Comedy Book: Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy by Greg Dean

This is the first guide to Stand-Up Comedy that I read.

I first bought it as an AudioBook two months before my stand-up comedy debut and I am glad I did.  I was so impressed with the content, I bought the ‘hard copy’ as well.

I found ‘Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy’ very easy to listen to and read.  Greg Dean takes what is potentially a very complex subject and breaks it down to easy steps.  He gives excellent explanations of each step as well as giving lots of well-thought-out examples.  Throughout the book Greg practices what he preaches – he peppers the text with examples of his humour as well as providing the formal how-to examples.

Greg Dean gives some excellent and comprehensive examples of building a substantial themed ‘bit’ – showing how to write the jokes, then order them with tags and call-backs.

I have since read several more guides to comedy and Greg Dean’s remains my favourite.  Some of the other comedy books I have read are also great, but this was a superb first-read as it was very easy to follow and I found it easy to implement each idea or technique that Greg shared.  I have recommended this book to several comedian colleagues who have asked me about books, and I have even bought two non-comedian friends this book for its general interest value.

Greg has experience, not only as a stand-up comedian, but also in teaching people to perform stand-up and I think that gives him a huge advantage with this book – he already knows the common questions and objections that he would get in his comedy classes, so he seems to have covered the basics really, really well.

If there is a better first book to read for a stand-up comedian just starting out, I am not yet aware of it.

Check out Greg Dean’s Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy!

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