ABSTRACT
Stand-up comedy has been largely ignored by analytic philosophers of art, including those interested in comedy and humour. This is somewhat surprising given the immense popularity of stand-up comedy and the rock-star status enjoyed by some comedians today. Stand-up comedy offers a new context within which philosophers could explore and revisit some of the traditional issues in the philosophy of art. Stand-up comedy is among a small subset of performing arts that are and can not be other than live. The complexity of the art form makes stand-up comedy philosophically intriguing. Metaphysically, how is the art of stand-up comedy identified. Most obviously, stand-up comedy provides excellent case studies for investigation into art and ethics, and into ethics and humour in particular. Comedians and philosophers both have a close relationship with truth, but their respective relationships are importantly different. Thus, studying stand-up comedy may shed light on the philosophy of other arts.
