When it comes to comedy, Dave Schwensen has the answers.

And now he’s put them into a book Comedy FAQ’s And Answers, in which 57 of those questions are answered in this book with help from comedy legends such as George Carlin, Richard Jeni and Bobby Collins. Booking agents, club owners and public relations reps also get a chance to weigh in.

For about the price of a comic’s DVD, you are going to learn more about the business of making people laugh than you ever will from talking with people who say they know something, but want you to pony up some major cash for the privilege.

This book is geared towards the young up and coming talent of the future, but there is something any seasoned veteran can probably learn from the fifty-seven frequently asked questions about stand-up comedy and the easy to understand, relevant, fun to read, and knowledgeable answers found in this book.

Even if you are not an aspiring talent but just a fan of stand-up, this is a highly enjoyable book as it gives you a very interesting and fascinating take on the behind the stage stuff. Schwensen’s previous book, “How To Be A Working Comic,” introduced would-be funny men and women to the trade.

Schwensen, known around the country for his comedy workshops, mines his industry connections – sprinkling advice from top comedians throughout the book – and covers everything from doing your own publicity to getting on television to writing for other comics.

Some of the questions Schwensen answers in this amazing book are related to open-mic night, what to do on stage, what happens off stage and backstage. It is an easy question and answer format based on the writer’s experience in the comedy club business and as a leader of workshops for aspiring comedy professionals.

Buy Comedy FAQs and Answers: How the Stand-up Biz Really Works (Paperback) at Amazon

For more information about Steve Roye, author of this blog and the Killer Stand-up Online Course, click here.

Dane Cook receives a rock star’s welcome from a packed arena in this stand-up concert originally broadcast on HBO.

But the jury may still be out on whether Cook is phenomenally funny or simply a phenomenon.

He is certainly a master of the new media. Cook has deftly marketed himself on the Internet to his target college-age audience, and they have embraced him as a fellow “bro” and “dude,” who would seemingly be awesome to party with. In his timbre and physicality, he has the shaggy, likeable quality of Will Farrell, another frat boy favorite.

Cook is a man of his people. At one point, he is interrupted by a drunken Boston Red Sox fan who wants to shake his hand. Cook then leaps off the stage and chases him up the aisle to give him a send-off hug, all the while being clapped on the back and offered high and low fives by the cheering audience.

Cook comes complete with arrested development lingo, such as “Here’s what drove me banana sandwich,” that will no doubt b (more…)

For more information about Steve Roye, author of this blog and the Killer Stand-up Online Course, click here.

In 1992, comedian Bill Engvall was awarded Best Male Standup at the American Comedy Awards, and moved into sitcom TV with an appearance on Designing Women and a regular role on the short-lived spin-off Delta.

One of Bill’s signature stand-up comedy routines involves why some people need a sign right on the front of their shirt to identify them as stupid or not.

In Bill’s book Here’s Your Sign, you will find more than 200 of Bill Engvall’s favorite Here’s Your Sign jokes and anecdotes. This book also contains Bill’s funniest product warnings such as the fan-belt package that says, “stop motor before applying the product”, and a few of his best stories.

Here’s just a small sampling of the hilarious material you will find in this book:

A trucker got his rig caught under a low overpass and a cop comes along.

“You get your rig stuck?”

” Nope.” says the trucker.  “I was delivering this overpass and ran out of gas.”

“Well then, here’s your sign!”

A little more about the author:

In 1996, Engvall released his countrified debut album, Here’s Your Sign — also the title of his most famed bit — in 1996 A tour with like-minded everyman comic Jeff Foxworthy was next; that in turn led to a part on Foxworthy’s sitcom that was as brief as the show itself.

In mid-2000, Engvall released Now That’s Awesome and embarked on the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, again with Foxworthy, as well as Larry the Cable Guy and Ron White.

Other stand-up comedy albums include 2002′s Cheap Drunk: An Autobiography and 2003′s Here’s Your Sign: Reloaded.

Buy Here’s Your Sign (Paperback) at Amazon

I should also mention that Bill Engvall was the comedian I modeled my own conversational and topic based stand-up comedy style after, which is what the Killer Stand-up Comedy System is based on — NOT trying to string “jokes” together the old school way.

For more information about Steve Roye, author of this blog and the Killer Stand-up Online Course, click here.