Stand-Up Comedy Books

Ami Hallberg Pauli · 2022

A handbook on writing and performing jokes in front of an audience, by a comedian who also teaches the stand-up courses at Norra Brunn in Stockholm. Third edition; first published 2018.

ISBN 978-9-1527-2782-9

Chris Head · 2021

Head's guide to turning comic ideas into narrative shows and scripts, drawing on his work with Edinburgh Fringe acts.

ISBN 978-1-3501-5575-6

Dagfinn Nordbø · 2020

A craft book by a veteran Norwegian comedy writer; the title translates as 'Humour: learn from the best comedians and comedy writers'.

ISBN 978-8-2748-8841-8

Judy Carter · 2020

Updated edition of Carter's stand-up course, revised for streaming-era comedy and self-produced specials.

ISBN 978-1-9474-8084-1

Scott Dikkers · 2019

Sequel to How to Write Funny, going deeper on voice, premise and joke revision.

ISBN 978-1-7968-1822-2

Chris Head · 2018

A rare book on directing stand-up: how an outside eye shapes material, structure and persona for solo comedy shows.

ISBN 978-1-3500-3552-2

Hans Carstensen · 2018

A 286-page manual on getting started in stand-up, writing jokes and going from page to stage, with a stand-up glossary and advice from established Swedish comedians.

ISBN 978-9-1980-2583-5

Steve Kaplan · 2018

Follow-up to The Hidden Tools of Comedy, applying Kaplan's model to long-form comic story structure.

ISBN 978-1-6159-3287-0

Stephen Rosenfield · 2017

The founder of the American Comedy Institute lays out a curriculum for material, persona and stagecraft, with case studies of established comedians.

ISBN 978-1-4001-7103-3

Mel Helitzer, Mark Shatz · 2016

A long-established comedy-writing textbook from Ohio University's humour-writing course, covering joke formulas and comic devices. This is the third edition.

ISBN 978-1-5996-3961-1

Logan Murray · 2015

The Teach Yourself guide by a long-running London stand-up teacher, covering material generation, persona and open-mic survival.

ISBN 978-1-4736-0718-7

Joe Toplyn · 2014

An Emmy-winning Letterman and Leno writer explains monologue jokes, desk pieces and sketch formats as teachable systems.

ISBN 978-0-6159-5389-2

Scott Dikkers · 2014

The founding editor of The Onion sets out eleven 'funny filters' as a repeatable comedy-writing method.

ISBN 978-1-4991-9612-2

Steve Kaplan · 2013

Kaplan argues comedy is a structural craft rather than a talent, and sets out tools such as the 'non-hero', winning and the comic premise. Aimed at writers and performers.

ISBN 978-1-6159-3140-8

Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh · 2013

UCB's official curriculum for game-based long-form improv, as taught in its New York and Los Angeles training centres.

ISBN 978-0-9893-8780-4

Stewart Lee · 2010

Three annotated Stewart Lee show transcripts with extensive footnotes on why each choice was made. A rare look at stand-up construction in close-up.

ISBN 978-0-5712-5481-1

Sally Holloway · 2010

A joke-mechanics handbook from a British comedy writer, focused on repeatable techniques for generating punchlines.

ISBN 978-1-9074-9837-4

Gene Perret · 2007

Revised edition of the veteran TV gag writer's classic; a practical system for producing jokes in volume.

ISBN 978-1-8849-9575-0

André Wickström · 2005

A 179-page Swedish-language book about stand-up comedy by a Finland-Swedish comedian. Libris subject headings are stand-up comedy, improvisation and comedians.

ISBN 978-9-5152-2313-5

Tony Allen · 2002

A founder of British alternative comedy on the politics and technique of stand-up, ranting and street performance.

ISBN 978-0-9063-6256-3

Franklyn Ajaye · 2002

Working comedian Franklyn Ajaye interviews peers about craft, persona and the realities of the road.

ISBN 978-1-8795-0554-4

Judy Carter · 2001

Judy Carter's step-by-step course on building an act, from premise and punchline to performing and getting booked. Widely used as an introductory stand-up textbook.

ISBN 978-0-7432-1902-0

Greg Dean · 2000

Dean's systematic breakdown of joke mechanics via the setup/punch 'target assumption' model, plus exercises for writing and rewriting material.

ISBN 978-0-9897-3518-6

Jay Sankey · 1998

Short essays on the mental and creative side of stand-up, from writing and bombing to stage presence.

