Stand-up comedy

United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has a long heritage of stand-up comedy, which began in the music
halls of the 18th and 19th centuries. Notable performers who rose through the 20th-century
music hall circuit were Morecambe and Wise, Arthur Askey, Ken Dodd, and Max Miller, who
was considered to be the quintessential music-hall comedian. The heavy censorship regime
of the Lord Chamberlain's Office required all comedians to submit their acts for censorship.
The act would be returned with unacceptable sections underlined in blue pencil (possibly
giving rise to the term "blue" for a comedian whose act is considered bawdy or smutty). The
comedian was then obliged not to deviate from the act in its edited form.
At the end of World War II, many members of the Armed Forces had developed a taste for
comedy (stand-up or otherwise) in wartime concert parties and moved into professional
entertainment. Eric Sykes, Peter Sellers and the other Goons, and Tommy Cooper all began
their careers this way. The rise of the postwar comedians coincided with the rise of television
and radio, and the traditional music hall circuit suffered greatly as a result. Whereas a music
hall performer could work for years using just one act, television exposure created a constant
demand for new material, although this may have also been responsible for the cessation of
theatrical censorship in 1968.
By the 1970s, music hall entertainment was virtually dead. Alternative circuits had evolved,
such as working men's clubs.[2] Some of the more successful comedians on the working
men's club circuit - including Bernard Manning, Bobby Thompson, Frank Carson and Stan
Boardman - eventually made their way to television via such shows as The Wheeltappers
and Shunters Social Club. The "alternative" comedy scene also began to evolve. Some of
the earliest successes came from folk clubs, where performers such as Billy Connolly, Mike
Harding, and Jasper Carrott started as relatively straight musical acts whose between-song
banter developed into complete comedy routines. The 1960s had also seen the satire boom,
including the creation of the club, The Establishment, which, amongst other things, gave
British audiences their first taste of extreme American stand-up comedy from Lenny Bruce.
[3]

Victoria Wood launched her stand-up career in the early 1980s, which included

observational conversation mixed with comedy songs. Wood was to become one of the
country's most successful comedians, in 2001 selling out the Royal Albert Hall for 15 nights
in a row.
In 1979, the first American-style stand-up comedy club, the Comedy Store, London was
opened in London by Peter Rosengard, where many alternative comedy stars of the 1980s,
such as Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, Alexei Sayle, Craig Ferguson, Rik Mayall,
and Ade Edmondson began their careers.[4] The stand-up comedy circuit rapidly expanded

from London across the UK. The present British stand-up comedy circuit arose from the
'alternative' comedy revolution of the 1980s, with political and observational humour being
the prominent styles to flourish. In 1983, young drama teacher Maria Kempinska
created Jongleurs Comedy Clubs, now the largest stand-up comedy chain in Europe. Stand
up comedy is believed to have been performed originally as a one-man show. Lately, this
type of show started to involve a group of young comedians, especially in Europe.

United States
North American stand-up comedy has its roots in various traditions of popular entertainment
of the late 19th century, including vaudeville, English music
hall, minstrel shows, humorist monologues by personalities such as Mark Twain, and circus
clown antics. Comedians of this era often donned an ethnic personaAfrican, Scottish,
German, Jewishand built a routine based on popular stereotypes. Jokes were generally
broad and material was widely shared, or in some cases, stolen.
The founders of modern American stand-up comedy include Moms Mabley, Jack Benny, Bob
Hope, George Burns,Fred Allen, Milton Berle, and Frank Fay all of whom came from
vaudeville or the Chitlin' Circuit.[5] They spoke directly to the audience as themselves, in front
of the curtain, known as performing "in one". Frank Fay gained acclaim as a "master of
ceremonies" at New York's Palace Theater, and is credited with creating the style of 20thcentury stand-up.
Nightclubs and resorts became the new breeding ground for stand-ups. Acts such as Alan
King, Danny Thomas,Martin and Lewis, Don Rickles, Joan Rivers, and Jack E.
Leonard flourished in these new arenas.
In the 1950s and into the 1960s, stand-ups such as Mort Sahl began developing their acts in
small folk clubs like San Francisco's hungry (origin of the ubiquitous "brick wall" behind
comedians) or New York's Bitter End. These comedians added an element of social satire
and expanded both the language and boundaries of stand-up, venturing into politics, race
relations, and sexual humor. Lenny Bruce became known as 'the' obscene comic when he
used language that usually led to his arrest.[6] After Lenny Bruce, arrests for obscene
language on stage nearly disappeared until George Carlin was arrested on 21 July 1972
at Milwaukee's Summerfest after performing the routine "Seven Words You Can Never Say
on Television"[7] (the case against Carlin was eventually dismissed).
Other notable comics from this era include Woody Allen, Shelley Berman, Phyllis Diller,
and Bob Newhart. Some Black American comedians such as Redd Foxx, George Kirby, Bill
Cosby, and Dick Gregory began to cross over to white audiences during this time.

