A comedian (male), comedienne (female), or comic, is a comic performer who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting the fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy. See also Mathematics of humor A joke is a short story or ironic depiction of a situation communicated with the intent of being humorous. Slapstick is a type of Comedy involving exaggerated physical violence or activities which exceed the boundaries of common sense such as a character being hit in the face with Prop comedy is a Comedy genre that makes use of humorous objects or conventional objects used in humorous ways A comedian who stands alone and addresses an audience directly is called a stand-up comic. Stand-up comedy is a style of comedy where the performer speaks directly to the audience with the absence of the theatrical " Fourth wall "

A comedian can be distinguished from a clown because clowns most often use slapstick, wear costumes and makeup, and engage in buffoonery, whereas comedians most often focus on a more verbal style of humor, telling jokes. Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by their Grotesque appearance colored wigs stylistic makeup, outlandish Costumes unusually

A popular saying, variously quoted but generally attributed to Ed Wynn,^[1] is, "A comic says funny things; a comedian says things funny," which draws a distinction between how much of the comedy can be attributed to verbal content and how much to acting and persona. Ed Wynn ( November 9 1886 - June 19 1966) was a popular American Comedian and Actor noted for both his Perfect

Since the late 1980s, a new wave of comedy, called alternative comedy, grew in popularity with its more offbeat and experimental style. Alternative comedy is a style of Comedy that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and 1980s which would eventually go on to become mainstream in the This normally involves more experiential, or observational reporting, e. g. Andy Kaufman, Alexei Sayle and Malcolm Hardee. Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman (January 17 1949 &ndash May 16 1984 was an American Entertainer, Actor and Performance artist While often referred Alexei David Sayle (born 7 August 1952 is an English Comedian, Actor and Author. Malcolm Hardee (born Lewisham, London 5 January 1950 &ndash died Rotherhithe, London 31 January 2005 was an English Comedian, author Comedy Alternative comedy is now arguably the mainstream.

As far as content is concerned, comedians such as Tommy Tiernan draw on their background to poke fun at themselves, while others such as Bill Maher and George Carlin have strong political and cultural undertones. Tommy Tiernan is an Irish Comedian, Actor and Writer, born 3 November 1969 in Carndonagh, a town on the William "Bill" Maher Jr, (ˈmɑɹ born January 20 1956) is an American Stand-up comedian, Television host, George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12 1937 – June 22 2008 was an American stand-up comedian, often considered one of the best of all time

Many comics achieve a cult following while touring famous comedy hubs such as the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal, the Edinburgh Fringe, and Melbourne Comedy Festival in Australia. A cult following is a group of fans devoted to a specific area of Pop culture. Just for Laughs (in French Juste pour rire) is a Comedy festival held each July in Montreal, or Montréal in French ( pronounced in French, in English) is the largest city in the Canadian province of Quebec The Edinburgh Fringe (officially the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, commonly just The Fringe) is the world’s largest Arts festival. The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF is held each April in a number of venues across Melbourne, Victoria, Australia For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Often a comic's career advances significantly when they win a notable comedy award, such as the now defunct Perrier Award. Perrier Award may refer to Perrier Comedy Award Perrier Young Jazz Awards Comics typically survive by continuous touring and foray into other areas of entertainment, such as film and television, when they have become much better known.

See also

• Comedy genres
• List of comedians
• Humour
• Comedy
• List of humorists
• List of musical comedians
• Category:Comedians

References

1. ^ Simpson's Contemporary Quotations, 1988. Comedy may be divided into multiple Genres based on the source of humour the method of delivery and the context in which it is delivered A Comedian is one who entertains through Comedy, such as jokes and other forms of Humour. Humour or humor (see spelling differences) is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke Laughter and provide Amusement Comedy (from the Greek κωμωδίαkomodia has a popular meaning (any discourse generally intended to amuse especially in Television, Film, and A humorist is a person who writes or performs humorous material Musical Comedians This list is limited to comedians who also played an instrument onstage Retrieved on 2008-04-01. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne

External links

• A collection of interviews with stand-up comedians