ISBN 978-0-8783-0074-7

Oliver Double · 1997

Part memoir, part analysis by an academic who worked the UK circuit, on what the job of stand-up actually involves.

ISBN 978-0-4137-0310-1

Gene Perret · 1994

Perret's advice on assembling and performing an act, written from the perspective of a Bob Hope head writer.

ISBN 978-0-5736-9916-0

John Vorhaus · 1994

A widely cited comedy-writing primer built on 'comedy is truth and pain', with tools for generating and testing comic ideas.

ISBN 978-1-8795-0521-6

Charna Halpern, Del Close, Kim Johnson · 1994

The foundational text of long-form improvisation and the Harold, from iO's founders. Core reading for comedians who cross into improv.

ISBN 978-1-5660-8003-3

Lasse Brandeby, Elisabeth Crispin, Klas Danielsson · 1992

An early Swedish book about stand-up comedy, compiled from Lasse Brandeby and others. Libris subject heading Ståuppkomik; the record carries only an ISBN-10.

Steve Allen · 1987

The Tonight Show's first host on the mechanics of being funny in performance and in conversation.

ISBN 978-0-0700-1199-1

Sol Saks · 1985

The creator of Bewitched on the fundamentals of comic writing for stage and screen.

ISBN 978-0-8987-9192-1

Keith Johnstone · 1979

Johnstone's classic on status, spontaneity and masks; the root text for much of European and Nordic improv teaching.

ISBN 978-0-8783-0117-1

Ole Sønnichsen · 2025

A biography of Dirch Passer, described by the Royal Danish Library as a nuanced portrait of both the showman and the private man.

ISBN 978-8-7272-5724-2

Gunnar R. Tjomlid · 2024

A 253-page book following Norwegian stand-up comedian Dag Sørås on the road.

ISBN 978-8-2303-6504-5

Hans Morten Hansen, Anita H. Jakobsen · 2024

Autobiography of Norwegian stand-up comedian Hans Morten Hansen, one of the founding figures of the country's club scene.

ISBN 978-8-2939-1332-0

Shabana Rehman, Morten Traavik · 2023

Autobiography of Shabana Rehman, the Norwegian-Pakistani stand-up comedian and columnist, catalogued under autobiographies.

ISBN 978-8-2419-5984-4

Maria Bamford · 2023

Bamford on mental illness, twelve-step groups and building an unconventional stand-up career.

ISBN 978-1-9821-6856-8

Rune Bjerga · 2021

Autobiography of Norwegian stand-up comedian Rune Bjerga, catalogued by the National Library under personal accounts and autobiographies.

ISBN 978-8-2933-5198-6

Mia Skäringer · 2021

A diary-form autobiography by Swedish comedian and actress Mia Skäringer; the subtitle means 'a female comedian's diary'.

ISBN 978-9-1790-3563-1

Billy Connolly · 2021

Connolly's own account of moving from Glasgow shipyards and folk clubs into stand-up.

ISBN 978-1-5293-1825-8

Kalle Lind · 2020

A full-length biography of Hasse Alfredson, from Lund student revues to the partnership with Tage Danielsson and AB Svenska Ord.

ISBN 978-9-1371-5775-7

Hannah Gadsby · 2020

Gadsby on autism, trauma and the deliberate dismantling of stand-up form that produced Nanette.

ISBN 978-1-9116-3024-1

Sofie Hagen · 2019

Danish comedian Sofie Hagen on fat liberation, body politics and comedy.

ISBN 978-0-0082-9388-8

Jacob Wendt Jensen · 2019

A biography of Danish actress and comedian Kirsten Lehfeldt, following her from young actress to nationally known comic performer.

ISBN 978-8-7022-8002-9

Dave Itzkoff · 2018

A reported biography of Robin Williams, from San Francisco improv clubs to film stardom.

ISBN 978-0-2830-7234-5

Marika Carlsson · 2018

An autobiography by Swedish stand-up comedian Marika Carlsson, catalogued with subjects including adoptees, comedians, racism and racialisation.

ISBN 978-9-1371-5180-9

Eddie Izzard · 2017

Izzard on street performance, stream-of-consciousness stand-up and performing in multiple languages.

ISBN 978-1-6117-6469-7

Tiffany Haddish · 2017

Haddish on homelessness, foster care and grinding out a stand-up career in Los Angeles.

