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Stand-up Comedian

Performs live comedy shows — writing and delivering jokes, stories, and social commentary.

Did you know?

Comedy is the biggest section of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which staged 3,893 shows across 301 venues in 2025.

How subjects help

Communication: Time a pause just right and read the room to change jokes on the spot.
Literature: Write and rewrite jokes, cutting every extra word so the punchline hits harder.
Psychology: Understand why a sudden twist on what people expect makes them burst out laughing.

A famous name

Trevor Noah: South African stand-up comedian with Netflix specials who hosted The Daily Show from 2015 to 2022.

Try it yourself: Perform a trick where your mistakes are the magic

In secret, look at the top card of the pack and remember it. Hand the pack to your helper.
Ask them to pick a number from 1 to 10, deal that many cards face down in a pile, then turn over the next card on the pack. Say "That's my card!" (it won't be), look puzzled, have them turn it back face down where it was, then put the dealt pile back on top.
Try again with a number from 10 to 20: they deal that many, turn over the next card, and it's wrong again. They turn it back face down and put the dealt pile back on top. Act a little embarrassed.
Take the small number away from the big number, ask them to deal that many cards, then turn over the next one. This time it really is your card. Play up the two "failures" so the ending gets a big reaction.

Magicians rehearse the method until it runs by itself, so they can put their energy into the performance, and like stand-up comics they use timing and fake setbacks to build to a big reveal.

Adapted from cs4fn, Queen Mary University of London: Johnny Ball's "Two Wrongs Do Make a Right" trick.

Also try: Bring a spoon to life.

Known for it in

USA, UK, Australia, India, Canada