Get Started in Stand-Up Comedy

by Logan Murray

Logan Murray has successfully taught the techniques of stand-up comedy to thousands, and in this book he distills his years of experience into the essential skills for a great and enjoyable performance. He will help you find your creative streak and your funny side, build the confidence to deliver, and explain the finer details of stagecraft, from dealing with hecklers to coping with props. There is a full guide to the practicalities, from finding gigs to securing an agent, with plenty of valuable hints, tips and advice. Drawing on Logan's years of teaching and his own successful stand-up career, with top tips from some of the most well-known people in the business, it is guaranteed to bring a smile to both your face and that of your future audience.

As well as full updates throughout the book, this new edition contains fresh material on how to set up and run a comedy night, mine any subject for jokes and advice on festivals.

Genres: Comedy

272 pages, Paperback

First published March 26, 2015

Reviews

[John Dolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A practical guide (happily without too much philosophy or Freud) which newbies to the comedic art should find very helpful. Does exactly what it says on the tin.

[Frederic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I have read on the craft of standup comedy. The author is British, so the book reflects that culture and is better written than most American books on the subject. Author Logan Murray teaches standup and is an experienced comedian.

He covers stagecraft, psychology, sources of humour and the business of comedy, but I most appreciated his many suggested exercises for generating material.

Some of these are group, improvisation games, which don't interest me, but he also offers writing exercises that are better and more extensive than I have seen elsewhere. I can't wait to get started.

The book is so useful that even his strident socialism failed to put me off. Highly recommended.

[César Vásquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creo que es un excelente libro que se puede leer como complemento del libro "The New comedy bible" de Judy Carter, ya que se enfoca un poco más en escribir y juegos para quitar los nervios y empezar a saber ser más gracioso. Un gran libro, sin duda volveré a él de vez en cuando a repasar aspectos interesantes, al igual que el de Judy Carter.

[sophie ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book not because I want to become a comedian, but because I'm a huge stand-up comedy fan and wanted to see if there was any theory I could read on the subject.

I found this book so interesting! It definitely gave me more of an insight as to what comedians think about and I feel more knowledgable about comedy than I did before started in a lot of ways - how jokes are formed, crowd control and modern comedy to name a few.

I've given 4 stars as I can't rate the (many!) writing exercises that are in this book, but I was inspired to become a comedian while reading this. The seed has been planted so who knows :)

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to read up on comedy but not in overwhelming detail.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great exercises, but slightly hamstrung by the listicle, bulletpoint-y format of this type of book.