ISBN 978-1-5011-8182-5

Norm Macdonald · 2016

Macdonald's deliberately unreliable anti-memoir, itself an extended comic performance.

ISBN 978-1-5247-0318-9

Trevor Noah · 2016

Noah's account of growing up under and after apartheid, before his stand-up and Daily Show career.

ISBN 978-1-9848-9753-4

Sarah Millican · 2016

Millican on divorce, starting stand-up at thirty and the practicalities of a touring career.

ISBN 978-1-4091-7432-5

Magnus Härenstam, Petter Karlsson · 2015

A 441-page life story of Swedish comedian, actor and television host Magnus Härenstam, written with journalist Petter Karlsson.

ISBN 978-9-1371-4333-0

Patton Oswalt · 2015

Oswalt on his obsessive film-watching years while grinding out sets in Los Angeles alt-comedy rooms.

ISBN 978-1-4516-7321-0

Richard Zoglin · 2014

A biography of Bob Hope arguing for his central role in inventing modern stand-up delivery.

ISBN 978-1-4391-4858-7

Per Egil Hegge · 2014

A biography of Rolv Wesenlund, one of Norway's best-known comic performers, by journalist Per Egil Hegge.

ISBN 978-8-2820-5640-3

Thomas Wivel · 2014

The memoirs of a Danish stand-up comedian looking back over twenty-three years in the business, from his first set at Din's onwards.

ISBN 978-8-7926-6042-8

Amy Poehler · 2014

Poehler on improv, UCB and the working life of a comedian.

ISBN 978-1-7435-3415-1

Marc Maron · 2013

Maron's essays on failure, addiction and the years before WTF turned his career around.

ISBN 978-0-8129-9287-8

Tina Fey · 2011

Fey on improv training at Second City, SNL and running a writers' room.

ISBN 978-0-3161-9803-5

Michael McIntyre · 2011

McIntyre on years of failure on the UK circuit before a breakthrough that made him an arena act.

ISBN 978-0-1410-4567-2

Bjørn Brøymer · 2010

An Aschehoug biography of Leif Juster, catalogued with the subjects revue, revue artists, comedians and theatre.

ISBN 978-8-2032-9174-6

Babben Larsson · 2010

The autobiography of Swedish comedian Babben Larsson, published by Norstedts.

ISBN 978-9-1130-2428-8

Sarah Silverman · 2010

Silverman on depression, early club years and the construction of her stage persona.

ISBN 978-0-0618-5645-7

George Carlin, Tony Hendra · 2009

Carlin's posthumous autobiography, tracing his shift from suit-and-tie comic to counterculture headliner.

ISBN 978-1-4104-2416-7

Jo Brand · 2009

Brand on psychiatric nursing and the late-1980s London alternative circuit.

ISBN 978-1-4084-6006-1

Steve Martin · 2007

Martin's account of the eighteen years he spent building and then abandoning his stand-up act. Frequently named the best book about the discipline of stand-up.

ISBN 978-1-4165-5364-9

Gitte Nilsson, Niklas Bodell · 2007

A biography of Swedish comedian and actor Micke 'Svullo' Dubois, written by his former partner with a journalist.

ISBN 978-9-1854-9926-7

Phyllis Diller · 2005

Diller on becoming a stand-up in her late thirties and building a career as one of the first American women headliners.

ISBN 978-1-5854-2396-5

Yngve Skomsvoll · 2004

An unauthorised biography of Norwegian comedian Harald Eia, published by Kagge and catalogued under biographies. The record carries only an ISBN-10.

Rodney Dangerfield · 2004

Dangerfield on inventing his persona twice, and on founding Dangerfield's comedy club.

ISBN 978-0-0619-5764-2

Cynthia True · 2002

The standard biography of Bill Hicks.

ISBN 978-0-3808-0377-4

Poul Malmkjær · 2000

A biography of Danish comedian and actor Christian Arhoff, covering his work in theatre, revue and light comedy.

ISBN 978-8-7904-4915-5

Frank Skinner · 1998

A diary of a UK stand-up tour, unusually candid about how material is built and adjusted night to night.

ISBN 978-1-4090-3667-8

Victor Borge, Niels-Jørgen Kaiser · 1997

The memoirs of Danish-American comedian and pianist Victor Borge, told to Niels-Jørgen Kaiser.

