# The First Stand-up Comic **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 18, 2008, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-stand-up-comic/477713 "2008-12-18T05:59:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cat\_In\_A\_Top\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@Cat\_In\_A\_Top\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_In_A_Top_Hat)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-stand-up-comic/477713/1 "2008-12-18T05:59:31Z")
Who was the first stand-up comic? A friend of mine suggests that Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens was the first, but does anyone know for certain? Thankee, –CiaTH ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-stand-up-comic/477713/2 "2008-12-18T08:03:06Z")
Take a look at the Wikipedia article: > **[Stand-up comedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand-up_comedy)** > > Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, comic, or stand-up. It is usually a rhetorical performance but many comics employ crowd interaction as part of their set or routine. > Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, observations or a shtick that may incorporate props, music, magic tricks, impressions or ventriloquism. It can be performed almost anywhere including... The development of stand-up comedy in the U.S. is summarized in the section called “U.S. history.” There is a fairly slow evolution from things that you might not recognize as stand-up comedy to the current form. It depends where you want to draw the line as what you call stand-up comedy.