FIVE-MINUTE STAND-UP SET — WORKED PLANNING EXAMPLE
crushedwithit · https://www.crushedwithit.com/templates/five-minute-comedy-set

Fictional practice material. This is an outline, not five minutes of finished dialogue.
Set title: My calendar has a career
Audience / room: A short open-mic set; explain office jargon if the room needs it.
Point of view: Our office treats free time like a software bug.

0:00–0:40 OPENER
Setup: My manager noticed a free hour in my calendar.
Turn: He booked a meeting to find out what went wrong.
Optional tag: Now the free hour has a project owner.
Keep the version that sounds natural aloud; do not explain the turn afterwards.

0:40–2:00 BIT ONE
Moment: A meeting to reduce meetings creates three follow-up meetings.
Attitude: Impressed by how efficiently we manufacture inefficiency.
Develop: What each follow-up is supposed to fix; one specific detail from your own work.
Transition: It is not just the calendar. Even taking a break needs a plan.

2:00–3:30 BIT TWO
Escalation: Trying to protect lunch from the calendar.
Develop: What I actually say versus what I wish I could say.
Possible direction: Lunch becomes the only appointment I am willing to be early for.
Write and test a real turn here; this planning prompt is not a finished punchline.

3:30–4:30 CLOSER
Return to the free hour / project-owner idea after the second story.
Possible final image: My sandwich now reports to the project owner.
Choose a clear final phrase. Stop there.

4:30–5:00 BREATHING ROOM
Pauses, transitions and audience response. Do not fill every second with words.

REHEARSAL
Time the actual spoken draft. Expand or cut based on the reading, not these slot lengths.
Mark the least necessary tag as the first cut if running long.

AFTER THE ROOM
Record what happened. Change one important choice at a time.