---
title: "Set Builder — arrange, time & version your stand-up set — Tough Crowd"
url: https://toughcrowd.co/features/set-builder
description: "Drag and drop jokes onto a visual timeline, hit your 5-minute target, colour-code setup vs punchline, and spin off named versions for any stage."
lang: en
---

Set Builder

# Build your set by dragging and dropping

## The problem

A 20-minute set is not one joke — it is forty-plus connections in an order that builds, breathes and lands. Working out that order in a spreadsheet or on paper is slow and rigid. You cannot feel the flow, you cannot tell how long it runs, and starting a clean version means starting from scratch.

## On your phone

Drag pieces onto a timeline, group them into sections, and watch your set length update live against your 5-minute target. Reorder anything with drag and drop — feel the flow before you hit the stage.

9:41

London Open Mic Debut

5 min

Set length 4:32 / 5:00

Section 1 — Opener

So I finally tried stand-up.

8s

My therapist said it would help.

8s

Section 2 — Dating Apps

Hinge for three months.

12s

My nan found a husband in a war.

12s

She didn't have a profile picture.

12s

## The solution

All your uploaded or recorded bits **intelligently categorised** — so you can build sets with proper themes.

Drag pieces onto a visual **timeline** and feel the flow of the set before you perform it.

**Make sure you get to 5 minutes** — and that you do not go over.

Group bits into ordered **sections** so the build and rhythm are visible.

Intelligent **colour coding** — see which bit is the setup, which is the punchline and which is the all-important personal observation, and how long you spend on each part.

**Build versions and measure which one people prefer** — Open Mic, Club, Clean, Edinburgh — without losing your original.

## Common questions

## Try it with a free day pass

Full access for 24 hours. Cancel anytime in one click — if you don't cancel within 24 hours, you'll be charged for the annual plan.

Start your free day pass: https://toughcrowd.co/register

See what's included: https://toughcrowd.co/pricing

## 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."
    }
  },
  {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@type": "FAQPage",
    "mainEntity": [
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "I have so many jokes but I do not know how to organise them into a 5-minute set",
        "acceptedAnswer": {
          "@type": "Answer",
          "text": "This is one of the most common problems — you have the material but no idea how many bits fill five minutes, what order they go in, or whether you are running long. Set Builder is built for exactly this. You drag your connections onto a visual timeline, group them into sections, and reorder anything with drag and drop. As you build, a live timer estimates your set length against a 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 or 60-minute target, so you always know if you are over or under. You can feel the flow of the set before you ever get on stage, and you can see at a glance whether you have actually got five minutes or four."
        }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "How do I know how long my comedy set will run before I perform it?",
        "acceptedAnswer": {
          "@type": "Answer",
          "text": "Guessing is how you get the light at three minutes when you planned seven. In Set Builder, every connection has an estimated performance length, and the routine length updates live as you add, remove or reorder pieces, with a clear progress bar against your chosen target. So you know your set running time to the minute while you are still building it — no stopwatch, no guesswork, no surprises on stage."
        }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "How do I structure a stand-up set — what order should my jokes go in?",
        "acceptedAnswer": {
          "@type": "Answer",
          "text": "A set is not a list of jokes, it is a build — openers, setups, punchlines, tags, callbacks, transitions, a strong close. Set Builder lets you arrange all of that visually: drag pieces into ordered sections so you can see the shape of the set, move a stronger bit up, group related material, and reorder until the flow feels right. Because you are working visually on a timeline rather than in a text list, you can actually feel the rhythm and build of the set."
        }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "Can I keep different versions of my set for different gigs?",
        "acceptedAnswer": {
          "@type": "Answer",
          "text": "Yes — and it is one of the most useful parts. Duplicate any routine and name the version (Open Mic, Club, Clean, Edinburgh, Late Show) and experiment freely; your original stays completely untouched. So you can build a clean five for one room, a late version for another, and an hour for Edinburgh — all from the same material, without ever losing or overwriting the original."
        }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "I keep overwriting my set when I try different versions for different gigs",
        "acceptedAnswer": {
          "@type": "Answer",
          "text": "That is the problem versioning solves. Instead of editing the same set and hoping you can remember the original order, Set Builder lets you duplicate a routine into a named version and change it freely. The original is preserved exactly, so you can build a clean cut, a club cut and an Edinburgh hour from the same material and switch between them without losing anything."
        }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "How do I organise my jokes into themes for a set?",
        "acceptedAnswer": {
          "@type": "Answer",
          "text": "You do not have to — it is done for you. Every bit you capture or upload is automatically tagged with the people, places, themes and topics it mentions, so your material organises itself into themes. In Set Builder you can pull together all the bits that share a theme into a section and build a set that actually has a thread running through it, rather than a random string of jokes."
        }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "How do I understand the structure of my own jokes?",
        "acceptedAnswer": {
          "@type": "Answer",
          "text": "Intelligent colour coding marks each part of a bit — the setup, the punchline and the personal observation — so you can see the bones of a joke at a glance. You can see how long you spend on each part, spot when you are heavy on setup and light on punchline, and rebalance the joke before you perform it. It turns a wall of text into a map of your own writing."
        }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "How do I know which version of my set is the best one?",
        "acceptedAnswer": {
          "@type": "Answer",
          "text": "Build versions, then let the rooms decide. Duplicate a routine into named versions — Open Mic, Club, Clean, Edinburgh — and perform them. Each post-gig review rates every piece in that version, and your Audience insights correlate which versions land best with which crowds. Over time you can see plainly which version people prefer, instead of guessing."
        }
      }
    ]
  }
]
```