The history of stand up comedy

PRACTICALLY everyone in the developed world will know what stand up comedy is, but the art has only been around as we know it for roughly half a decade.

The astounding rise of this particular form of live entertainment has not been unparalleled, but the true foundations of the art can be traced back hundreds of years.

Stand up and perhaps most notably London comedy grew out of music halls during the 18th and 19th centuries. Renowned performers such as Arthur Askey, Max Miller and Morecambe and Wise all shot to fame working the music hall circuits, and it started to become commonplace to see comedy acts in such venues.

The same goes for comedy in the US. Towards the late 19th century, music hall performances began to see humorist monologues, minstrel shows and vaudeville (variety) acts. Some acts of note included Mark Twain and Norman Wilkerson, both of whom rose to fame through these venues.

The acts that had become famous during the turn of the 19th century would probably not be acceptable today. Many comic acts would don racial stereotypes and use widely shared humour to encourage a laugh. Ironically, despite jokes that may be deemed offensive today, humour revolving around sex would be unacceptable.

In fact, during the political tenure of Lord Chamberlain in the UK, heavy censorship laws required all stand up comedy acts to submit their scripts prior to any performance. The act would then have any material deemed too rude for public consumption underlined in blue pencil and would not be allowed to perform their act outside of the edited boundaries. The term 'blue', referring to anything that would be considered too bawdy, is derived from this part of history.

Stand up really took off after the Second World War; from Glasgow to Leicester comedy began to reign supreme. Wartime concert parties had popularised the art form with men returning from action and performers began to make a living from it. Famed British comedians such as Spike Milligan, Tommy Cooper and Peter Sellers all started in this manner and the birth of television and the rise of radio also helped popularise stand up with the masses.

A similar occurrence happened in the US; however, many of the more famous comedians had grown to fruition through vaudeville shows. The popularity of stand ups at these performances led to some eventually being offered to host the show as the master of ceremonies, which could be seen as the birth of the modern day compere.

The growth of television and radio also had a serious effect on the popularity of music halls for everyday entertainment. The very best comics could now be seen within the comfort of people's homes and by the 70s, music halls had virtually died. However, live comedy continued to progress and an increasing number of pubs and clubs started holding their own stand up comedy evenings.

This trend began originally in the US, where as early as the 50s small folk clubs began hosting comedy acts. New York developed a reputation for comedy venues, but these smaller venues also allowed for a change in boundaries.

Comedians such as Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce expanded the use of language for comics and also encouraged discussion on political, social and sexual agendas. Although they may be seen as mavericks today, at the time it often led to comics landing in hot water over their statements on stage.

Bruce himself had become famous for his multiple arrests regarding his on-stage language, which eventually led to a four-month sentencing in a workhouse. Bruce died before he could finalise his appeal, but this highly-publicised six month case was perhaps the first step towards comedians being able to use free speech in a public forum.

During the 60s to early 70s, UK folk clubs and working men's clubs began to see a similar boom. Comics such as Jasper Carrot and Billy Connolly performed at folk clubs and honed their stand up skills between songs.

Bernard Manning and Frank Carson are perhaps the most famous comedians to have stepped out of the working men's club circuit, where comedy was generally a little bluer. As punters began to grow in number, so did the industry and The Establishment was born, a club that would allow British people to get their first taste of comedy from the US.

It was not long before clubs began to open entirely devoted to stand up comedy. Comedy Clubs began appearing in the US in the early 70s and American-style clubs began opening in the UK just a few years later.

The growing number of venues allowed for a wider range of acts; furthermore, open mic nights gave opportunities to even the most inexperienced artists. New styles began to be developed such as Victoria Wood's comedy in song and the rise of alternative acts such as Lee Evans, Rik Mayall and Alexei Sayle. Observational humour also took off rapidly in the United States, with comics such as Jerry Seinfeld and Steven Wright pronouncing their inner thoughts out loud for comedic effect.

It could now be argued that the alternative comedy scene is more popular than 'classic comedy'. It has grown into a plethora of sub genres and unique interpretations; you can now choose between observational satire, improvisation, surrealism and many more.

Stand up has created a lot of avenues for new acts to follow and increasing numbers of new acts appear every night. The evolution of the Internet has allowed comedians to explore new avenues of information and provided a wealth of new opportunities for aspiring artists.

Today we see comedy performed in huge venues and every Christmas a wealth of famous comics release their best performances on DVD. The future is bright for stand up and it is likely that we will be enjoying it for many years to come.