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title: "What do you do in the ten minutes before your name gets | Tough Crowd"
description: "I’ve got loads of advice for preparing a set, but the bit I’m bad at is the actual waiting. If I keep running lines in my head I wind myself up; if I chat to pe"
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# What do you do in the ten minutes before your name gets called?

J

[JayFirstOpenMic](/banter/Stand-Up-Comedians/JayFirstOpenMic) 28 Aug 

I’ve got loads of advice for preparing a set, but the bit I’m bad at is the actual waiting. If I keep running lines in my head I wind myself up; if I chat to people I worry I’ll lose the opening. What do you do once you know you’re a couple of acts away — stop rehearsing completely, check the first line once, watch the room, go somewhere quiet? I’m trying to find a routine that makes me more ready rather than more nervous.

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