In the previous lesson we discussed transpositions. We’re going to develop this idea and look at a common comic effect that can be...

In the previous lesson I discussed the importance of going beyond what actually happened, and going into playful speculation. In your...

Comedy, and all creativity, begins with questions. What takes you into comic territory, rather than literary or dramatic territory, is...

A stand-up will send me a video of their set and I will watch it, meeting them subsequently to discuss my observations on their material...

Note: This is by some margin my most popular blog! I originally wrote it in 2018 so in view of how many people are reading it, I've just...

There’s a problem with true stories in a stand-up context. The long set-up followed by the quick payoff is often the form that anecdotes...

In 2007 I interviewed Richard Herring in a Caffe Nero in Hammersmith for the short-lived comedy magazine The Fix. I’d recently seen him...

This blog on misdirection is one of the most popular ones and I originally wrote it in February 2018. So I've just given it a refresh in...

Now we've explored the wider context — the writing process and, starting the gig itself — let’s get stuck into the nitty-gritty, starting...

Having discussed bespoke material for the gig in the last lesson, I'm going to begin this lesson with the physical practicalities of...

The stand-up, compère, act booker and manager Geoff Whiting told me that many years ago he was an open-spot on a bill with Ross Noble,...

The lessons are about to shift into the writing of material. Before we go there, I wanted to say that the most important stage in...

Let’s address this early in the lessons as it’s one of the biggest challenges in stand-up, especially when you’re new. If you’ve taken...

Whether you’re using a laptop, note-book, the back of fag packets or doing it mostly in your head, an effective writing process will take...

I’ll begin by suggesting that stand-up writing need not be writing—by which I mean, there is no need to sit down and write a complete...

I was going to publish this material as an e-book (hence the snazzy cover above). But then I landed a proper book deal: namely, A...

In this blog I discuss creating characters that are deeply flawed, even unpleasant, and yet the audience want to spend time with them....

When you are creating a sitcom the characters and their relationships to each other are the key thing. Situation is secondary. When...

In this blog I describe how the classic comedy sketch works. It is a form that has endured. You can hear examples from Peter Cook and...

One-liner comedians and Christmas cracker joke writers actually employ many of the same techniques. I explore the cross-over plus I offer...