ISBN 978-8-7002-8746-4

Richard Pryor, Todd Gold · 1995

Pryor's own account of his life and act.

ISBN 978-0-6794-4326-1

Joan Rivers · 1986

Rivers on her years of failure before breaking through in the Greenwich Village clubs.

ISBN 978-1-5580-0019-3

Lenny Bruce · 1965

Bruce's autobiography, written amid his obscenity trials; a founding document of confessional stand-up.

ISBN 978-0-7206-4196-7

Jesse David Fox · 2023

Vulture's comedy critic on how stand-up and comedy became a dominant cultural form, mixing criticism with reporting.

ISBN 978-0-3746-0471-4

Kalle Lind, Henrik Jutbring · 2023

The first book to cover the entire output of the Swedish comedy troupe Galenskaparna och After Shave since 1982, including Macken.

ISBN 978-9-1375-0671-5

Kliph Nesteroff · 2023

A history of censorship, moral panic and offence in American entertainment, from vaudeville bans to modern cancellation debates.

ISBN 978-1-6470-0637-2

Wayne Federman · 2021

A compact chronological survey of stand-up from 19th-century lecture circuits to the streaming era, by a comedian and comedy historian.

ISBN 979-8-7066-3702-6

Kliph Nesteroff · 2021

Nesteroff traces Native American comedians from Wild West shows to the contemporary circuit.

ISBN 978-1-9821-0306-4

Martin Paarup Andersen · 2019

A Danish easy-reader introduction to stand-up and the genre's characteristics, catalogued as a school book for ages 13 to 15.

ISBN 978-8-7235-4220-5

Morten Thing · 2017

A cultural-historical survey of the Danish satirical and joke magazines from 1840 to 1925.

ISBN 978-8-7990-9595-7

Thomas Karlsen · 2017

A 345-page Gyldendal history of the first twenty years of the Norwegian stand-up scene, told by the people who were there. Indexed by the National Library under the subject heading Stand Up Norge.

ISBN 978-8-2055-0554-4

Budd Friedman, Tripp Whetsell · 2017

The founder of The Improv tells the story of the club chain that helped create the modern stand-up circuit.

ISBN 978-1-9429-5243-5

Kliph Nesteroff · 2015

A century of American comedy told through vaudeville, nightclubs, the mob, television and the comedy-club boom, built on hundreds of interviews.

ISBN 978-0-8021-2398-5

Oliver Double · 2012

A history of British variety, the tradition from which UK stand-up emerged.

ISBN 978-0-2302-8460-9

Yael Kohen · 2012

An oral history of women in American comedy from the 1950s to the present, drawn from interviews with performers and producers.

ISBN 978-0-3742-8723-8

Bruce Dessau · 2011

A veteran British comedy critic on the self-destruction, breakdowns and obsession that run through stand-up careers.

ISBN 978-1-4090-5179-4

Henrik Palle, Anders Hjorth · 2009

A 207-page history of Danish stand-up tracing the scene from Restaurant Din's in the late 1980s onwards, with portraits of comedians including Frank Hvam, Uffe Holm and Jan Gintberg.

ISBN 978-8-7567-9077-2

Richard Zoglin · 2008

The definitive account of the 1970s American stand-up boom, from Carlin and Pryor to the Comedy Store strike.

ISBN 978-1-5823-4624-3

Darryl Littleton · 2006

An interview-based history of Black stand-up in America, from the chitlin' circuit to Def Comedy Jam.

ISBN 978-1-5578-3680-9

Jimmy Carr, Lucy Greeves · 2006

A comedian and a writer survey why jokes work, joke history and the ethics of offence. Published in the UK as The Naked Jape.

ISBN 978-1-5924-0235-9

Gerald Nachman · 2003

Portraits of the generation that broke with gag comedy: Bruce, Sahl, Nichols and May, Cosby, Newhart and others.

ISBN 978-0-3074-9072-8

William Cook · 2001

The story of London's Comedy Store and the birth of British alternative comedy.

ISBN 978-0-3168-5792-5

Mel Watkins · 1999

A scholarly history of Black American humour from slavery and minstrelsy through Pryor and beyond.

ISBN 978-1-8830-5281-2

William Cook · 1994

Interviews with British comedians of the alternative-comedy generation about how the work is done.

ISBN 978-1-8570-2180-6

Roger Wilmut, Peter Rosengard · 1989

The first full account of British alternative comedy, co-written by the man who founded the Comedy Store.