In the 1970s, several entertainers became major stars based on stand-up comedy
performances. Richard Pryorand George Carlin followed Lenny Bruce's acerbic style to
become icons. Stand-up expanded from clubs, resorts, and coffee houses into major
concerts in sports arenas and amphitheaters. Steve Martin and Bill Cosby had levels of
success with gentler comic routines. The older style of stand-up comedy (no social satire)
was kept alive byRodney Dangerfield and Buddy Hackett, who enjoyed revived careers late
in life. Television programs such as Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show helped
publicize the careers of other stand-up comedians, including Janeane Garofalo, Bill
Maher and Jay Leno.
From the 1970s to the 90s, different styles of comedy began to emerge, from the madcap
stylings of Robin Williams, to the odd observations of Jerry Seinfeld and Ellen DeGeneres,
the ironic musings of Steven Wright, to the mimicry of Whoopi Goldberg, and Eddie Murphy.
These comedians would serve to influence the next generation of comedians,
including Kevin Hart, Chris Rock, Doug Benson, Bill Hicks, Margaret Cho, Bill Burr, David
Cross, Louis C.K., Mitch Hedberg, Jim Norton, Dave Foley, Todd Glass, Kathy
Griffin, Sammy Obeid, Joe Rogan, and Sarah Silverman.

Television
United States
Since inception in the US in 1941, [43] television commercials have become one of the most
effective, persuasive, and popular methods of selling products of many sorts, especially
consumer goods. During the 1940s and into the 1950s, programs were hosted by single
advertisers. This, in turn, gave great creative license to the advertisers over the content of
the show. Perhaps due to the quiz show scandals in the 1950s,[44]networks shifted to the
magazine concept, introducing advertising breaks with multiple advertisers.
US advertising rates are determined primarily by Nielsen ratings. The time of the day and
popularity of the channel determine how much a TV commercial can cost. For example, it
can cost approximately $750,000 for a 30-second block of commercial time during the highly
popularAmerican Idol, while the same amount of time for the Super Bowl can cost several
million dollars. Conversely, lesser-viewed time slots, such as early mornings and weekday
afternoons, are often sold in bulk to producers of infomercials at far lower rates.
In recent years, the paid program or infomercial has become common, usually in lengths of
30 minutes or one hour. Some drug companies and other businesses have even created
"news" items for broadcast, known in the industry as video news releases, paying program
directors to use them.[45]

Some TV programs also weave advertisements into their shows, a practice begun in
film[46] and known as product placement. For example, a character could be drinking a certain
kind of soda, going to a particular chain restaurant, or driving a certain make of car. (This is
sometimes very subtle, with shows having vehicles provided by manufacturers for low cost
rather than wrangling them.) Sometimes, a specific brand or trade mark, or music from a
certain artist or group, is used. (This excludes guest appearances by artists who perform on
the show.)
United Kingdom
The TV regulator oversees TV advertising in the United Kingdom. Its restrictions have
applied since the early days of commercially funded TV. Despite this, an early TV mogul, Roy
Thomson, likened the broadcasting licence as being a "licence to print money". [47] Restrictions
mean that the big three national commercial TV channels: ITV, Channel 4, and Five can
show an average of only seven minutes of advertising per hour (eight minutes in the peak
period). Other broadcasters must average no more than nine minutes (twelve in the peak).
This means that many imported TV shows from the US have unnatural pauses where the UK
company does not utilize the narrative breaks intended for more frequent US advertising.
Advertisements must not be inserted in the course of certain specific proscribed types of
programs which last less than half an hour in scheduled duration; this list includes any news
or current affairs programs, documentaries, and programs for children; additionally,
advertisements may not be carried in a program designed and broadcast for reception in
schools or in any religious broadcasting service or other devotional program or during a
formal Royal ceremony or occasion. There also must be clear demarcations in time between
the programs and the advertisements.
The BBC, being strictly non-commercial, is not allowed to show advertisements on television
in the UK, although it has many advertising-funded channels abroad. The majority of its
budget comes from television license fees (see below) and broadcast syndication, the sale of
content to other broadcasters.