Stand-up comedy

Stand-up comedy is a comic style in which a comedian performs in front of a live audience, usually speaking directly to them. The performer is commonly known as a comic, stand-up comic, stand-up comedian, or simply a stand-up. In stand-up comedy, the comedian usually recites a grouping of humorous stories, jokes and one-liners typically called a monologue, routine, or act. Some stand-up comedians use props, music, or magic tricks to enhance their acts. Stand-up comedy is often performed in comedy clubs, bars, nightclubs, neo-burlesques, colleges, and theaters. Outside of live performance, stand-up is often distributed commercially via television, DVD, CD and the internet.

Overview

In stand-up comedy, the feedback of the audience is instant and crucial for the comedian's act. Audiences expect a stand-up comic to provide a steady stream of laughs, and a performer is always under pressure to deliver. Comedic actor Will Ferrell has called stand-up comedy "hard, lonely, and vicious".

Stand Up

Stand Up may refer to:

Organizations

Television and film

Music

Stand

Stand may refer to:

Objects

Music

Laugh Factory

Coordinates: 34°5′52.8″N 118°21′52.1″W / 34.098000°N 118.364472°W / 34.098000; -118.364472 The Laugh Factory is a comedy club with locations on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, Long Beach, California, Chicago, and inside the Tropicana Las Vegas. The chain is owned by Jamie Masada.

History

Masada arrived in America at age 14. He worked multiple jobs in Hollywood to support his family back home, while also performing on the comedy circuit to build his stand-up career. Despite the fact that he was living in a garage and barely spoke English, he combined Persian and Hebrew and soon was working with professional comedians like Richard Pryor, David Letterman, Jay Leno, and Redd Foxx. Masada's father told him, “Making people laugh is the greatest Mitzvah of all.” In 1979, after a dispute over club owners refusing to pay comedians, a then 16-year-old Masada decided to open a new venue for comedians to perform. After obtaining a loan of $10,000 from Neal Israel, he opened the Laugh Factory in a building formerly belonging to Groucho Marx.Richard Pryor was the first comedian to perform at the club.

Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah (born 20 February 1984) is a South African comedian, television and radio host, and actor. He is the host of American news satire television program The Daily Show, succeeding Jon Stewart.

Early life and family

Noah was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. His mother, Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah, is of mixed Xhosa and Jewish ancestry, and his father, Robert, is white and of Swiss German ethnicity. Noah spent his early youth in the private school of Maryvale College, a Catholic school in Johannesburg. His parents' relationship was illegal at the time of his birth because of apartheid. His mother was jailed and fined by the South African government, and his father later moved back to Switzerland. Noah was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, Nomalizo Frances Noah. During his childhood, he attended church every Sunday.

Noah has two younger half-brothers by his mother's husband, Ngisaveni Shingange, whom she later divorced. In 2009, after she became engaged to another man, Shingange shot her in the back and face; he was unable to continue shooting as the gun jammed. He later threatened to kill Trevor Noah, forcing him to leave Johannesburg for Los Angeles. In 2011, Shingange was convicted of attempted murder. Noah stated that he hoped the attention surrounding the incident would help the domestic abuse problem in South Africa: "For years my mother reached out to police for help with domestic abuse, and nothing was ever done. This is the norm in South Africa. Dockets went missing and cases never went to court." In 2012, Shingange was sentenced to three years of correctional supervision for the attempted murder.