The role of Deliberate Practice in the creation of a high-performance comedian

Consider how Chris Rock prepared for a high-profile, high-stakes performance he was to give on New Year's Eve before an audience of 20,000 at Madison Square Garden, New York.

For many months he had been piecing together his act in clubs in New Jersey, New York, Florida and Las Vegas. Comedy bit, by comedy bit, he built 2 hours of comedy material one minute at a time, culling the belly laughs from the bombs...

In one club in New Jersey, for example, he did 18 warm-up shows, just to prepare for the tour. He worked his material, over and over, cutting and trimming, until by the last show you could not believe what he had put together. He still has that hunger to be great, no matter what his name.

Here we see all the elements of Deliberate Practice. Rock designed all those small club appearances for the sole purposes of making himself better; because he already performs at a very high level he's fully qualified to design his own practice. The high repetition in the process is particularly striking - appearance after appearance, working the material over and over. Using the immediate, continuous, and brutally honest feedback from the reaction of the audience. If he's not the funniest man alive, then the other guy is doing a good job of hiding. (via geoff colvin, talent is overrated)