Behind the joke
Where do jokes come from? And how do they change in the telling? Standups dissect their acts
Zoe Lyons: how not to roast a chicken
Zoe Lyons explains why acting out a cold chicken in the oven is making the world a safer place
Mark Watson: Never trust a comedian who says 'the other day …'
Mark Watson explains how a routine on carrots is meticulously premeditated by his comic assassin side
Frisky & Mannish: taking the beep out of the Pussycat Dolls
Frisky & Mannish: how we whipped off the Pussycat Dolls’ mini-skirts to reveal their … seaside humour
Pippa Evans: how I invented sozzled singer-songwriter Loretta Maine
Pippa Evans: Bits of Courtney Love, Alanis Morissette and the deepest, darkest thoughts of yours truly are all sloshing about inside my needy alter ego
Roll up for Morgan & West's magical mystery trick
Our famous Misdirection Card Trick combines the power of distraction with a twist ending to produce a routine in which the whole audience is fooled
Tom Allen: how a homophobic rant led me to come out in my standup act
Tom Allen: I'd never really talked about being gay in my comedy show – until I was bombarded with abuse for kissing my date in Soho
Al Lubel: my performance anxiety on Letterman
Al Lubel: David Letterman said there's something wrong with me. I was so proud. But my debut on his show was terrifying
Sarah Kendall: the worst heckle I ever received – and what I did with it
After I was threatened with sexual violence at a gig, I built a routine around it – but looking back, I betrayed the seriousness of the incident, writes Sarah Kendall
James Acaster: 'Normal people perv solo'
Phil Wang: Impossibly wise or offensively stupid – Chinese people in US films
Holly Walsh: ‘I build my comedy block-by-block like Lego’
Standup is a great way to process bad things that happen to you. I love filling a routine with ideas and mini-punchlines
Behind the joke: Celia Pacquola, Midnight Beast and Nathan Caton
Three acts explain how chocolate biscuits, Ke$ha and trying to act cool inspired their routines
Richard Herring: 'I wanted to unsettle and confuse people'
Richard Herring: Growing a Hitler moustache was comedically interesting, but my routine also revealed a troubling liberal hypocrisy about race
Marcus Brigstocke: 'Making a serious subject stupid is what I aim to do'
Finding a balance between politically charged routines and fart jokes is Marcus Brigstocke's stock in trade
Behind the joke: Rubberbandits, Tony Law and Marc Lucero on their comedy
Three acts on where they got the inspiration for their jokes about a dad's best friend, emailing cheese and elephants with accents
Andrew Lawrence: 'I find applause quite sinister'
Interaction, spontaneity and the last two minutes of his set are the secrets to the comedian's success
Nina Conti on the perils of audience participation
Nina Conti braves watching one of her performances to show how she picks who to bring on stage. First, make sure their head is the right size …
Milton Jones, Rachel Mars and Foil, Arms & Hog on their comedy routines
Testing their jokes, how different audiences react and embracing stereotypes – three comedians top analyse their performances
Katherine Ryan, Simon Evans and John Robins dissect their comedy
Continuing our series on the art of standup, three comedians take apart their routines
Behind the joke: Hal Cruttenden, Kurt Braunohler and Kerry Godliman take apart their comedy routines
Where do jokes come from? And how do they change in the telling? Three standups dissect their acts...