ISBN 978-0-4131-7390-4

Betsy Borns · 1987

An ethnography of the 1980s American comedy-club boom, built from interviews with working comedians.

ISBN 978-0-6716-2374-6

Tony Hendra · 1987

A first-hand history of American satire and boomer counterculture comedy, from Lenny Bruce through National Lampoon and SNL.

ISBN 978-0-3852-3223-4

Phil Berger · 1975

A reported portrait of the American stand-up scene as it moved from the Catskills and nightclubs to the comedy-club era.

ISBN 978-0-8154-1096-6

Christian Liliequist · 2026

A 219-page Umeå University doctoral thesis on struggles over meaning in the Swedish stand-up field: boundaries, power hierarchies and the comedian's role in society.

ISBN 978-9-1685-0125-3

Sven Svebak · 2024

A book by a Norwegian researcher on humour, stress and health, asking what a sense of humour actually is.

ISBN 978-8-2939-3937-5

Stina Bäckström · 2024

Seven essays by a philosopher on humour's central conflict - why it is pleasurable to laugh at the ugly and the broken - and on humour's relationship to ethics.

ISBN 978-9-1988-6655-1

Ellie Tomsett · 2023

A study of women in UK stand-up, sexism on the circuit and feminist comedy publics.

ISBN 978-1-3503-0228-0

Lita Lundquist · 2020

A theoretical analysis arguing that a country's humour is bound up with its language and society, with examples of how humour differs between countries.

ISBN 978-8-7593-3279-5

Markus Gaupås Johansen · 2020

A short scholarly introduction to humour in Universitetsforlaget's 'Hva er' series, classed by the National Library as popular science and cultural sociology.

ISBN 978-8-2150-3194-1

Trine May, Frederik May, Jonatan May · 2019

Danish teaching material analysing comedian Anders Matthesen's stand-up, films and language, catalogued under stand-up, rhetoric and analysis.

ISBN 978-8-7721-1119-3

Pål Ketil Botvar, Olav Hovdelien, Ann Kristin Gresaker · 2019

An open-access scholarly anthology on religion and humour, including what Norwegian comedians take into account when joking about religion.

ISBN 978-8-2025-9043-7

Cynthia Willett, Julie A. Willett · 2019

A philosophical account of feminist and subversive comedy as political speech.

ISBN 978-1-5179-0829-4

Nick Marx, Matt Sienkiewicz · 2018

An anthology of key scholarly writing on comedy, useful as a course reader.

ISBN 978-1-4773-1601-6

Sophie Quirk · 2018

A study of political engagement in contemporary British stand-up and the circuit that supports it.

ISBN 978-3-0300-1104-8

Shawn Chandler Bingham, Sara E. Green · 2016

A study of disability humour and disabled comedians, and of humour as both stigma and resistance.

ISBN 978-1-6263-7520-8

Susanne Colleary · 2015

A study of comic self-presentation in Irish stand-up.

ISBN 978-1-1373-4389-5

Sophie Quirk · 2015

Quirk examines the persuasive power comedians hold over audiences and what they do with it.

ISBN 978-1-4725-7895-2

Ian Brodie · 2014

A folklorist's argument that stand-up is best understood as intimate, face-to-face vernacular performance.

ISBN 978-1-4968-0794-6

Rebecca Krefting · 2014

Introduces 'charged humor' — comedy that builds solidarity around marginalised identity — as an analytic category.

ISBN 978-1-4214-1431-7

Sam Friedman · 2014

A sociological study of how comedy taste maps onto class in Britain, based on Edinburgh Fringe fieldwork.

ISBN 978-1-3067-0758-9

Peter McGraw, Joel Warner · 2014

A behavioural scientist and a journalist test the 'benign violation' theory of humour around the world.

ISBN 978-1-4516-6541-3

John Morreall · 2009

A philosopher's survey of humour theories — superiority, relief and incongruity — and a defence of play-based accounts.

ISBN 978-1-4051-9612-3

Andy Medhurst · 2007

An argument that English popular comedy is a primary site where national identity is negotiated.

ISBN 978-1-2809-7141-9

Bambi Haggins · 2007

A study of Black comic personas from Pryor and Whoopi Goldberg to Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle.

ISBN 978-0-8135-3985-0

Rod A. Martin · 2006

The standard psychology textbook on humour, covering cognition, personality, health and measurement.

