Getting the Joke: The Inner Workings of Stand-Up Comedy

'This is the kind of book that troubles grey-suited committees of academic peers. It's too enjoyable. But that, given its subject, is just what it ought to be, and it treats that subject seriously . . . There isn't a “dull” page anywhere in the book.' – Professor Peter Thomson, Studies in Theatre and Performance

Comedy is changing: stand-up comedians routinely sell out stadia, their audience-figures swollen by panel-show appearances and much-followed Twitter feeds. Meanwhile, the smaller cl...