Shadowing Practice: Stand Up Comedy Only Introverts Will Understand. Paul Snyder - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Now, if you don't mind, also give me a round of applause, because I am a huge introvert,
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and I left the house for this today, so...
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I did my wordle, and then I came on in, so...
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Yes, the introverts, they are my people.
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Sometimes I'll even ask by round of applause, you know, where the other introverts are in the room, and...
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That got it.
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Nailed it.
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Just a one solitary clap.
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That was it.
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And they are probably heading home right now.
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Just, that was, I was like, I overdid it.
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That was exhausting.
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I shouldn't have done that.
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I know, I know, my people aren't going to applaud.
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I know this.
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They might give me like half a head nod, and then we're going to look right back at our shoes where it's safe.
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That is what my people do.
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But I feel like as an introvert and a comic,
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I have just the pleasure of sharing with the extroverts what the introverts have been talking about, you know?
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Talking is kind of a strong word, I think.
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But I mean, we have a group text, all right?
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That's what we have but here's here's just something that we
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that i i feel like i'd like to share with you guys
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that most introverts uh can agree with and that is that uh we miss covid you guys we
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that was the golden age of being that was our normandy you guys that we
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We stormed that beach, and then we went home for three years.
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And we would do it again.
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Absolutely.
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We would.
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Now, one thing, as an introvert, I will tell you this.
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I try to treat everybody the way I want to be treated.
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You know, it's kind of, it's the golden rule.
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That wasn't the punchline yet, but we'll get to it.
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It doesn't even matter to me
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if you are the CEO of a fortune 500 company
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or just a homeless person on the side of the road
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you know I am NOT gonna talk to either of you
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probably should have led with that actually I really tried to spin
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that into a noble cause but
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that didn't work I think as an introvert I'm pretty comfortable with most things about it
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but there's one thing I do not like and that is confrontation.
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I avoid confrontation at all costs.
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You know, if there is somebody mad at me or who does not like me at work,
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I would rather go find a new job than ever have a conversation about it.
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I would.
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I'll be at the next job interview, and they'll ask me why I left that last job.
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And I'll just be like,
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well, I accidentally reheated salmon in the microwave and there were some people
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that did not like that I'll tell you that
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and I am just here for a fresh start here's how much
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I know I don't like confrontation I was dating a girl in college
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and I didn't think things were going well I thought it would be best
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if we just went our own separate ways and saw other people
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and i i sat her down and i told her that
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and she looked back at me and said nah i don't think so
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i'm gonna be honest i did not know that was an option
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that had never been an option when the roles were reversed
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but because i don't like confrontation i just went along with it and earlier this year we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary
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i don't know why you're applauding that is a cry for help
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I have been in a hostage situation that I cannot get out of.
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I could not be blinking any faster.
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I need help.
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No, it's fine.
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I think there's probably plenty of times in the last 25 years where she's thought to herself,
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I probably should have let him break up with me.
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That is on me, you know?
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We've made it.
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We have made it so far.
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I know a lot of comics, they'll get up and talk about all the wonderful things they have done in life, and I cannot do that.
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I have lived a boring life.
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I do not have a lot of accomplishments to talk about.
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I have still never seen an episode of Game of Thrones.
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Largely because I don't want to get caught using somebody's HBO Max password.
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I don't need that kind of pressure in my life right now.
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I don't.
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I don't.
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I went to private school, so I learned entitlement at a really young age.
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I did that.
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I think maybe one of the edgiest things I've ever done.
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I have finished every round of antibiotic I've ever been prescribed.
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That is as exciting as my life gets.
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my my high schooler and i though we're the same size
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so we can share clothes which i think is really awesome
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because it saves us money it is just a lot more embarrassing for her but
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but we can do it we can uh something else about me
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i i just want you guys to feel safe i have never been arrested um
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and i don't i don't even i don't say
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that to brag i know my own limitations you know
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i do i i think about consequences all the time
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i am not prison material you guys i i i know
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this although i i've had friends say no you you you are prison material
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and i don't know why they have to say that with such a big smile on their face
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I don't like their tone, actually.
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I think I should have better friends than that, you know?
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But I haven't, I have never been arrested.
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Although in sixth grade, some friends dared me to steal a candy bar with them from a gas station.
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And I went along with it.
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And I came running out of that gas station clutching a package of Werther's Originals.
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i am not smart enough to do crime you guys my my friends came out with reese's peanut butter cup
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and m &ms and i went for the go -to candy of the 80
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and over crowd i don't know what my end game was i don't i don't know
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if i was thinking of my meemaw i have no idea
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I'm not smart enough for crime but I have always been fascinated by crime
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and I think it's because when I was young my parents introduced me to a little show called Murder She Wrote.
