Drafts To Laughs

My stand-up journal

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Credits

created, written, hosted, filmed and edited by

Dylan J. Kershaw

The project

what is it?

Drafts To Laughs is my stand-up journal. I film the gigs, the prep and the things I notice along the way, mostly so I actually remember them.

They're not tutorials. Some videos follow a gig from the promoter's email to watching the tape back. Some are a thought I can't shake, like whether the seating is costing you laughs. Some are me pausing a clip of a comedian I love to work out what they just did.

It's my take at the time, not a rulebook, so it's open for argument in the comments. On camera it's just me, keyed into a world of drafting paper, where the notes and the diagrams draw themselves around me as I talk.

The Drafts To Laughs mark: a pen nib that turns into a microphone — The mark: a pen nib that turns into a microphone.

The format

how a video works

01
it happens
A gig, a competition, a room that felt off, or a clip of someone doing it better than me.
02
i notice it
I watch it back and say out loud what I spotted: what worked, what didn't, and the habits I didn't know I had.
03
over to you
It's my take, not a lesson. Half of it is speculation, so the comments are where it gets argued out.

Notes, not lessons.

Watch

the latest

22 Oct 2026

Your Jokes Aren’t the Problem... The Gig Is!

Most open mics seat the audience cabaret-style: tables scattered round the room, half the room facing each other instead of the stage. Here's why that costs you laughs, why theatre-style rows work so well at pro gigs, and the seating structure I think beats both: the Bear Pit (named with my mate and fellow comic Chris Norton Walker). Have you ever played a Bear Pit room? Tell me in the comments.

In this one

Earlier entries

18 Oct 2026

So, I did a comedy competition...

I don't really do comedy competitions, but this one had a pro slot at Thatcham Comedy Club up for grabs, so I filmed the whole thing, from writing the set to doing it on stage.

Shorts