Today we are going to weed and feed our act, business and relationships.

Spring is a time of fresh rain, budding flowers and horrific, crippling allergies. Ahh, soak it in. Don’t look now but I see some weeds popping up. Daggone it! My beautiful yard is all covered with chickweed, ribwort and quack grass.

As I walked around the year this year I thought, enough is enough. Time to weed and feed. In the past I tolerated the weeds because green is green and honestly, they dominated a good portion of the lawn. But, they kept spreading and now there is more weed than grass. And, uhm, this ain’t COLORADO.

Within a week of application I saw the weeds starting to turn yellow. By the second week (after a little rain and ninety degree temperatures) the fertilizer kicked in and boosted the grass noticeably. The weeds we now dead and brown.

As I wandered around the yard it occurred to me that this would be a great metaphor for shoring up my act. Clean out the junk and let the good stuff grow deep. The lawn product directions said to “apply to lawn while wet”. I advise you think about your act soon after a performance. When you do, here are some things to consider:

WEED AND FEED – TIPS FOR A STRONGER ACT SHOW NOTES

Take a long look at your opening and closing bits
Search out any wordy or unnecessarily long stories
Be objective and pull any “hacky” or “entry level” jokes
Ask yourself, would I write this joke today? If not, you may not need it
Spend more time on bits that are working and see if you can “deepen the roots”
If you have trouble, do this exercise with another comedian
Now apply this “weeding” to your business approach
Use the PARETO PRINCIPLE to direct your focus
Shine the sun on what’s delivering the biggest payoff
Rid your business of time consuming / low return practices
When in a rut, help someone else
Weed and feed your relationships
End toxic relationships and focus on solid mutually beneficial friends

Episode Sponsors …

We are sponsored today by the Clean Comedy Challenge (www.CleanComedyChallenge.com) and Patreon supporter SEAN SELLERS. Visit PATREON to learn how you can support the podcast through a small, recurring monthly donation.

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