Comedy at Club 54 was a Canadiantelevision program hosted by Ben Guyatt. The show was produced from the early 1990s until 2002 and is now airing in syndicated re-runs on the Canadian Comedy Network. Tapings took place in Burlington, Ontario at Club 54. The live performances still happen weekly, although new episodes of the Comedy at Club 54 TV show have not been aired since 2002.
The taped shows usually begin with a zoom-in to host Ben Guyatt, who then reads the "Joke of the Week", which was a weekly joke ostensibly sent in from program viewers across North America. Typically, he then throws the joke card behind him and says to the audience "Welcome to Comedy at Club 54!" This was followed by the opening sequence, audience applause, and the show's theme song, played by an in-house band.
Guyatt then introduces the comedians, who over the years have come from all over North America. The performances were almost all of the typical stand-up comedy variety, but also included magicians, ventriloquists, vaudeville acts, comedy duos and musical acts. Every show features at least two comedians with a 12-minute televised spot (less time if there are more guests), although the live performances are much longer and were edited for time.
The show usually closes with Guyatt once again on stage, calling up the comedians for a final bow. At this point Guyatt would usually say "And remember, we share the planet with the animals, so please, I beg ya, treat 'em with respect", followed by "Goodnight Mom, I love ya!"
A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or Podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation. A talk show is distinguished from other television programs by certain common attributes. In a talk show, one person discusses various topics put forth by a talk show host. This discussion can be in the form of an interview or a simple conversation about important social, political or religious issues and events. The personality of the host shapes the tone and style of the show. A common feature or unwritten rule of talk shows is to be based on "fresh talk", which is talk that is spontaneous or has the appearance of spontaneity.
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien (2009–2010), and Jimmy Fallon (2014–present). Besides the main hosts, a number of regular "guest hosts" have been used, notably Ernie Kovacs, who hosted two nights per week during 1956–1957, and a number of guests used by Carson, who curtailed his own hosting duties back to three nights per week by the 1980s. Among Carson's regular guest hosts were Joey Bishop, McLean Stevenson, David Letterman, David Brenner, Joan Rivers, and Jay Leno, although the practice has been mostly abandoned since hosts currently prefer reruns to showcasing potential rivals. Fallon has used guest hosts rarely, co-hosting the May 24, 2021, broadcast with Dave Grohl, Jimmy Kimmel hosting the April 1, 2022, broadcast, Shawn Mendes co-hosting the April 29, 2022, broadcast, Megan Thee Stallion co-hosting the August 11, 2022, broadcast, Demi Lovato co-hosting the August 17, 2022, broadcast, and Jack Harlow co-hosting the October 6, 2022, broadcast.
Stand-up comedy is a type of comedy performance directed to a live audience in which the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues, with occasional physical acts. The performance is usually a rhetorical sketch with rehearsed scripts, but many performers also employ varying degrees of live crowd interaction as part of their routine. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, observations, or shticks that may incorporate props, music, impressions, magic tricks, or ventriloquism.
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am Eastern/11:37 pm Central and 12:37 am Mountain in the United States. From 1993 until 2000, Andy Richter served as O'Brien's sidekick; following his departure, O'Brien was the show's sole featured performer. The show's house musical act was The Max Weinberg 7 and led by E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg.
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish, or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audience directly is called a stand-up comedian.
A laugh track is an audio recording consisting of laughter usually used as a separate soundtrack for comedy productions. The laugh track may contain live audience reactions or artificial laughter made to be inserted into the show, or a combination of the two. The use of canned laughter to "sweeten" the laugh track was pioneered by American sound engineer Charles "Charley" Douglass.
Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe content that was an "alternative" to the mainstream stand-up of the day which took place in working men's clubs, and was characterised by unoriginal gags often containing elements of sexism and racism. In other contexts, it is the nature of the form that is "alternative", avoiding reliance on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines. Patton Oswalt has defined it as "comedy where the audience has no pre-set expectations about the crowd, and vice versa. In comedy clubs, there tends to be a certain vibe—alternative comedy explores different types of material."
David Attell is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer best known as the host of Comedy Central's Insomniac with Dave Attell.
Rove, also titled Rove Live, is an Australian television variety show that featured live music performances and interviews with local and international celebrity guests. The program premiered on the Nine Network on 22 September 1999, before moving to Network Ten which aired the program from 2000 until November 2009. The show was hosted by comedian Rove McManus through his production company Roving Enterprises, and featured an ensemble cast who presented various segments throughout the course of the show. The show won the Logie Award for "Most Popular Light Entertainment Program" five times.
