Stand-up comedy

Stand-up comedy is a live performance in which a comedian addresses an audience directly, usually with jokes, observations, or humorous stories.

Comedy timing: The use of pauses, pace, emphasis, and sequence to shape a comic effect. A pause or delayed punchline can change how an audience receives the same joke.
Commedia dell'arte: An Italian theatrical tradition of improvised comedy built around stock characters and scenarios. Its direct address and comic performers belong to a longer history of popular performance.
Lenny Bruce: An American comedian known for provocative material and legal battles over obscenity in performance. His confrontational routines widened the range of subjects comedians could address.
Joke: A verbal or situational construction intended to provoke amusement, often through surprise or incongruity. Individual jokes are common units of stand-up material, though sets also use stories and themes.
Comedy album: An audio recording of comedic performance or material released as an album. Albums let stand-up routines reach audiences beyond the venues where they were performed.
Punch line: The concluding part of a joke that delivers its comic surprise or reversal. Many stand-up jokes build toward a punch line through setup and misdirection.
Music hall: A form of British popular entertainment featuring varied acts in commercial theaters. Music-hall bills helped establish the solo comic performer as a recurring stage attraction.
Joan Rivers: An American comedian and television host known for sharp, self-deprecating humor. Her relentless joke writing and career challenged barriers facing women in mainstream comedy.
Monologue: A long speech delivered by one performer, often addressed to an audience or another character. Stand-up often takes monologue form, but relies on comic material and audience rapport.
Comedy special: A filmed or televised program centered on a comedian's performance of a set. The special became a major format for distributing and preserving stand-up.

Linked from 88 pages