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The Professionalisation of Stand-Up Comedy

This chapter explores the contemporary institutional realities and obligations which stand-up comedians are under. These realities are sociologically explored in relation to wider, societal processes of ‘professionalisation’: stand-up comedy claims an exclusive jurisdiction for itself – the ability to know and produce a belief in the ‘funniness’ of the comedian. This professional knowledge is explored by demonstrating how a theory of ‘absolute stand-up’ drives contemporary comedy practice. This is illustrated by the modernist ‘writer’ ethos which governs contemporary stand-up material, as well as the desire for ‘comic originality’. These twin features are then situated in relation to the dramaturgy which underlines contemporary stand-up show writing.