Humour is an integral part of the Canadian identity. There are several traditions in Canadian humour in both English and French. While these traditions are distinct and at times very different, there are common themes that relate to Canadians' shared history and geopolitical situation in North America and the world. Though neither universally kind nor moderate, humorous Canadian literature has often been branded by author Dick Bourgeois-Doyle as "gentle satire," evoking the notion embedded in humorist Stephen Leacock's definition of humour as "the kindly contemplation of the incongruities of life and the artistic expression thereof."
An open mic or open mike is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether they are amateurs or professionals, often for the first time or to promote an upcoming performance. As the name suggests, performers are usually provided with a microphone plugged into a PA system so that they can be heard by the audience.
Norman Gene Macdonald was a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and writer whose style was characterized by deadpan delivery and the use of folksy, old-fashioned turns of phrase. He appeared in many films and was a regular guest on late-night talk shows, where he became known for his chaotic, yet understated style of comedy. Many critics and fellow comedians considered him to be the ultimate talk show guest, while prominent late-night figure David Letterman regarded him as "the best" of stand-up comedians.
Friday Night Videos is an American music video/variety program that aired from July 29, 1983, to May 24, 2002, on NBC. Originally developed as an attempt by the network to capitalize on the emerging popularity of music videos, which had been brought into the mainstream by MTV during the early 1980s, the program shifted over to a general music focus in 1990, mixing in live music performances alongside the video showcases. Upon being retitled Friday Night in 1994, its format was expanded to incorporate a variety of entertainment content to supplement, and eventually surpass, the music videos. The program evolved into its final format in 2001 under the title Late Friday, removing the music and feature segments and becoming dedicated solely to showcasing new stand-up comedy talent.
Douglas Steven Benson is an American comedian, marijuana rights advocate, television and podcast host, and actor, best known for hosting the podcasts and TV series Doug Loves Movies (2006–present), The Benson Interruption (2010-2013), Getting Doug with High (2013-2019) and The High Court with Doug Benson (2017). As a comedian, he has released 10 comedy albums, starting with Professional Humoredian in 2008, and has regularly appeared on TV shows including Comedy Central Presents, Best Week Ever and @midnight. In 2007, he was a contestant on the 5th season of the reality competition show Last Comic Standing.
A Japanese variety show is an entertainment television program made up of a variety of original stunts, musical performances, comedy skits, quiz contests, and other acts. Japanese variety shows are characterized by an eccentric, fast-paced style and are typically scheduled during prime television time for entertainment. They usually feature a variety of tarento hosts, presenters and guests that include celebrities, comedians, J-pop Idols.
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by actor and comedian Jimmy Fallon. The hour-long show aired from March 2, 2009 to February 7, 2014 on weeknights at 12:35 AM Eastern/11:35 pm Central, on NBC.
Michael Thomas Green is a Canadian-American comedian, show host, actor, filmmaker, podcaster, and rapper. After pursuing stand-up comedy and music as a young adult, Green created and hosted The Tom Green Show, which aired on Canadian television and later on MTV between 1994 and 2000. The show became popular for its shock comedy, absurd pranks and Green's manic persona, and influenced later series such as Jackass and The Eric Andre Show. Green has also appeared in the Hollywood films Road Trip (2000), Charlie's Angels (2000), Stealing Harvard (2002), and Shred (2008). Green additionally directed, co-wrote and starred in the cult film Freddy Got Fingered (2001). He was briefly married to actress Drew Barrymore (2001–2002), who co-starred with him in Charlie's Angels and Freddy Got Fingered.
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term originated in ancient Greece: In Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by political satire performed by comic poets in theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing agon or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old". A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses which engender dramatic irony, which provokes laughter.
Rick Mercer Report is a Canadian television comedy series which aired on CBC Television from 2004 to 2018. Launched as Rick Mercer's Monday Report, or simply Monday Report, by comedian Rick Mercer, the weekly half-hour show combined news parody, sketch comedy, visits to interesting places across Canada, and satirical editorials, often involving Canadian politics. The show's format was similar in some respects to satirical news shows like Mercer's prior series, This Hour Has 22 Minutes.
Late Night with Seth Meyers is an American late-night news and political satire variety talk show hosted by Seth Meyers on NBC. The show premiered on February 24, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. Airing weeknights at 12:37 a.m. ET/PT, it is the fourth iteration of NBC's Late Night franchise.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
