Getting the Joke
eBook - PDF

Getting the Joke

The Inner Workings of Stand-Up Comedy

  1. 368 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Getting the Joke

The Inner Workings of Stand-Up Comedy

About this book

'This is the kind of book that troubles grey-suited committees of academic peers. It's too enjoyable. But that, given its subject, is just what it ought to be, and it treats that subject seriously... There isn't a "dull" page anywhere in the book.' – Professor Peter Thomson, Studies in Theatre and Performance Comedy is changing: stand-up comedians routinely sell out stadia, their audience-figures swollen by panel-show appearances and much-followed Twitter feeds. Meanwhile, the smaller clubs are filling up, with audiences as well as aspirants. How can we make sense of it all? This new edition of Getting the Joke gives an insider's look at the spectrum of modern comedy, re-examining the world of stand-up in the internet age. Drawing on his acclaimed first edition, Oliver Double focuses in greater detail on the US scene and its comedians (such as David Cross, Sarah Silverman, Louis CK, Demetri Martin and Margaret Cho); the 'DIY' comedy circuit and its celebrated apostles and visionaries, from Josie Long to Stewart Lee; the growing importance of the solo stand-up show; the role played by Twitter (including an interview with the organiser of the world's first comedy gig on Twitter), and the driving force that is the TV guest slot, be it on Mock the Week or Live at the Apollo. With expanded sections on joke construction, as well as ways to challenge the audience, and a host of new and updated exercises to guide the aspiring comedian, this new edition of Getting the Joke is the only book to combine the history of stand-up comedy with an analysis of the elements and methods that go into its creation. Featuring a range of interviews with working comedians – from circuit veterans to new kids on the block – combined with the author's vast experience, this is a must read for any aspiring stand-up comedian.

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Information

Publisher
Methuen Drama
Year
2013
Print ISBN
9781408174609
eBook ISBN
9781408177709
Edition
2
Topic
Media & Performing Arts
Subtopic
Television
CHAPTER 
THREE
Stand-up 
USA
Vaudeville
In 
America, 
the 
story 
of 
stand-up 
starts 
in 
vaudeville, 
a 
form 
of 
popular 
theatre 
which 
began 
in 
the 
late 
nineteenth 
century. 
Growing 
out 
of 
earlier 
forms 
of 
popular 
entertainment 
like 
dime 
museums 
and 
Yiddish 
theatre,
the 
first 
proper 
vaudeville 
venue 
was 
probably 
Tony 
Pastor’s 
New 
Fourteenth 
Street 
Theatre, 
which 
opened 
in 
New 
York 
in 
October 
1881. 
Pastor 
was 
the 
first 
to 
take 
this 
type 
of 
popular 
entertainment 
out 
of 
saloons 
and 
present 
it 
to 
a 
respectable 
audience. 
Over 
a 
decade 
later, 
in 
March 
1894, 
B. 
F. 
Keith 
opened 
his 
first 
theatre 
in 
Boston, 
and 
this 
was 
the 
first 
to 
actually 
use 
the 
word 
‘vaudeville’ 
to 
describe 
what 
it 
offered 
its 
customers.
The 
entertainment 
on 
offer 
took 
the 
form 
of 
a 
mixed 
bill 
of 
acts, 
which 
might 
include 
singers, 
dancers, 
speciality 
acts 
and 
comedy 
quartets. 
To 
give 
a 
specific 
example, 
if 
you 
were 
at 
the 
Palace 
Theatre 
in 
New 
York 
in 
the 
week 
beginning 
2 
May 
1921, 
you 
could 
have 
enjoyed 
the 
following 
acts:
1
Fink’s 
Mules, 
animal 
act
2
Miller 
and 
Capman, 
singers 
and 
dancers
3
Georgia 
Campbell 
and 
Co., 
in 
‘Gone 
Are 
the 
Days’
4
Toney 
and 
Norman, 
songs 
and 
talk
5
Dorothy 
Jardon, 
prima 
donna

Table of contents

  1. FC
  2. Half title
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Contents
  6. Acknowledgements
  7. Foreword
  8. 1 Born not made
  9. 2 What’s the definition of stand-up comedy?
  10. 3 Stand-up USA
  11. 4 Stand-up UK
  12. 5 What’s new in stand-up?
  13. 6 Stand-up on stage
  14. 7 The outer limits of stand-up
  15. 8 Affection
  16. 9 The personality spectrum
  17. 10 Onstage, offstage
  18. 11 Truth
  19. 12 Working the audience
  20. 13 Sharing
  21. 14 References
  22. 15 Insiders and outsiders
  23. 16 Licence
  24. 17 Politics
  25. 18 Recorded live
  26. 19 The present tense
  27. 20 Conversation
  28. 21 Improvisation
  29. 22 Timing
  30. 23 Delivery
  31. 24 Instant character
  32. 25 Magic
  33. 26 Material
  34. 27 Performance
  35. 28 Why bother?
  36. Appendix: Exercises for teaching stand-up comedy
  37. Glossary of comedians
  38. Bibliography