The Language of Humour

Unit eight

Stand-up comedy

 

 

In the 1990s stand-up has been called the ‘rock and roll’ of comedy. The comedians tend to be young, often male; they use the same venues as bands and attract similar audiences. Unit 7 also dealt with spoken humour, but there are significant differences between broadcast humour and stand-up comedy. Although there are examples of television and radio humour that are spontaneous and ad-libbed, the material is generally pre-recorded. This gives a form of protection, not only for the broadcasting company – mistakes, gaffes, offensive material can be edited out – but for the writers and performers. The material is carefully scripted and edited; the performance is rehearsed and may involve a cast of actors; it can be ...