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It's a cliché that comedy is a serious business. And
like most cliches, it's got more than an element of truth.
After reading Franklyn Ajaye's incisive guide to the stand-up's
art, you might wonder why anyone would ever want to put themselves
through the relentless routine of writing, performing and honing
material that it takes to become a successful comedian.
Alternatively, if that craving to make 'em laugh still proves
irresistible after all 289 pages, at least you'll have picked
up a wealth of practical tips along the way.
Comic Insights is clearly aimed as a manual for the aspiring
stand-up, and the aspiring American stand-up at that. Given the
indefinable nature of comedy, Ajaye sensibly steers well clear
of providing advice on how to be funny, concentrating instead
on how to be more funny.
It's a book of three unequal thirds, starting with a definitive
'how to' guide for the would-be stand-up. This section is jam-packed
with invaluable pearls of wisdom about the mechanics of the craft.
These basic tips are often common sense, and are generally regarded
as universal truths among performers, but they do need to be
said, especially for the rookie.
Mostly, the key is self-awareness: knowing what makes your
voice and persona uniquely funny; knowing how your delivery,
stage presence and timing went,; and knowing how that affected
the laughs you get.
Sensibly, Ajaye recommends aspiring stand-ups study their
comedy idols to find out what makes them funny (though definitely
not trying to blindly emulate them) and suggests you always record
your faltering efforts on stage to analyse what went wrong -
or right.
The book's crammed full of such fundamental tips, which no
rookie should take to the stage without knowing.
Occasionally the language veers into the unfortunate buzzwords
of the training industry, down to the bullet points for people
too stupid to understand whole sentences, but there's no diluting
the rock-solid advice at the heart of it.
Ajaye might be unknown on these shores - and possibly to a
large extent in the US, too - but he has got 30 years of stage
time under his belt, and you can't deny that he knows what he's
talking about.
And even if you don't trust him, that experience has given
him access to a raft of established performers for the series
of honest interviews that comprise the bulk of the book.
Again, a lot of the names won't mean anything to your average
Brit - and even comedy connoisseur might have trouble placing
the likes of Louie Anderson and Richard Jeni. But these sit alongside
the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Garry Shandling and
Ellen DeGeneres any of whose advice has to be worth listening
too.
A lot of these interviews are fairly old - many date from
1992, and some are even more antiquated - but the advice is pretty
timeless, and comes from a collection of interview subjects that
covers a wide range of comedy styles.
Ajaye isn't always the best inteviewer (or hasn't got the
best editor), and has a habit of asking some dreadfully inconsequential
questions. For example, of all you could ask Roseanne, what influence
her Scorpio star sign has on her comedy wouldn't be top of most
people's lists. Nonetheless, the gems of truth always do emerge
alongside the trivia.
In the brief third portion of the book, Ajaye also talks to
a small cross-sections industry folk - agents, managers, promoters
- to provide a glimpse from that side of the business, too.
Some pieces of advice reveal a lot about the difference in
the US and UK scenes - I can't think that coping with your first
talk show appearance is as high on most British comic's worries
as it seems to be with the Americans.
But this informative book - somewhat similar to William Cook's
now out-of-print volume Ha Bloody Ha: Comedians Talking - should
prove invaluable anyone about to start on their comedic journey,
and even perhaps those with a couple of years under their belt.
Comic Insights is available on import from Amazon.co.uk
at £10.95 - more than £5 off the US price. Click
to buy.
Steve Bennett
Sept 30, 2002
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