Stand-Up Comedy: The Book

All the world loves a clown and whether you want to clown around at parties or make a living as a standup comic, comedian Judy Carter can show you how to 'do' comedy.

Customer Reviews:

Old Humour

By "jumpingjehosifats" - October 18, 2004

If you really want to buy this book then dont. Buy her latest book, The Comedy Bible. Its basically an updated version of this one. I ended up buying 2 books because they both have different titles. I wasnt impressed. Why not just update this one. No she has to update it and give it a new title. Not very funny at all.

Finally--a Writing How-To That Really Works!

By Kevin L. Nenstiel "omnivore" - August 9, 2002

This book must surely be one of the few writing how-to texts I've purchased that's really worth the money. Though too narrow in focus to work for prose writers, this text actually gets down into the nitty-gritty of creating material that is on-target, marketable, and interesting. Though incomplete in its examination of the potentials of comedy, it gives students a thorough grounding in the creation of humorous content for the stage.Carter shies away from telling you too much on how to do topical material, instead coaching the novice comic to focus on the one thing you know more about than anyone else--your own fool self. By simply starting with having you talk about what's on your mind, she presents you with an inexhaustable source of content. This is mother's milk comedy, of course, but if you want something punchy like Foxworthy's "Redneck" routine or Margaret Cho's ethnic commentary, that will come with experience.The stand-up comedy Carter coaches you on in this book has... read more

Excellent How To Book on Comedy and Speaking

By "ronlv" - January 15, 2002

A truly incredible book, Carter breaks down comedy performance into very tiny pieces so we ought to be able to produce outstanding material. It leaves me awestruck. With everybody near and far, high and low, saying you either have it or you don't... along comes Carter and says if you want to learn how to do it follow through with the work in this book. There are lots of projects, lists of things to do and exercises. Her blindingly insightful advise to not try to be funny is very helpful. Instead, you work on your experiences to turn them into entertaining commentary, routines or speeches. Eventually, you work you way though the process of getting laughs allowing yourself to be surprised by the positive reception. If there are no laughs you just move on having told them an interesting story. You keep working on your stories until the laughs come. It is a cross between a textbook with assignments and a highly motivational book. Carter breaks down into fine detail what makes people... read more

AVAILABILITY
Merchant	Format	Price
Amazon US	Paperback	$1.25 - $16.00
eBooks.com	Digital (PDF)	$11.99
BookByte	Paperback	$12.00
eCampus	Paperback	~~$12.29~~ discount!