All those people who entertain their audience by making them laugh are given the title of a comedian or comic. This might be delivered through jokes , creating amusing situations and by even acting silly just to create a funny scene and make the crowd laugh. A stand –up comedian is the one who approaches his/her spectators in a very direct manner that is when they have a live audience.
There is a very famous quote by Edd Wyn which says ‘’a comic says funny things; a comedian says things funny ‘’ which brings us into form of a difference among how much of the comedy can be attributed to verbal content and how much to acting and personality.
Along with it’s more experimental and offbeat style a new arena of comedy emerged during the time of 1890’s which is known as the alternative comedy . This normally involves more practical , or reporting done in an observational setting, e.g. Alexei Sayle, Daniel Tosh and Malcolm Hardee.
VARIOUS MEDIUMS THROUGH WHICH THE ENTERTAINMENT OF COMEDY IS DELIVERED :
STAND –UP COMEDY
The comedy which is done on a monologue basis that is by entertaining their audience through their comedy skills by performing live on a stage is called the stand- up comedy. During the 20th century the most famous comedian was Bob Hpe in a nearly 80-year career that involved enormous comedy film roles over a five-decade span in radio, television, and entertaining troops of armed services along with the USO. Other remarkable stand-up comedians involve Billy Connolly, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Victoria Wood, Joan Rivers, Whoopi Goldberg, Patton Oswalt and Jo Brand.
AUDIO RECORDINGS BY COMEDIANS
Cal Stewart is one of the stand –up comedian who had created some initial sound recordings which included his comic content and recorded collections of his humorous monologues on Edison Records in the initial era of 1898, and other tags until his demise in the year 1930.
FILM :- Charlie Chaplin in the film The Champion, 1915
Karno took Chaplin and Laurel for two trips to the United States to tour the vaudeville circuit. On the second one, they were enlisted by the nestling silent film industry. Charlie Chaplin became the most famous and super favourite on screen comedian during the initial half of the 20th century. Chaplin and Stan Laurel were protégés of Fred Karno, impresario of British music hall, which is known as the English Theatre and Laurel gave this proposition in his biography “Fred Karno didn’t teach Charlie [Chaplin] and me all we know about comedy. He just taught us most of it”. The famous films such as ‘’The Kid ‘’ and the ‘’Modern Times ‘’ were written by Charlie Chaplin . His films still have a major impact on comedy in films .
RADIO COMEDY
This was started when The Cuckoo Hour On NBC was inaugurated by the Raymond Knight during the 1930 in the United States along with the network debut of Stoopnagle and Budd on CBS in 1931. Majority of the comedians from the Hollywood industry who did not become dramatic actors (e.g. Bergen, Fields, Groucho and Chico Marx, Red Skelton, Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Judy Canova, Hope, Martin and Lewis), transformed themselves at the platform of radio at the United States in the 1930s and 1940s.
TELEVISION
On the television, there are talk shows in regards to comedy where the comedians the latest news and whatever is happening around the world currently is made fun of . To name a few of those comedians they are Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, Graham Norton, Jim Jefferies, James Corden, John Oliver, Jonathan Ross, David Letterman, and Chelsea Handler.
HERE ARE 10 TIPS FOR BEGINNER COMEDIANS
GET ON THE STAGE NOW
There is no significant amount of helpful guidelines or discussion that can take the place of experience, and that’s quite a lot that counts when it comes to the profession of a stand-up comedian. It’s a true “learn-by-doing” art form, and you won’t know what works (and what doesn’t) until you’ve gotten on stage in front of an audience.
COMEDIANS MUST NOT BE AFRAID TO BOMB
You’re not going to bring the house down every time you step on stage, typically in the beginning. That means, from time to time, you’re going to find out what it’s like to bomb. That’s ok; bombing can be very helpful. You’ll learn which parts of your act aren’t going in the right direction and possibly why.
KEEP UP WITH YOUR OLD STUFF
Even if you’re functioning up on a new material, don’t forget to keep your old stuff fresh. Maybe you’ve got a great setup, but there’s a punchline or tag that will make a joke work even better. There’s always a scope for improvement; go back every once in a while and pile up older jokes with new tags or punchlines.
DON’T STEAL
Don’t steal. Just don’t. Don’t even borrow .” It never creates a cool look and it will end your career as a stand-up very instantly.
STICK TO YOUR TIME
Always get that assurance to be within the time slot given to you by a promoter, club manager or open mic organizer. It gives an unprofessional look to go longer than your allotted time; remember, there are other comedians who are after you, and they should get every minute they’ve been promised. Conversely, it’s also unprofessional to do less time on stage than what you’re expected to deliver.
COMEDIANS MUST RECORD/TAPE THEMSELVES
A videotape will give you the chance to research about and reflect on your performance so you can make changes for the future. Just remember not to exaggerate over it too much; if you over-evaluate, you may lose so of the brightness and that lightheartedness in your act.
HIT THE CLUBS
you should atleast try to go to and discover about the various strategies and skills as many comedy clubs as you can even if you are not yourself ready to perform at various comedy clubs , as you can enhance your skill in a new way with every other comedian also.
COMEDIANS MUST CONNECT NICELY WITH THE AUDIENCE
Just because you’ve seen in other comics insult their audience doesn’t mean you should—at least, not yet. And it may be tempting, particularly if you’re feeling strapped for material or if someone is disrupting you. Of course, you should respond in that instance, but watch how far you take it. It is very important to create a good and pleasurable rapport with your audience so that you are well appreciated in creating a sense of liking among your viewers .
CARRYING A NOTEBOOK IS A MUST FOR COMEDIANS
You really never know when , where or how you might get influenced by a comic inspiration might strike you, and it might be little bit of embarrassment to lose the moment because you have no way of writing your thoughts down. Always be ready to jot down notes or take ideas; before you know it, you’ll have the rough beginnings of an act.
BE YOURSELF
There are an enormous number of comedy sites that offer some basic guidelines about how you should imitate other comics, write in the style of entranged comedians or develop a personality of your own self. Don’t bother about any of that at all. Nobody is really interested to see a copy- paste picturisation. Be true to yourself.
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