Stand-up comedy is a comic style in which a comedian performs in front of a live audience, usually speaking directly to them. The performer is commonly known as a comic, stand-up comic, comedian, comedienne, stand-up comedian, or simply a stand-up. In stand-up comedy, the comedian gives the illusion that they are dialoguing, but in actuality, they are monologuing a grouping of humorous stories, jokes and one-liners, typically called a shtick, routine, or set. Some stand-up comedians use props, music or magic tricks
to enhance their acts. Stand-up comedy is stated to be the "freest form of comedy writing" that is normally regarded as an "extension of" the person performing.
The improvisation of stand-up is often compared to jazz music.
A comedian's process of writing is likened to the process of song writing.
A comedian's ability to tighten their material has been likened to crafting a samurai sword.
The seven dirty words are seven English-language words that American comedian George Carlin first listed in 1972 in his monologue "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television". The words are: shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits.
Robert Klein is an American stand-up comedian, singer, and actor. He had several popular and influential comedy albums in the 1970s, was nominated for a Best Actor in a Musical Tony Award for 1979's They're Playing Our Song, and has made a variety of TV and movie appearances, including hosting Saturday Night Live twice.
Observational comedy is a form of humor based on the commonplace aspects of everyday life. It is one of the main types of humor in stand-up comedy. In an observational comedy act the comedian "makes an observation about something from the backwaters of life, an everyday phenomenon that is rarely noticed or discussed." The humor is based on the premise of "Have you ever noticed?", which has become a comedy cliché. "Observational humour usually took the form of long monologues of personal narrative, and the punch-line was either hard to predict or never came."
Complaints and Grievances is the 17th album and twelfth HBO stand-up special by comedian George Carlin. Its working title was I Kinda Like It When a Lot of People Die, but it was renamed following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Another possible title was The Great American Cattle Drive, according to Carlin during an interview with Coast to Coast AM in 1999.
Life Is Worth Losing is the 18th album and thirteenth HBO special by American comedian George Carlin. It was recorded simultaneously with the live broadcast of the HBO special of the same title, his 13th HBO stand-up comedy special, and was his final special recorded from the Beacon Theater. The set was designed to resemble a snow-coated graveyard. It is the first project Carlin had undertaken since completing drug rehabilitation in 2005.
Kimber Rickabaugh of RickMill Productions, along with her partner Paul Miller, is a veteran producer responsible for numerous television shows for Comedy Central, HBO and other networks. After starting at NBC in New York, she next was under contract with Dick Clark Productions until she went freelance as a producer in 1986, where she produced HBO's first LIVE Comedy Special. In 1986 she married Gene Crowe, a technical director and design engineer and co owner of Greene Crowe & Co. inc. Rickabaugh and Crowe have worked together a few times on shows such as George Lopez, The Whoopi Goldberg Show, and The Earth Day Special. Rickabaugh formed RickMill Productions in 1991 with Paul Miller, who also directs, and the team continues to be active producers of comedy and variety series and specials. She produced, to name a few, all of the George Carlin HBO specials, for Dave Chappelle, Whoopi Goldberg, Howie Mandel, Lewis Black, MTV and multiple specials and series yearly. RickMill Productions produced 15 seasons of "Comedy Central Presents" series. RickMill also has an ongoing relationship with Kathy Griffin. The relationship with Kathy Griffin started in 2010, producing all her stand-up specials for BRAVO. Kathy Griffin set an unprecedented feat of 4 one-hour specials in 2011. RickMill produced all Kathy's specials in 2012 and 2013 where Kathy set a new record for the most televised comedy specials surpassing George Carlin's record.
I'm Telling You for the Last Time is a 1998 stand-up comedy special starring Jerry Seinfeld. The special aired live on HBO on August 9, 1998 from the Broadhurst Theatre in New York City. It was then released as an album on cassette and CD by the same title that same year. In 1999, a VHS and DVD titled Jerry Seinfeld: I'm Telling You for the Last Time - Live on Broadway was released.
Brain Droppings is a 1997 book by comedian George Carlin. This was Carlin's "first real book" and contains much of Carlin's stand-up comedy material. According to the cover, the book contains "jokes, notions, doubts, opinions, questions, thoughts, beliefs, assertions, assumptions, and disturbing references" and "comedy, nonsense, satire, mockery, merriment, sarcasm, ridicule, silliness, bluster, and toxic alienation". For longtime Carlin fans, the book also contains complete versions of two of his most famous monologues, "A Place for My Stuff" and "Baseball and Football".
George Carlin: Again! is American comedian George Carlin's second HBO stand-up television special. It was filmed in the round in 1978 at The Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. The show was first broadcast on July 23, 1978.
Ritchie A. "Ritch" Shydner is an American stand-up comedian, comic writer, and actor.
Carlin on Campus is the 10th album and fourth HBO special by American comedian George Carlin recorded April 18–19, 1984. The show features mostly new material. The opening features Carlin in Catholic School with a short version of "Class Clown" and animation shorts. The ending features Carlin playing piano to an original song called "Armadillo Blues."
Burns and Carlin at the Playboy Club Tonight is the 1963 first and only album by the short-lived comedy duo of Jack Burns and George Carlin. The album's title is technically a slight exaggeration, because the album was actually recorded at a club named Cosmo Alley in Hollywood, California; not at the Playboy Club. It was recorded in May 1960 but was not released until 1963.
It's Bad for Ya is the 19th album, and 14th and final HBO stand-up comedy special by stand-up comedian George Carlin. It was televised live on March 1, 2008, on HBO, less than four months before Carlin died of heart failure at age 71.
Dennis Blair is an American stand-up comedian.
Last Words is the autobiography of American stand-up comedian George Carlin. It was published on November 10, 2009. Last Words tells the story of his life from his conception, literally, to his final years; he died on June 22, 2008 at the age of 71. He also wrote a special parting gift to the world. The book contains photos taken throughout Carlin's life.
Celebrity Theatre is a theater in the round located in Phoenix, Arizona.
Kelly Marie Carlin-McCall is an American writer, actress, producer, monologist, and Internet radio host.
I Kinda Like It When a Lotta People Die is the 20th and final album by American stand-up comedian George Carlin, released posthumously.
