In my head I often imagine an alternative bizarro world where the likes of Boothby Graffoe and Phil Kay are primetime household names rather than maverick outliers. Adam Bloom is someone else who really should be a lot more famous. He's certainly got the respect of his comedy circuit peers after nearly thirty years in the business. And this book should earn him even more respect. It calls itself an in-depth guide to stand-up, but at times it feels so knowledgeable it seems like a stand-up bible. Every aspiring comic should have one.
And in-depth it certainly is. It is nearly 300 pages long and goes into the absolute granular nitty gritty of stand-up. It's the ultimate training manual for gagsmiths.
Because yes, even the best comedians write material, work on their material and hone their material. It would be nice to think that the biggest stars just riff away, but usually they have it all written down somewhere. I remember interviewing a big arena star in their study and was initially shocked when they pulled a script of their set out of they drawer. I'm a bit more clued up these days. And even more clued up now I've read Bloom's book.
Bloom offers all sorts of tips on crafting material. How to open, how to build a story, how to remember those all important punchline components he calls "balloons" and "seesaws". There's a lot of jargon here to help you on your way. Bloom makes a point that seems obvious when you think about it. Every word should count. Ok, so you've got some funny material. Now go over it and make it funnier. And then go over it again and make it even funnier.
And, of course, it's not just the words that count, it's the rhythms, the beats. There's advice on all of this here. He offers examples of lines that initially sound good and then he offers tweaked versions that are clearly better. And, of course, there's advice on when and where to swear for maximum effect.
There's a romantic idea that the art of comedy should be freewheeling and not something to be studied and worked on. But of course that's bollocks. You might argue that if Bloom knows so much why isn't he playing arenas. But then top golfers and top tennis players have coaches who might not have won as many grand slams and championships. It doesn't mean they aren't the best coaches.
It's worth adding that as well as being an essential guide for anyone who fancies being a stand-up (and for anyone who is starting out as a stand-up and also for quite a lot of established stand-ups) Bloom's book is funny too, thanks to jokes from Bloom, Tim Vine and others. To paraphrase a famous saying that he references, despite the fact that he dissects routines like a scientist dissecting a frog, the jokes still survive. Maybe that shows how good he is at his craft.
Buy
