How to be a stand-up

BBC Learning¹ EnglishLondon LifeHow to be a stand-upAnna: Hello, I'm Anna Jones and in today’s programme we’re going to be talkingabout comedy.
　　BBC Learning English reporter Clare Mace² recently spoke³ tostand up comedian⁴ Shappi Korsandi to ask for some tips onhow to make people laugh. A stand-up comedian is someonewho stands up on stage in front of an audience and tellsjokes and funny stories to make them laugh. Shappi isIranian and comes from London – Clare asked her whatqualities you need as an individual to become a stand upcomedian. As you listen try to note down what qualitiesShappi describes.
　　Shappi KorsandiYou need to have a very thick skin, you need to have a lotof confidence, you need to be able to take rejection⁵ welland by well I mean you need to have a kind of madness aboutyou – that even when you don’t do well on stage, evenwhen the audience boo you - you must have a need to getback on a stage again the next day. So you’ve got to be alittle bit crazy, a little bit mental and above all elseyou have to really want to do it more than anything else.
　　Anna: Shappi says that you need a “very thick skin” –which means you need to be not easily made unhappy bycriticism. The opposite of this is to have a “thin skin”
　　– which means that you become unhappy very quickly ifcriticised. She also says that you need to have a lot of “confidence” – you need to be certain of your ownabilities. Shappir says that you need to be able to “takerejectionwell” – you have to accept that others do not like or donot accept what you aredoing.
　　Vox: He’s got a very thick skin – he never noticeswhen people are laughing at him.
　　She always gets upset when people criticise⁶ her – she’sgot a very thin skinWhen he wasn’t picked for the national team he took therejection very well.
　　Anna: As well as these qualities Shappi says that standup comedians⁷ need to have a bit of madness about them too -She uses two other words which also mean a little mad –those words are “crazy” and “mentalAnna: Shappi goes on to talk about how you learn theskill of becoming a stand up comedian. How can youlearn how to do it?
　　Shappi KorsandiObviously it’s not a job that you can study at college –you have to learn on the job. But if you stick at it forlong enough and if you do just get better and better thedifference between stand up comedy and other art forms likeacting for example – you can be the best actor in thewhole world but not get a job but as long as you’re a goodstand up you’ll always earn a living. So actually it’s areally good living – it’s a bit like being a bricklayer– it’s a skill that you have and as long as no-one tearsyour tongue out you can always make a living from it.
　　Anna: According to Shappi you need to learn “on the job,” which means you can’t learn how to do it at college –you have to learn the skill while doing the job. She saysif you “stick at it” for long enough – if you carry ondoing it for long enough – then you you just get betterand better – you improve all the time. Shappi believe youcan always earn or make a living from stand up – you canalways support yourself and get enough money to live on.
　　So what would be her advice to people wanting to becomestand-up comics? What does she say?
　　Shappi KorsandiMy advice would be to watch as much comedy, as much livecomedy as you can and learn from it and just start doingit. Get three or four minutes of material together and justperformit and die, and perform it and die, perform it and die‘cos that’s the only way you’re going to learn. And whatdo you mean by die? Dying⁸ is when you’re on stage andnobody laughs and its called dying because it feels likedeath!
　　Anna: Shappi’s advice to aspiring⁹ stand ups – if youaspire to do something then you really want to do it – heradvice is to watch a lot of stand up comedians performingand then start performing yourself. Perform it and die, shesays. By this she means, tell your jokes and get used topeople not laughing at them. So I suppose that’s what shemeans by comics needing to have a thick skin – they haveto get used to people not laughing at their jokes but carryon performing anyway.
　　Well I’m afraid we can’t carry on anymore so join usagain next time.

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 mace   

n.狼牙棒，豆蔻干皮

参考例句：

• The sword and mace were favourite weapons for hand-to-hand fighting.剑和狼牙棒是肉搏战的最佳武器。
• She put some mace into the meat.她往肉里加了一些肉豆蔻干皮。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

5 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

6 criticise   

v.批评，评论；非难

参考例句：

• Right and left have much cause to criticise government.左翼和右翼有很多理由批评政府。
• It is not your place to criticise or suggest improvements!提出批评或给予改进建议并不是你的责任！

7 comedians   

n.喜剧演员，丑角( comedian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The voice was rich, lordly, Harvardish, like all the boring radio comedians'imitations. 声音浑厚、威严，俨然是哈佛出身的气派，就跟无线电里所有的滑稽演员叫人已经听腻的模仿完全一样。 来自辞典例句
• He distracted them by joking and imitating movie and radio comedians. 他用开玩笑的方法或者模仿电影及广播中的滑稽演员来对付他们。 来自辞典例句

8 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

9 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句