page_title: Stand-up comedy
section_title: The set
hierarchical_section_title: Stand-up comedy / The comedian's set / The set
caption_attribution_description: LycettPascoeGreen290518-4
context_page_description: Stand-up comedy is a comic style in which a comedian performs in front of a live audience, usually speaking directly to them. The performer is commonly known as a comic, stand-up comic, comedian, comedienne, stand-up comedian, or simply a stand-up. Comedians give the illusion that they are dialoguing, but in actuality, they are monologuing a grouping of humorous stories, jokes and one-liners, typically called a shtick, routine, act, or set. Some stand-up comedians use props, music or magic tricks to enhance their acts. Stand-up comedy is stated to be the "freest form of comedy writing" that is regarded as a fictionalized "extension of" the person performing.
context_section_description: A traditional set is made of jokes (setup and punchline), bits (a joke or "3 or 4 jokes"), and chunks (multiple bits linked by a topic that may last "10-15 minutes"). The funniest words go on the ends of sentences and the biggest laughs go on the ends of long bits. 
  Once a setup is established for a bit, the subsequent jokes should decrease in length.
  A segue is the link between jokes. 
  A callback is a reference to a previous joke. Bombing refers to when a comedian has failed to get an intended laugh. A stand-up comedian uses a persona or character to deliver their jokes. The quality of a comedian's material is more important than their persona, unless they are well known. Other sources say that personality trumps material. A good comedian will create a tendentious-like tension that the audience releases with laughter. This is known as a "relief/release" laugh. A comedian's stand-up persona/voice consists of the type of material they perform, the format of the material, the aggregate set, the comedian's rapport with the audience, and the comedian's "own identity."
caption: Sara Pascoe performing at the Up the Creek Comedy Club, London
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