In yoga there's a great phrase, "stay on your own mat". In other words, don't worry if the person next to you is doing some pretzel-twist inversion, just focus on what you're doing.

It's really hard in comedy because it's so tempting to emulate the comedian who went on stage before you and got big laughs from the audience or the writer with the major publishing deal and media appearances. But the truth is that you really can't win playing their game. The only chance you have of winning is by playing your own game.

So the question is: what is your game?

Do you specialize in physical comedy? Enacting scenes? Miniatures? Observations? Stories? Rants? Spontaneous interaction? Think about it and see if you can analyze your own work for its strengths (I'm sure there are weaknesses too but for now let's focus on the strengths) - or come to our workshop and let us tell you what we see.

We've seen this happen onstage countless times, especially with beginning performers. One comedian excels in telling stories, and even has a particular story to tell, but the comic onstage before them is getting big laughs telling jokes so they try to follow suit with disastrous results. Likewise writers who have a great talent but get lured away from their own instincts by the most recent successful book they read.

Malcolm Gladwell's article about underdogs prevailing in the New Yorker this week makes this point using some great examples from girls basketball, Lawrence of Arabia, and David - of David vs. Goliath. Like many New Yorker articles, this one goes on and on at some length, so don't beat yourself if you don't read the whole thing (or any of it). After all, you aren't playing the New Yorker's game, you're playing yours.

And remember, comedy is an underdog's game!