digibury: oliver double - microphone, spotlight & twitter
DESCRIPTION
Traditionally, stand-up comedy has been seen as a low-tech format, relying on equipment no more sophisticated than a microphone and a spotlight. In this talk, University of Kent lecturer and ex stand-up comedian, Oliver Double, examines the history of technology in stand-up, from the pre-microphone days of variety theatre to the increasing use of multimedia in today’s comedy scene.TRANSCRIPT
Microphone, Spotlight & Twitter
Oliver Double, University of Kent
The Stand-Up Comedy
of the Future
Stand-Up & Technology: History‘Stand-up comedy is a fundamentally old-fashioned, labor-intensive, low-tech performance mode...The microphone and spotlight are the only necessary technologies; the human presence remains paramount.’
- Philip Auslander, 1992
The human presence remains paramount?
Stand-Up & Technology: Now
Stand-Up & Technology: Now
Tiernan Douieb’s Twitter Comedy Club
Stand-Up & Technology: Now
Dane Cook on Facebook
Stand-Up & Technology: Now
Jimmy Carr in Second Life
Stand-Up & Technology: Now
Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor (Tomorrowland, Walt Disney World Resort, Florida)
Stand-Up & Technology: Now
Howard Read & Little Howard
‘Little Howard started off as...a satire of “Is it possible to mechanise improvisation?”...Everything Little Howard said originally...was pre-recorded. And there would be an “any questions” section. So people could ask any question at all, and Little Howard would answer it, and it was all pre-recorded. And for me it was an intellectual exercise and a sort of a slightly highbrow, snooty poke at people who pretended to improvise...No-one just improvises an entire set. People think we do and that’s why people think we’re brilliant, [whispers] but we’re not.’
- Howard Read
Thank you and Goodnight
www.oliverdouble.com