Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy [Paperback]

Greg Dean (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 13, 2000

If you think you're funny, and you want others to think so too, this is the book for you! Greg Dean examines the fundamentals of being funny and offers advice on a range of topics, including:

• writing creative joke material
• rehearsing and performing routines
• coping with stage fright
• dealing with emcees who think they're funnier than you are
• getting experience
• and lots more.

Essential for the aspiring comic or the working comedian interested in updating his or her comedy routine, Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy is the most comprehensive and useful book ever written on the art of the stand-up comedian.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Greg Dean is a former Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus clown, a street performer, and a regular at the Comedy Store in Hollywood. Through his popular "Stand-Up Comedy Workshop" at the Santa Monica Playhouse, Dean has worked with many of today's top comics. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Heinemann Drama (July 13, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0325001790
• ISBN-13: 978-0325001791
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,679 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly the 'Dean of Comedy!', September 8, 2000

By 

Dr. Anthony Greblick III "Shemp Shady" (Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy (Paperback)

As someone who has been a lifelong stand-up comedy aficionado - either as an audience member or on-stage performer - I am very thrilled to have finally found a resource which offers a viable, understandable method for creating new stand-up material, on any premise of your choosing. As an added bonus, Greg Dean's method has also helped me to understand WHY funny material I `happened' to come up with previously IS indeed funny, making me feel more in control of the process, and providing the inspiration to create a wealth of new material I never otherwise would have. (So much so, in fact, that my index card and legal pad purchases are probably keeping Staples in business!)

Specifically, what I have found most helpful are: Greg Dean's instructions on how to perform material both from your own point of view (the `narrator POV') and from other characters' POVs, and how to keep the various POVs clear and distinct when performing; his explanation of how best to rehearse your material, so that during a show, you're not just aping material form a script memorized verbatim, but are instead recounting real, vivid experiences as though they were actually happening - much more liberating for the comic, and far more interesting and funny for the audience. The rehearsal process also allows you to modify or add to your routines as you rehearse, or even ON STAGE.

To paraphrase an old adage, Greg Dean truly does teach you HOW to fish, unlike so many other books on stand-up which just toss fish at you, or - worse still - merely describe what a fish looks like, and how to differentiate the various species of gilled ichthyic vertebrates. O Dean of Comedy, thank you!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Stand-Up Book, and More!, February 12, 2003

By 

RA Murphy (Mount Dora, Florida USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy (Paperback)

Greg Dean has written a great book for stand-up comics. First he shows you how to create jokes on any topic without having to wait for inspiration. Then you learn to assemble the material into a smooth, logical routine. Next he helps you rehearse and finally, he gets you up on stage to give the performance of your life - night after night!

As if that weren't enough, Greg has done two more things. First, he's defined a process for creating humor that works not just for stand-up but for all kinds of humor writing. Second, he's provided performance guides that apply equally well to speakers who "just" want to deliver a humorous presentation.

Now, if you're one of those purely intuitive, wait-for-the-thunderbolt-of-inspiration types, then maybe you won't find this book of as much value as the rest of us poor humorists do. But for anyone who's a serious student of the art and who wants to learn more about making funny, this book is a must have.

Darn Good Job, Greg Dean!

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY: A G R E A T comedy book!!!!!, September 18, 2000

By 

Joel L. Gandelman (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy (Paperback)

It's amazing how many books there are on writing and performing comedy, and how bad many of them are. I collect books on comedy and performers and I can say that FINALLY there is a book on comedy writing and performing that can TRULY make a difference. Greg Dean's system clears away a lot of the mystery and, step by step, can help you WRITE funnier, VIEW things funnier, and BE funnier. He clearly has spent years of time and thought on his system...and it W O R K S. How do I know? I'm a performer (ventriloquist -- I work with a dummy but he is not running for president...Greg is NOT responsible for that joke, folks..). His system has already helped me in countless ways. In fact, I will say it changed my whole way of looking at, writing, and performing humor. This book is not only one that I like for myself, but one that I'll be ordering for other people who are interested in comedy as GIFTS. This is NOT your usual how-to comedy book that you read and stick on a shelf. You'll use it -- and be influenced by it.