Blog: Stand-up Comedy

Dear All,

Go forth and select your own favorite (relatively short) stand-up routine, sketch, or commercial.  Feel free to include a link to the sketch!  Choose another clip form Katt Williams, George Carlin, Eddie Izzard, Dane Cook, Bill Cosby, Maragret Cho, or other favorites (people who are interesting that come to mind are Sarah Silverman, Robin Williams, Bob Sagot, Gallagher -- he's the watermelon guy -- Jerry Seinfield, Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Ellen DeGeneres).  Answer one of the questions below:

1.  Discuss one aspect or detail of your stand-up comedian's performance and how it makes him or her comic.  How does it engage the audience?  What makes it unique as a method for causing laughter?

2.  Compare two stand-up comedians' uses of a comic technique.  How does it set them apart, how does it reflect their talents or approaches to comedy?  For example, both Eddie Izzard and Bill Cosby rely on facial gestures to mark moments of absurdity or comic frustration in their sketches.  But Eddie's facial gestures are funny in part because he is wearing SO much make-up.  What could you say about their faces?