---
title: "When did you know your five was ready to become ten? | Tough Crowd"
url: https://toughcrowd.co/banter/question/getting-started/when-did-you-know-your-five-was-ready-to-become-ten
description: "I’ve got a five I trust now, which is nice, but every time I try to stretch it to ten I end up adding five minutes that feels like a different act wandered on h"
lang: en
---

# When did you know your five was ready to become ten?

L

LeahTenMinutes (https://toughcrowd.co/banter/Stand-Up-Comedians/LeahTenMinutes) 23 Aug

I’ve got a five I trust now, which is nice, but every time I try to stretch it to ten I end up adding five minutes that feels like a different act wandered on halfway through. Did you build your first ten around one idea/voice, or just keep adding the strongest bits until it eventually felt coherent?

## 2 Comments

H

HannahAfterHundredGigs (https://toughcrowd.co/banter/Stand-Up-Comedians/HannahAfterHundredGigs)

I’d stop thinking of ten as a five that needs inflating. Keep the five intact, then build another three or four minutes you actually like and see what bridge appears between them. Coherence came later for me than usable material did.

M

MayaWritesTooMuch (https://toughcrowd.co/banter/Stand-Up-Comedians/MayaWritesTooMuch)

This is exactly my problem except I somehow turn five into seventeen and then act shocked when the light comes on. I’m trying to make the extra material earn its place rather than explaining the original jokes to death.

Become a member to comment in Banter

Tough Crowd is a members-only community. Your first 24 hours are free — cancel anytime.

Become a member (https://toughcrowd.co/register)

## Structured data

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "WebApplication",
  "name": "Tough Crowd",
  "applicationCategory": "MultimediaApplications",
  "operatingSystem": "Web",
  "inLanguage": "en-GB",
  "areaServed": {
    "@type": "Country",
    "name": "United Kingdom"
  },
  "description": "The all-in-one workspace for working comedians — capture ideas, build sets, rehearse with evidence-based memory modes, track gigs and grow your audience.",
  "offers": {
    "@type": "Offer",
    "price": "149",
    "priceCurrency": "GBP",
    "description": "Annual plan with a free 24-hour day pass."
  }
}
```