RedModern stand-up history
Richard Pryor, 1979: A Stand-Up Set Becomes the Whole Movie
What Richard Pryor’s 1979 concert film can teach us about the difference between written material and a whole performance.
Read the storyThe Red Blog
Let’s talk
about comedy.
Read about how comedians work, or try a writing exercise and see where it takes you.
Writing craft
After the Set: Turn Audience Response into a Rewrite
Choose one moment from a live set, separate the response from your best guess, and decide what to try at the next show.
Work on the next versionWriting craft
One Small Annoyance, Five Comic Angles
Start with one small irritation, try five angles, then write three endings. See which detail or attitude makes the bit feel like yours.
Try the writing exerciseThe work behind the laugh
Stand-up history
When George Carlin Changed His Act
How did George Carlin change his act? Look at the years behind the change, then try an original writing prompt about the words in your own draft.
Read the storyRadio & collaboration
Red Skelton, Edna Stillwell, and the Work Behind the Laugh
A look at Edna Stillwell’s contributions to Red Skelton’s work, followed by an original writing prompt about taking a useful note from a writing partner.
Read the storyFrom the note to the set
Three practical guides to working on your own comedy material in Red’s private preview.
Capture & organize
Keep the idea worth coming back to.
Save the detail, sort your Inbox and keep your Library useful as the notes grow.
Develop a draft
Give the bit somewhere to go.
Use the Board to arrange possibilities, then choose what belongs in the draft.
Build & organize
Build the set for your next show.
Choose the material, find what belongs together and shape an order for the room.
Where we’re headed
We’re planning a new post each week: writing exercises, stand-up history and stories from early radio.
Writing craft
Something to try.
Try a sharper detail or a different ending, then read the line aloud.
Stand-up history
Voices that changed.
Performers, rooms and approaches that shaped stand-up from the 1970s onward.
Early radio
Behind the microphone.
Writers and performers, including Red Skelton, and the collaborations behind familiar voices.