Initial Origins: Minstrel Shows

Stand-up comedy as a style ultimately is quite simple. There is a comic, an audience, and nothing else. However, it is also quite different from how it has traditionally occurred. Prior to the evolution of stand-up comedy, it was typically delivered via the written word or through some sort of theatrical performance. Stand-up shows were simple and raw.

In tracing the origins of stand-up comedy, you tend to go back to one specific aspect of history – minstrel shows. This is a bit of an unfortunate origin of a genre as minstrel shows were incredibly racist. Performed throughout the United States, these types of shows began in the 1830s.

Types of Shows

Minstrel shows were essentially variety-type shows. They mainly featured musical acts but would also include other entertainment such as dancing, skits, and – as we will explain in a moment – something that resembled stand-up comedy. However, minstrel shows are perhaps most known for the fact that they were performed by white people wearing blackface.

Thus, it will not surprise you to learn that these minstrel shows were incredibly racist in nature. These performers in blackface would act as black people and use stereotypes to generate laughs, typically portraying black people as dumb or superstitious. Popular characters included slaves and plantation setups. These types of shows became incredibly popular in the United States and flourished for half a century before ultimately going away in the early 1900s.

How can the origins of stand-up comedy be seen in minstrel shows? Some shows would include comic routines that involved a short setup followed by a punchline. However, this can be differentiated from modern stand-up shows by the structure. Instead of one person being on stage and performing, there would be two people. One person would serve to setup the joke while the second would apply the punch line.

The Vaudeville Era 

If you know anything about the history of stand-up shows, you know that vaudeville was a major catalyst in driving the genre forward. In fact, when exploring the origins of stand-up comedy, you could easily argue that stand-up was fully developed during this era. Vaudeville shows were also variety shows. Vaudeville first became popular in the 1880s and dominated the United States scene until the 1920s.

Grand Theatre in Buffalo, NY (1900s)
Source: American Studies at the University of Virginia.
(Category: Theaters in the US)

The center location for Vaudeville was New York City. The Palace Theater was the center of this movement; however, other theaters quickly sprung up. There were many places to see vaudeville performed in New York City. After a decade or so, theaters could be found in many communities throughout the United States and even spread to some areas of Canada.

These variety shows included virtually any form of entertainment that could be thought of. Acts were incredibly short in nature, typically comprising five minutes or less. You would see musicians, singers, dancers, magicians, feats of strength, ventriloquism, jugglers, acrobats, and all sorts of other performers.

A New Dynamic

As vaudeville grew, comedy adapted itself to this new dynamic. At the time, most comedians in the United States told long stories with a humorous payoff, a style that is perhaps best associated with author Mark Twain. This style of humor obviously didn’t fit with vaudeville’s fast-paced style. Thus, performers in vaudeville typically got laughs from the audience in one of two ways.

Some performers would use a slapstick style of comedy with physical comedy such as pie in the face gags, falling, and other aspects. Others used their words to engender laughs. With a limited time, comedians began to develop the quick setup and punch line style of performance that became the foundation for stand-up comedy. In fact, you could even argue that many of the vaudeville performers were stand-up comics themselves.

This delivery was initially created due to the short time in front of the audience. However, it also served an important purpose as vaudeville evolved. By the 1910s, vaudeville had evolved into primarily featuring burlesque dancers with a few other acts in between. Thus, the major draw was female nudity. This meant other performers had to be incredibly talented in order to entertain the audience as they waited for the next person to strip. As such, comedians worked rapid-fire delivery with cliché topics such as bad wives, infidelity, and being poor.

Vaudeville ultimately saw its end in the 1920s. There were two major reasons for this. First, the shift to burlesque resulted in legislation against the shows in many locations. Secondly, the development of films brought audiences away from vaudeville and to theaters.

The First Famous Stand-up Comedian

While there were many people locally known for their vaudeville performances, the first person that could be called a famous stand-up comic is likely Will Rogers. He began his career performing on vaudeville. His success led to a movie contract, the first of over 70 films. He also penned syndicated newspaper columns, getting his name in front of people throughout the world.

As a result of this fame, Will Rogers was able to tour around the world. He ultimately completed three world tours where he performed stand-up comedy for audiences. He often included social commentary as part of his act, which came to him naturally as it was often the basis of his newspaper columns. Sadly, his life was cut short when he died in an airplane crash in Alaska in 1935.

A Modern Look at an Old Art

It may surprise people that the origins of stand-up comedy occurred as early as the 1830’s with the art form taking its modern shape by the early twentieth century. While stand-up comedy did not reach its modern level of popularity until the 1970s, it was a standard feature in society from the end of vaudeville, with comics being popular acts on televised shows like The Ed Sullivan Show.

Today, you can see top comics in Montreal shows at Comedyville. We welcome anyone to join us for our upcoming English comedy shows. We know you’ll leave happy after a night of laughter.

Post by Eddie Case, exclusively for Comedyville.ca, All rights reserved.

The post Origins of Stand-Up Comedy appeared first on Comedy Club in Montreal - Comedyville.

