the art of stand up comedy

Stand up comedy has got to be one of the strangest professions in the world. As a sucessful stand up comic members of the general public will pay quite large sums of money to come and see you stand on a stage and talk for a few hours. As a band or solo artist people will pay money to see you because they are fans of your music. As an athlete people will pay money to see you because they are a fan of your team or because what you are doing consitutes performance at a higher than average level. As an actor people will pay to see you use your talent to portray a character and tell a story. As a comedian people are paying to see you be funny, to largely just be yourself which must be a fantastic but at the same time baffling feeling.

I recently saw Michael McIntyre at Wembley Arena as part of his 2009 Arena Tour. He is a fantastic comedian, one who doesn't rely on being crude or picking on audience members for laughs. A genuinely hilarious and intelligent stand up. However it was still difficult to get my head around the amount people (around 12,000) who had paid £30 to come and see him "be funny". I feel jealous of his friends who get him being funny all the time, for free!

Anyway if you haven't come across him yet click on the link above for a 5minute highlight reel.