Product Description

An engaging analysis of the art of stand-up comedy. Beginning with a brief history of the art form, Getting the Joke examines the key elements, such as stage persona, material and how it is generated, the art of performance, interaction with the audience, and development of stand-up skills.

Oliver Double was a professional comedian before lecturing on and teaching drama and comedy at the University of Kent.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #713006 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 196 pages

About the Author
Oliver Double's previous book, Stand-Up: On Being a Comedian, was published by Methuen in 1997. Double started his career as a professional comedian before lecturing on and teaching drama and comedy at the University of Kent.

Customer Reviews

Invaluable for Comedians
If you're getting into comedy and you like to read, this is in my top five of books you should get.

I wasn't sure about it because there were no reviews, and it was hard to find much info about the author except that he did stand-up and taught it in the U.K., so I took a risk. And it paid off.

What's unique about this book is that it gives a load of specific examples of comedian's acts or events that happened- it doesn't just make general points. And where a bunch of how-to comedy books take a formulaic approach, which helps but isn't enough, this one takes a more "here's what a bunch of comedians have done and what happened when they did it" approach. I thought it was awesome.

For a U.S. audience, there are some U.K. colloquialisms like 'punters' but they aren't a real hurdle. Also, I had never heard of Billy Connolly, who turns out to be one of the best comedians ever... I found some of his stuff on youtube and was LMAO, so this book also expanded the world of comedy for me- getting to see more examples of how people are funny helps you see what's possible.

Great book!

Getting the Joke: The inner workings of Stand-up Comedy
I enjoyed this book. It is well written and very readable. Double is a little more cerebral than the average comedian and certainly more academic. The topic is a little bit misleading. If you are interested in the history of stand-up this book is for you. If you like a panoply of insights and interviews on famous stand-ups you will probably enjoy this book. I am confident that Double has a lot to offer his students and has decent curriculum that will service a student through the comedy process. This book is not the curriculum that the title implies. It is more like a showcase from which conclusions and instruction are vague at best. The insights are not all useful but the research is comprehensive. I recommend the book but not as a tutorial.