12 great "meta" resources on the craft of standup

"I want to study the craft of standup even more," he wrote. Here's where I told him to begin.

Essentials on the craft of standup

A friend asked me:

I'm so interested in the craft of standup. I'm glad Seinfeld did that Comedian movie to call attention to it, then things like Talking Funny and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Know of any good other meta- things like that? That talk about the craft of standup or good comedy writing? Comedy is like pop philosophy to me. So I want to study it even more.

Those are indeed a good start. I sent him this list of my other top picks re: the craft of standup:

• Born Standing Up by Steve Martin

• Gary Gulman's 366 Comedy Tips (Vulture) and Gary Gulman breaks down his state abbreviations bit (podcast)

• Sandpaper Suit: My standup comedy blog (now defunct but posted lotsa good stuff there for years)

• John Roy's comedy class: Great online primer by a smart LA comic.

• Good One: A Podcast About Jokes (The Roy Wood Jr. ep is great) 

• When Stand Up Stood Out (70’s-80’s boston comedy doc) and The Comedians of Comedy

• The Comedy Store: "Five-part documentary series that chronicles the evolution of comedy from within the walls of the iconic L.A. club."

• 10 Lessons from Standup Comedy That Will Make You a Better Speaker (I wrote this one for a publication a while back)

• This Spotify playlist of classic bits from comedians I love

• Ron Bennington Unmasked interviews with comedians (e.g. Patrice O’Neal)

• Jerry Seinfeld — A Comedy Legend’s Systems, Routines, and Methods for Success (podcast)

• “On Comedy” interviews with George Carlin, Johnny Carson, Woody Allen, Jerry Seinfeld, etc. (Spotify)

Got another suggestion? Leave a comment.