Comedy Store (Stand-Up)
Comedy (Stand-Up)
A stand-up comedian is someone that performs in comedy clubs, usually reciting a fast paced succession of amusing stories, short jokes and one-liners, typically called a monologue. Some stand-up comedians use props, music, or magic tricks in their acts.
Stand-up comedy is perhaps the easiest field of entertainment for new talent to enter, because many smaller venues hold "open mic" events where the inexperienced can perform comedy before a live audience. However, perhaps more than any other performer, the stand-up comedian is at the mercy of the audience, which is an integral element of the act. A truly adept stand-up comedian must nimbly play off the mood and tastes of any particular audience, and adjust his or her routine accordingly. The test of a master stand-up comedian is the ability to not only face down a "heckler," but win over and entertain the rest of the crowd with a retort. Many of the all-time greats are featured below.
Right: Steven Wright
Melbourne International Comedy Festival: Gala Collection (2005)
6.6/10
Starring: David Collins, Shane Dundas, Colin Lane, Dylan Moran, Frank Woodley, Magda Szuba...
A compilation of the top-rated Aussie TV broadcast featuring local and overseas performers with highlights from 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, including A... Read more
Peter Kay Live: At The Bolton Albert Halls (2003)
8.1/10
Starring: Peter Kay
Inspired master of the mundane, Peter Kay, goes home to Bolton for this stand-up tour-de-force. Looking at the world through distinctly Coronation St... Read more
An Audience with Billy Connolly (1995)
8.3/10
Director: Alasdair Macmillan
Starring: Billy Connolly
Join the celebrity-filled audience and watch the unexpurgated and now legendary performance of Billy Connolly. Including all the bits they didn't show... Read more
Bill Bailey: Part Troll (2004)
8.4/10
Director: Nick Morris
Starring: Bill Bailey
Bill Bailey, star of "Never Mind the Buzzcocks" and "Black Books" is one of the funniest bearded, babbling, bug-eyed druids the world has ever seen. H... Read more
Aim Low: The Very Best of Dylan Moran (2010)
8.1/10
Starring: Dylan Moran
Dylan Moran is a master comedian renowned for his eloquent yet razor-sharp, unrelenting wit. "Aim Low: The Very Best of Dylan Moran" captures hilariou... Read more
Michael McIntyre: Live and Laughing (2008)
7.6/10
Starring: Michael McIntyre
This is the debut DVD of Britain's fastest rising comedy star. Having stormed the TV shows "Live at the Apollo" , "Have I Got News for You" , "Mock... Read more
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball (1982)
6.6/10
Director: Julien Temple
Starring: John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson, Billy Connolly, Sting , Bob Geldof, Phil Collins, J...
More Pythonesque humour from John Cleese and his gang of terrible, tastless and crazy cohorts including; Alexei Sayle, Rowan Atkinson and Barry Humphr... Read more
French and Saunders: Live (2000)
8.2/10
Director: Anon
Starring: Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders
The class double act of French and Saunders are at their hilarious LIVE best in this offering. Dawn French says of their show "I am an all seeing, all... Read more
Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2005)
7.2/10
Director: Michel Gondry
Starring: etc ..., Dave Chappelle, Mos Def
Innovative comic Dave Chappelle treats a Brooklyn neighbourhood to a free block party with guests like Kanye West, Mos Def and, re-united after seven... Read more
Super High Me (2007)
6.1/10
Director: Michael Blieden
Starring: Doug Benson, Sarah Silverman, Bob Odenkirk, Patton Oswalt
Comedian Doug Benson takes a hit in the name of modern science, smoking pot for thirty days while undergoing various medical and psychological tests.... Read more