From Stand-up to Sitcom

My hypothesis is that stand-up comedians are solicited for sitcoms and do them so successfully because these comedians have already developed a persona that engages people and gets laughs. The non-stand-up stars of other sitcoms have a persona created for them by the writers, the producer, and the directorùa persona that is not of them, but is artificially induced. Stand-up comedians, on the other hand, have developed a persona that has been forged from their personal experience, their inner being, and their own observations. It is funny, yesùbut it is also authentic. I contend that it is this authenticity of the comedian and his humor that translates well from one medium to another and that this is what the American public responds to so enthusiastically. The stand-up comic is for real, and people can tell.

The transition from stand-up comic to sitcom a

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with the starö (ôJerry Seinfeldö). All of this lends that almost imperceptible verisimilitude to the scripts, the body language, and the delivery that make ôSeinfeldö a show that people connect with and find funny. Michael Richards, the hilarious ôKramerö of the ôSeinfeldö show, was formerly a stand-up comic also and describes the way he employs that in his work: I'm always looking for an action that is funnier than the language," Richards says. "I like to do funny rather than say funny, but if you can bring them both together, that's great. I love to find the physical moments because that is something that transcends the language (Phan). Richards used both verbal and physical comedy in his rewrite of the opening scene of the movie ôTrial and Error,ö which he starred in with Jeff Daniels and Charlize Theron (Phan). He admits to taking this scene from his early-æ80Æs stand-up routine and says that ôhe owes a lot of his characterÆs credibility as a working actor to his nine-month stint as a stand-up comedianö (Phan). Richards became a ôstandoutö on ôSeinfeld,ö with two Emmys and a huge following of fans to his credit for his portrayal of ôJerryÆs nutty neighborö (Phan). Interestingly, although Jason Alexander and Julia-Louis
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Approximate Word count = 1897
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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