Stand-up tragedy

Stand-up tragedy is a style of tragic performance where a performer performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. The goal of Stand-up tragedy is to make the audience members cry.[1]

Format

Stand-up tragedy performances are usually long and employ the use of various media such as video, audio, highly emotional monologues and rants where the performer recites a fast-paced succession of tragic and disturbing stories. Stand-up tragedy is often performed in bars, nightclubs, private homes, art museums, galleries and universities.[2]

History

The origin of the term Stand up tragedy is unknown. The comedian Brother Theodore (1906–2001) used the term to describe his comedic act which was dark, and had an absurdist edge.[3] The Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919-2021) often referred to himself as a "stand-up tragedian", [4] and performance artist Bryan Lewis Saunders uses it to describe his own act in a more literal sense of the term.[5]

References
  1. Thacker, Johnathan. "Bryan Lewis Saunders Offers Original Material to the Area." East Tennessean 14 May 2010. Print.
  2. Mueller, Jon. "Interview: Bryan Lewis Saunders." Rhythmplex April 2009. Web. 26 April 2009. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 October 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Martin, Douglas. "Theodore Gottlieb, Dark Comic, Dies at 96." The New York Times. 6 April 2001. Print.
  4. W W Norton & Co Inc. Ferlinghetti, Lawrence. "Far Rockaway of the Heart." New Directions Publishing Corporation, Sept. 1998. Print. ISBN 0-8112-1398-6
  5. Pratt, Geoff & Gorman, Ty. "The Tragic Liberation of Bryan Lewis Saunders." Vision [Johnson City, TN] 15 November 2007: 4. Print.
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