ISBN 978-0-0804-6599-9

Oliver Double · 2005

The standard academic-but-readable analysis of stand-up technique, drawing on Double's own career and on interviews.

ISBN 978-0-4137-7476-7

John Limon · 2000

A literary-theory reading of postwar American stand-up through the concept of abjection.

ISBN 978-0-8223-2509-3

Robert R. Provine · 1999

Field research showing laughter is primarily a social signal rather than a response to jokes.

ISBN 978-0-6708-9375-1

Sigmund Freud · 1963

Freud's 1905 study of joke technique and the psychic economy of laughter; still a standard reference point in humour theory.

ISBN 978-0-3930-0145-7

Jennifer Aaker, Naomi Bagdonas · 2021

Based on the Stanford Graduate School of Business course on humour, covering humour styles and their effect on leadership and trust.

ISBN 978-0-5931-3529-7

Andrew Tarvin · 2019

A framework for using humour deliberately in workplace communication, from a corporate humour trainer.

ISBN 978-1-9890-2583-3

David Nihill · 2015

Applies stand-up techniques to business presentations and public speaking.

ISBN 978-1-5058-1929-8

Joe Randazzo · 2015

A former Onion editor's survey of comedy career paths, from stand-up and improv to writers' rooms and digital.

ISBN 978-1-4521-2839-9

Kelly Leonard, Tom Yorton · 2015

The Second City's business arm on applying improvisation principles to collaboration and innovation at work.

ISBN 978-0-0622-4855-8

Judy Carter · 2013

Carter's method for converting personal material into paid keynote and corporate speaking work.

ISBN 978-1-2503-9679-2

Trond Haugen, Jon Morten Melhus · 2012

A Norwegian book on humour and enthusiasm at work. First published in 2003.

ISBN 978-8-2931-3009-3

Dave Schwensen · 2005

Question-and-answer format covering how bookings, tapes, agents and club economics actually operate.

ISBN 978-1-5811-5560-0

Dave Schwensen · 1998

A comedy booker's guide to the working side of stand-up: showcases, agents, contracts and the club circuit.

ISBN 978-0-9791-0301-8

Jonis Josef, Mikael Noguchi, Gisle Vagstein · 2023

A Norwegian comedian's stand-up show turned into a book, catalogued under the subjects Norsk humor and Stand up.

ISBN 978-8-2027-5071-8

Jerry Seinfeld · 2020

Seinfeld's collected material by decade, presented as written, with notes on how bits were built.

ISBN 978-1-7608-5713-4

Marc Maron, Brendan McDonald · 2017

Thematically arranged excerpts from Maron's WTF interviews with comedians and other guests.

ISBN 978-1-2500-8889-5

Are Kalvø · 2016

Collected theatre, revue and stand-up texts by comedian and writer Are Kalvø, with autobiographical stories from life on stage. Published in Nynorsk by Samlaget.

ISBN 978-8-2521-9234-6

Judd Apatow · 2015

Apatow's interviews with comedians spanning from his teenage radio show to his career as a director.

ISBN 978-0-8129-8728-7

Mike Sacks · 2014

A second volume of craft interviews, with 'ultra-specific comedy advice' sections between chapters.

ISBN 978-1-1016-1327-6

Dagfinn Nordbø · 2013

An Aschehoug interview book in which Nordbø discusses humour with Norwegian comedians and comedy writers including Are Kalvø, Knut Nærum, Thomas Giertsen and Else Michelet.

ISBN 978-8-2032-9333-7

Aron Flam · 2012

A 276-page anthology of 'scenes from a stand-up life' with Jonas Gardell, Petra Mede, David Batra, Özz Nûjen, Magnus Betnér, Babben Larsson, Johan Glans and others.

ISBN 978-9-1709-2206-0

Paul Provenza, Dan Dion · 2010

Interviews and portraits of satirical comedians, from George Carlin to contemporary political acts.

ISBN 978-0-0618-5934-2

Mike Sacks · 2009

Craft interviews with humour writers across stand-up, print, television and film.

ISBN 978-1-6306-4011-8

Ritch Shydner, Mark Schiff · 2006

Short road stories collected from scores of American stand-ups about gigs that went spectacularly right or wrong.

ISBN 978-0-3073-4199-0

Larry Wilde · 1973

Long interviews with mid-century greats including Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Phyllis Diller and Woody Allen about how they work.

ISBN 978-0-8065-0388-2