Stand-up comedy and the pursuit of Cultural legitimacy

In different parts of the world, new bickering has begun that stand-up comedy is not a cultural thing but it’s a pursuit to cry out the vulgarity in the voices of artists.

The Arts Council England (ACE) has recently taken the extraordinary step of incorporating comedy as a genre of theatre under the provisions of the Culture Recovery Fund, which is part of the emergency response package to assist cultural institutions in recovering from the pandemic's impact. However, the council has noted explicitly on its website that this was enforced by the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport and does not imply that comedy clubs would be eligible for future ACE money.

This single outing of comedy clubs highlights the ACE's distaste for standup in the past, implying that now is the ideal moment to reconsider standup comedy as an art form.

Standup comedy is developed collaboratively by the performer, the audience, the venue, and the promoter, rather than only by the performer. A standup comedy show must be presented in such a manner that it contextualizes the performance to come, much as a theatre is set up to support dramatic performance or a gallery is illuminated to display paintings.

The famous sight of a solitary microphone on a stand in a spotlight evokes standup comedy without saying anything.

Unlike many other types of art, standup performance is more analogous to a reactive dialogue, with laughter and other reactions constituting the majority of the audience's response. As the actor replies, this quick audience critique often influences the evolving production. Finally, it is the promoter's and compère's responsibility to establish an environment in which standup comedy may thrive, from promoting the performance to creating the show's line-up and presenting the performers.

Now is the ideal time to invest artistic credibility in something that is a fundamental fixture of British life and a very broad church. Invest now in “art for art's sake” to ensure the future of standup comedy, for all our sakes.

With all that said: Yonkers Comedy Club and its great ambiance provide all types of great talent an opportunity to come on board and entertain the audience of the club.

Yonkers Comedy Club is your go-to place if you are becoming a comedian, or want to explore yourself in the domain, we have many occasions where it could be a learning curve for you and we can definitely empower your talent in the best way.