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Now I don't know how many have seen
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Murder She Wrote in here but for just those of you who haven't here's a quick synopsis.
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It was a mystery of the week show.
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It all took place in a sleepy little town called Cabot Cove, Maine.
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And sleepy is really the only adjective you can use to describe a town with that much murder going on.
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Like, they were just not paying attention at all.
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Like, I looked it up.
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Cabot Cove had a population of 3 ,500 people.
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And approximately one person a week was murdered.
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that show went on for 12 seasons so 264 out of 3 ,500 people were murdered in Cabot Cove,
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Maine and I don't know why we don't talk about this more Cabot Cove,
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Maine is the most dangerous city in all of America
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and and the kicker of it is the police department did not solve a single one of those crimes
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not a they went 0 for 264 a 70 year old retired author was the only one keeping
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that town together she was the only one the only one
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so that i think started my fascination with crime and then
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and then during COVID I started watching a lot of crime documentaries on Netflix
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and I don't know how many other people went down
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that rabbit hole but I went in a little too hard too fast okay
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and I messed up my whole Netflix algorithm you know
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it it got to the point I started getting targeted ads on my phone from Lowe's and Home Depot.
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Just asking if I need rope or duct tape, you know?
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And they would bring that to my house.
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I didn't even have to leave.
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Google Maps, just from Salt Lake City here to Provo's, Google Maps showed me five different places where I could dispose of a body.
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You know?
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And I put a pin in those.
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I don't know.
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I don't know what's gonna happen here tonight.
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I just...
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This could go downhill at any moment.
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I don't know.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Stand Up Comedy Only Introverts Will Understand. Paul Snyder”. This video has 137 sentences and 1443 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:37. The speaker talks at a steady 136 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| confrontation noun | /ˌkɑn.fɹənˈteɪ.ʃən/ | The act of confronting or challenging another, especially face to face. |
| comic noun | /ˈkɑmɪk/ | A comedian. |
| candy noun | /ˈkæn.di/ | Crystallized sugar formed by boiling down sugar syrup. |
| applause noun | /əˈplɔːz/ | The act of applauding; approbation and praise publicly expressed by the clapping of hands, stamping or tapping of the feet, acclamation, huzzas, or other… |
| sleepy adjective | /ˈsliːpi/ | Tired; feeling the need for sleep. |
| tone noun | /ˈtəʊn/ | A specific pitch. |
| package noun | /ˈpæk.ɪd͡ʒ/ | Something which is packed, a parcel, a box, an envelope. |
| mystery noun | /ˈmɪs.t(ə.)ɹi/ | Something secret or unexplainable; an unknown. |
| tape noun | /teɪ̯p/ | Flexible material in a roll with a sticky surface on one or both sides; adhesive tape. |
| solve verb | /sɒlv/ | To find an answer or solution to a problem or question; to work out. |
| steal verb | /stiːl/ | To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else without intending to return it. |
| butter noun | /ˈbʌtɚ/ | A soft, fatty foodstuff made by churning the cream of milk (generally cow's milk). |
| sixth adjective | /sɪksθ/ | The ordinal form of the number six. |
| spin verb | /spɪn/ | To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction. |
| introduce verb | /ˌɪntɹəˈdus/ | To cause (someone) to be acquainted (with someone else). |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| go along with verb | To acquiesce to or comply with a proposal, despite lacking a desire or value for it. |
| come on in verb | Synonym of come in (“to enter”). |
| come out with verb | To say (something) unexpectedly. |
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. |
| get up verb | To move in an upward direction; to ascend or climb. |
| go down verb | To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one. |
| mess up verb | To make a mess of; to untidy, disorder, soil, or muss. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I shouldn't have done that.
- You know, it's kind of, it's the golden rule.
- I don't like their tone, actually.
- I didn't even have to leave.
- I don't know what's gonna happen here tonight.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have been · We've made · have made |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be treated · were reversed · been prescribed |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 54 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'll, didn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: sixth /sɪksθ/, cloth /klɒθ/, algorithm /ˈælɡəɹɪðm̩/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: confrontation /ˌkɑn.fɹənˈteɪ.ʃən/, shoe /ˈʃu/, limitation /lɪmɪˈteɪʃən/, accomplishment /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ.mənt/, fascination /fæsɪˈneɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: confrontation /ˌkɑn.fɹənˈteɪ.ʃən/, documentary /ˌdɒk.jʊˈmɛn.tɹi/, accidentally /ˌæk.sɪˈdɛnt(ə)li/, solitary /ˈsɑlɪˌtɛɹi/, limitation /lɪmɪˈteɪʃən/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like confrontation, comic, candy.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.