Product Description

A practical, hands-on guide for actors and performers, written by an experienced stand-up comic. Covers writing, character, delivery, performance, set structure, audiences, professional work and includes helpful tips.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43023 in Books
• Published on: 1998-04-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 214 pages

From the Publisher
Publishers Weekly Likes Zen
"Toronto-based comedian Jay Sankey offers aspiring stand-up comics a career's worth of wisdom...His advice -- both thought-provoking and practical -- covers material, character, style, performance, and dealing with audiences." --Publishers Weekly (5/11/98)

From the Back Cover
The sound of one hand clapping may be the performer's worst nightmare. In this engaging and disarmingly frank book, comic Jay Sankey spills the beans, explaining not only how to write and perform stand-up comedy, but how to improve and perfect your work.

This unique insider's look explores the finer points of stand-up comedy, including sources for ideas and writing the jokes; taking the stage, delivery and timing; dealing with nerves; breaking in new material;relating to the audience; marketing and self-promotion; and much more. Sankey enriches the understanding of anyone who is thinking about a career in this profession. Much more than a how-to manual, Zen and the Art of Stand-Up Comedy is the most detailed and comprehensive book on the topic to date. It is an invaluable reference tool for amateurs and professionals, a thought-provoking look at performance art, and a source of inspiration for anyone seeking artistic growth.

About the Author
Jay Sankey is a stand-up comic, writer, and cartoonist. For more then twenty years he has performed around the world and has made numerous television appearances. He lives in Toronto.

Customer Reviews

An utterly worthless book.
Sankey has produced an utterly worthless book; trite in the extreme. Some of the advice is obvious. Some of the advice is wrong. If anything it is 'How to be a hack comedian'. But why would the world want another one of those?

Informative, educative and comprehensive!!
A book which puts you on a stage and basically nutures, mold and scolds you, it's enlightning and eye-opening insights into the "bright" world of stand-up comedy never fail to hit the spot. A must read for every wannabe stand up comedian. From the young to the old, it ministers to all.

don't judge a book by it's cover
zen and the art of stand up all sounds a bit new age, but thankfully not the book, an education on all aspects of stand-up, from writing through to performing.