A stand-up comedian puts on a solo, mostly impromptu show, without the help of props or other actors. It is one of the hardest stage acts to pull off successfully.

Stand-up comedy originated in the music halls of England in the 1800’s. Actors would sing, dance, and enact comic routines. It was similar to American vaudeville and burlesque.

By the 1970’s, music halls and vaudeville disappeared, to be replaced by working men’s clubs. Many actors who made it big on radio, television and in the movies started as working men’s club entertainers. Stand-up comedy can be a monologue based on amusing incidents, related like a story. It can be a series of sharp, witty one-liners, or a succession of jokes. Observational humour is a wacky take on day-to-day events.

Stand-ups can perform at any kind of venue  such as a club, a bar, a theatre or a party, since all they require is a microphone and a place to stand or sit. (Though it is called ‘stand-up’, many comedians perch on a stool or chair!)

Nowadays slapstick and gags have given way to wry political and social comment. There is usually a pithy message hidden in a standup’s act.

Indian stand-ups include Vir Das and Kapil Sharma. There are a handful of popular women stand-ups, too. Indians Bharti Singh and Aditi Mittal and American Sarah Silverman have performed in front of sold-out audiences. Comedy clubs also hold ‘open-mic’ nights in which novices can try their hand at stand-up.