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Stand-up Comedy
简体
Stand-up Comedy
单人脱口秀

Learn English with this comedy English lesson

Date: Jun 12 2013

Themes: Pop Culture

Grammar: Present Perfect Tense

Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Do you like to tell jokes? If so, have you ever thought about getting up on the stage at a comedy club and performing in front of an audience as a stand-up comedian? It must be a really stressful experience. Either you’ll tell some great one-liners that have the audience roaring, or your duds will fill the room with silence. Many of today’s most popular comedians, such as Jay Leno, Woody Allen, and Jerry Seinfeld, started out as stand-ups.

One of the most exciting things about seeing a comedian perform live can be that question of whether the stand-up’s jokes will succeed or fall flat. It’s just not the same when you’re listening to a comedy recording or watching a video. Find out what Greta and Mason think about stand-up comedy in this comedy English lesson.

你喜欢讲笑话吗?如果喜欢的话,你是否想过登上喜剧俱乐部的舞台,像一位脱口秀谐星一样,在观众面前表演。这肯定会是一次令人紧张的经历。或许你会讲一些非常精彩的俏皮话,逗得满堂大笑,也或许你表现得很糟糕,观众席上一片沉默。如今最火的喜剧明星中有很多都是从脱口秀节目开始走红的,例如杰·雷诺 (Jay Leno)、伍迪·艾伦 (Woody Allen) 和杰瑞·宋飞 (Jerry Seinfeld)。

观看喜剧明星现场表演时,最让人兴奋的事情之一就是看这个单人喜剧演员的笑话会不会成功。这和你听喜剧录音或看视频完全不同。在本节以喜剧为话题的英语课上,看看格里塔和梅森对单人脱口秀有何感想。

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Greta

Greta

Mason

Mason

Greta:  Hey, do you like stand-up comedy?

Mason:  I do like stand-up comedy.

Greta:  Really? Well, one of the new things that stand-up comedians are doing is putting together festivals, which are weekend-long giant events where all these stand-up comedians will descend on a city, and it’s sort of like a smorgasbord of stand-up comedy. Have you ever been to one of those?

Mason:  You know, I haven’t, but it sounds great, because I don’t really like comedy clubs. For as much as I like stand-up comedy, I find that the places who host it are generally terrible.

Greta:  Yeah, that’s true. I prefer seeing comedy live to watching it recorded, like on TV, but you’re absolutely right about comedy clubs.

Mason:  I totally agree with the live thing, because I find when they’re doing more recorded specials, that’s all the polished material. They’ve already honed all of those jokes. You don’t get any of those candid moments when they just throw out some one-liner, kind of off the cuff.

Greta:  That’s true. And you also don’t get those moments where a comedian you really like has such a dud of a joke. And it’s kind of fun to see somebody try something and fail at it and try something else.

Mason:  Yup.

 

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

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Greta and Mason both like stand-up comedy. That means they both enjoy hearing comedians stand up and tell jokes to an audience. Greta’s excited because she wants to go to a comedy festival, which is an event where many comedians come to a city and perform all over town.

Mason thinks this sounds good, because maybe all the performances won’t be in comedy clubs. He likes comedy, but he often doesn’t like comedy clubs. This is hard for him because he still prefers live comedy to recorded comedy.

Greta feels the same way. She likes that when you see a comedian perform live, you can see them a little less rehearsed. That might result in some great jokes, and also some duds. Either way, it shows that even a funny comedian can fall flat sometimes.

Do you like stand-up comedy? Who is your favorite comedian? Who is the funniest person you know?

 

Comments

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Drmahsa1995

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

i really like comedies.. my favorite comedian is MR BEAN he is so funny  ..when ever i watch his comedies i can not refrain from laughing and thats the reason why he is so famous around the world

08:11 PM Aug 26 2013 |

danielenglish

Chile

In chile is common to watch stand comedy in television, It has a programa called “el club de la comedia”, it’s very good and funny




05:28 AM Jul 29 2013 |

moBna98

moBna98

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

i’m agree with greta :) also live comedy makes me laugh more :D


02:56 PM Jun 13 2013 |

ken_

ken_

China

Like stand up comedy

12:27 PM Jun 13 2013 |

cloud

cloud

Qatar

Actually, I don’t like stand-up comedy! $:

10:39 PM Jun 12 2013 |

Nijar

Nijar

Egypt

I love comedians much, in addition to improvisation; either live or not I prefer off the cuff more than written one. I’m not bold enough to up on a stage and represent a live show wherever, on the other hand I adore one-liners with my friends, Laugh heartly!!!!!!!!!


I have a friend who really fills our school days, trips, everywhere we go with hysterical laughing. It’s a talent to make someone laughs from the heart! Guys, Do you know how many face muscles move, when you smile? And how many body muscles move, when you laugh? How many calories you burn ,when you laugh? Do you have any idea that only laugh which can do a sport for some of your face muscles? Really ,really if you know ,you won’t stop laughing!!            

08:10 PM Jun 12 2013 |

Kresnyk

Kresnyk

Spain

I don’t like so much stand-up comedy. There was a TV programme which about comedians and monologues but I only watched when I was channel-surfing. Sometimes I liked the monologue and others I didn’t like it.
On the other hand, I have gone to stand-up live comedy. I find it funny, but for me it’s not the “funniest” thing that I can do and I prefer spend my time in another kind of activities.

03:15 PM Jun 12 2013 |

LiJie

LiJie

China

I like stand-up comedy, but I’ve never seen a live one, just seen someones in TV-show. It’s so attractive , because every joke is not arranged and planned before the performance, but is off the cuff. During the performance, all the people inculding the comedian never know what will happen next. This kind of comedy make comedians stressful so much, but bring audients incredible fun.

02:02 PM Jun 12 2013 |

ola33

ola33

Japan

I think it’s in person’s blood to be a stand up comedian. It involves many aspects like gestures, the tone of the voice, the timing of the joke ( when is the best time to throw a punchline, in order to be more effective) and even on-the-spur-of the-moment actions. The stand-up comedian is in the groove with the audience, sort of feel it how to present more effectively.. It’s one of the thing that kind of inherited, othewise get the job as an undertaker :)


01:44 PM Jun 12 2013 |

manoj7737_saxen

India

comedy is really very good because it makes cry people laugh. in these stress enviornment we must be remove our stress to see any episode or live show.


01:22 PM Jun 12 2013 |

shaerwan

shaerwan

Syrian Arab Republic

i love it

09:58 AM Jun 12 2013 |

egss777

egss777

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

 live comedy is great .and more attractive

07:42 AM Jun 12 2013 |

NuriaRuiz

NuriaRuizSuper Member!

Spain

Here where i live there is only one good comedian. It is great to see him live. Once he tried to act in TV but it was not the same.

06:36 AM Jun 12 2013 |

1 person likes this

candy4456

candy4456

Hong Kong

I’ve never seen any stand-up comedy but it sounds great. I would like to see some one day. It is interesting to see comedians perform live. I don’t have a favorite comedian since I seldom watch comedies. The funniest person I know is one of my classmates. He always make up jokes and tell them aloud at class, so he always gets into trouble!

03:14 AM Jun 12 2013 |

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