Attitude - wanna make something of it? : The Secret of Stand-Up Comedy - Softcover

Tony Allen

3.5

26 ratings by Goodreads

9780906362563: Attitude - wanna make something of it? : The Secret of Stand-Up Comedy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0906362563 ISBN 13: 9780906362563

Publisher: Gothic Image, 2002

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Advocate Heckler, Anarchist Parasite and Mixed-Ability Shaman, Tony Allen calls his book the fruits of at least 25 years full-time work, play and mischief . .....I was watching Tony Blair recently on the telly addressing a conference. He walked on beaming and waving and then, while the crowd were still applauding, he 'apparently' recognised someone in the audience, pointed at them and made like he knew them and clearly hadn't seen them for some time. I first saw Clinton do it. I've got my own version of the same thing. It's a ploy. What comes across is 'Hey! Good to see you. Glad you could make it. How's the family? Nice one. Catch up with you laters.' What is really going on is the performer is demolishing the fourth wall and bonding with the room - 'I don't know you, I've never met you before and let's keep it that way. But hey, I'm an opportunist and you are my way of establishing a connection with this audience'. Politicians are learning the skills of the live performer. No big surprise there, until I saw news footage from Serbia and Vuk Drascovic was using the same technique. What next? The Indonesian Generals? 'Hey! Good to see you. How's the family? Do you want to see them again?'

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Review:

Tony Allen is the John The Baptist of modern comedy...Illuminating and irritating, exasperating yet exhilarating, this book is partial, opinionated and intensely personal and that's precisely what makes it so readable. - --The Guardian Guide

There's a helluva lot here to set the mind racing and get the creative juices flowing. - --Malcolm Hay, Time Out

Synopsis:

Tony Allen is a brilliant stand-up comedian and seminal figure in the history of British comedy. Founder of Alternative Cabaret, he extended the possibilities of the stand-up format by challenging the cheap bigotry of the comedy scene, making it wild, confrontational and absurd. This is the first edition of his Collected Works, what he calls "the fruits of at least 25 years full-time work, play and mischief".

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