Customer Reviews

Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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!

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!

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.

"I guess if you wanted diagram jokes like an english teacher this is a good book to learn from but, don't expect to get any laughs..." says an earlier reviewer. This book is to help joke writers write better jokes. If you're looking for laughs pick up Calivin and Hobbes. Every negative review that says that this book is it's too technical. Well that's why this book is excellent. It boils jokes down to a formula that will allow astute writers to write better jokes. Yes, you will have to wade through some linguistics to understand exactly what Dean is trying to say. I had to read it twice myself. But once I understood it was well worth the extra time.

Whoever Greg Dean is he's to be commended for an excellent and incisive tour through the joke-writing (and performing) process. This thing is a real soup to nuts guide, takes you from the beginning of how to formulate your funny ideas and then coaches you every step of the way along in order to realize them, rehearse them and perform them. They say there's a glut of stand up comedians out there. What there really is is a glut of BAD ONES. But people who are trying to be funny should get ahold of this no-nonsense guide to making plenty of nonsense. If you've got good ideas, this ought to help you develop them. Then you can be one of the GOOD ONES.... and god knows we need as many of those as we can get!

I loved Greg Dean's book. I've read other comedy books that talk about what it's like to write jokes but this is the only book I know of that actually walks you through the steps of writing jokes. It helped me write new jokes and gags for my act and it helped me polish the stuff I already was doing to make it better. The exercises make you actively do the work as opposed to just reading about it. I loved it.

Greg Dean is the dean of comedy! In this concise and well written book, he shows how anyone can use his tested and proven steps to come up with original jokes and be funny. It's a godsend for anyone who has ever wanted some hard and fast rules to figure out how to be amusing. Highly recommended!

An excellent book but not as good as: The Comedy Bible From Stand-Up to Sitcom : The Comedy Writer's Ultimate How-To-Guide by Judy Carter. It is still worth reading after or with the Carter book. Both books breakdown joke structure (Setup +Attitude +Topic +Premise +Act out) but Carter does a dramatically better job-especially on attitude. Carter's book is twice as big and at a lower price. It has more content or specificity page for page. There is more energy and conversational feel to the Carter Book. Dean regularly gets wordy and does not have Carter's to the point and hard hitting style. There are plenty of reasons to buy both books. Dean has an excellent chapter on playing points of view and two good chapters on rehearsal. Initially, it feels like his method turns rehearsal into an ordeal. His goal is to help separate your internal critic from the creative flow. For those that have used a microphone sparingly, that chapter may be helpful. Excellent chapters on performing and improving your act read well. The book ends with an upbeat emphasis that in comedy-rehearsal, editing and performing (with or with out compensation) are the enduring keys to success.

Greg Dean's "Step By Step To Stand Up Comedy" is like good-tasting yet powerful medicine. His uncommonly simple and sensical way of explaining the structure of comedy and the strategy for creating great comedy, is brilliant. I find this book an instant and constant idea-generator for me. As the author of the book, "Jack and Jill, Why They Kill," my subject--kids killing kids--could be perceived by those not wearing sunglasses as a dark topic. However, with "Step By Step To Stand Up Comedy" as my constant coach, I have been able to illuminate and elevate my topic so much that people don't exodus the hall when I am introduced but actually stay for my entire presentations, as much for the jokes they contain, as for the vital message of how to rear violence-free, bully-free, and gun-free children. Bravo, Greg Dean...and thank you!

There are a lot of books out there about stand up comedy that are full of opinions, and even some useful advice. Mr. Dean's book has all that PLUS actual joke writing technique based on a break through theory of joke structure that is absolutely unique.

There isn't another book out there on comedy writing and performing that can match this one for usefulness and substance. What Stanislovsky did for acting Greg Dean does for stand up.