If you were to ask an American, they’d likely claim credit for inventing stand-up (big surprise, right?). And while America did play a major role in its development, its origins can actually be traced to the 1300s in Europe.

The Ancient English Comedy Clubs

While formal comedy has existed for likely as long as human society, the first thing resembling stand-up lies in the history of court jesters. In fact, the king’s courts in England served as the first English clubs, with royals and other guests often gathering to witness performances by the court jester.

Court jesters often have a reputation of playing a fool. However, the reality is that these people were quite intelligent and played many roles. They would act a fool and practice crude humour but also typically came with a wide array of talents such as magic tricks, card tricks, and rather witty comedy.

Many jesters gained popularity for their social commentary that would mock the power of the court. In many ways, they said what others couldn’t say, much like Comedyville Comedy Club’s famous late-night comedy show. While generally given comedic freedom, they would sometimes push a bit too far and be expelled from the court.

Vaudeville and the Rise of Stand-up Style

Tracing the history of stand-up comedy is quite interesting because there is not a clear, straightforward path. Instead, there are many stops and starts. The next major starts occurred fairly simultaneously across an ocean, with one originating in France during the late-nineteenth century.

Vaudeville was an incredibly popular type of variety show that quickly spread from Paris across the world. Here, people would watch a series of short acts including acrobatics, dancing, and feats of strength. However, found amidst these shows were short comedy acts designed with rapid setups and punch lines, aimed at keeping the audience laughing in quick secession.

This is notable because the style employed in the vaudeville shows is quite distinct from other comedic orators at the time. While a person being funny to a crowd was not new, this style was. At the time, most comedic performances served more as longer stories that delivered a few laughs here and there and an eventual payoff. However, this new style was different in that it did not require patience from the audience. Success was not measured by the narration but rather by the laughs.

Minstrel Shows & Burlesque: America’s Contribution

While vaudeville was getting its start in France, another form of comedy was developing in the United States. Minstrel shows became popular in the US during the 1840s. These shows were three-act performances that were racist in nature, typically showing actors in blackface. The second act of a minstrel show typically was a comedic monologue.

This tactic found its way into burlesque shows in New York by the late-nineteenth century. While burlesque was known for sultry stripteases, performers would often also utilize humour that leveraged stereotypes and sexually suggestive puns to appeal to the crowd. The famous “Who’s on First” routine was initially a burlesque performance.

The integration of stand-up, short monologue style delivery seen in vaudeville and burlesque eventually branched out on its own. Rather than sandwiched between other performances, stand-up comedy was established as the feature act by the 1940s when comedians such as Jack Benny, George Burns, and Bob Hope left vaudevillian acts to tour on their own. Late-night shows like the Ed Sullivan Show and Tonight Show regularly featured stand-up comics.

Differentiation, a Comedy Boom, and the Birth of the Modern Comedy Club

By the 1970s, stand-up had evolved considerably. In fact, many people point to this decade as the birth of modern stand-up. You could easily see many different types of stand-up as artists differentiated their acts. Of course, there was family-friendly comedy that typically reflected on small-town life and leveraged puns. There were those who would roast the audience and fellow comedians, others developed improv, and still others who were impressionists. However, many became known for social commentary.

Comedians like Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor used their humour for social commentary on racial issues. George Carlin was famously arrested in the United States for performing a bit, “Seven Words You Can’t Say on Television”. Stand-up began to boom, with clubs opening in major cities around the globe in the 1970s and 1980s. Stand-up was popular in a myriad of cultures from Europe to Brazil, Mexico to India.

By the 1980s, stand-up comedy could be found virtually everywhere. Top performers even began taking their acts from the club to large concert halls. It was during the 1980s when stand-up was rapidly spreading around the world, that it also began to see strong popularity in Canada.

History of Stand-up Comedy in Canada

After the first Canadian comedy club opened in Toronto, clubs quickly popped up throughout the nation. In only a few years, popular clubs could be found in nearly every major city. The growth in Canadian clubs meant that aspiring comics could earn a living without having to travel abroad to perform. These clubs also became a testing ground for many Canadian comedians such as Norm MacDonald, Howie Mandel, and Jim Carrey, helping to launch them to fame in television and movies.

Meanwhile, the founding of the Just for Laughs comedy festival (Festival Juste Pour Rire) established Montreal as a major scene for Francophone comedy. The festival occurs for two weeks each July and features both French and English-speaking acts, providing strong diversity in comedic styles. Its success has given it the honour of being the largest comedy festival in the world.

While stand-up seemed to lose a bit of popularity in the 1990s, it has since rebounded and continues to flourish today. Simply put, people love to laugh. It is not surprising that major cities continue to have strong stand-up scenes. Stand-up in Montreal continues to be popular today including English clubs like Comedyville.

Looking for a laugh? Check out our upcoming shows! We’d love to have you join us to celebrate this art form that has been in development for centuries.

Post by Eddie Case, exclusively for Comedyville.ca, All rights reserved.

The post History of Stand-Up Comedy appeared first on Comedy Club in Montreal - Comedyville.