing BJ. I apologize to anyone coming here for that and hope you like my comedy anyway.

Starting standup comedy: Holding the microphone

Starting standup comedy: Edge Lords