The Structure of Stand-Up Comedy
Well done to the authors! This is a really compelling analysis, fun to "read". It's a great use of  the medium, pretty much the picture my imagination painted when (one of the whens) "multimedia books" were a thing of the future.<p>On stand-up comedy... I've heard more about the "making of" in recent years too, as comedians invaded podcasting. It's very interesting, how a joke or set evolves in the telling. I guess certain jokes and bits don't make the cut, but moreso, they are refined for timing, cadence and the stuff this article points out (kreshendo?).<p>A curious paralel is (perhaps) speech-making. There is someone on stage, live audience. They do the same talk/set over and over, to different crowds. Each time, the punches are fuunnier. The misdirections get more subtle. The impacts are better. The crowd cohesion grows.<p>Orration is ancient, and I suspect that stand up comedians have a lot in common with orators of the past, before mass media existed.<p>If you listen to (for example) a recorded malcolm X speech (I think he was exceptionally talented), you are probably listening to the 100th delivery of the speech. It didn't just pop out of his mouth with that much impact on day 1.