Editing Comedian (section)

{{Short description|Person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh}}
{{Other uses}}
{{multiple issues|
{{Lead rewrite|reason=Does not summarize latest article; also, most examples given are United Kingdom-biased|date=September 2019}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2021}}
}}
{{Infobox occupation
| name               = Comedian
| image              = Chaplin The Champion.jpg
| caption            = [[Charlie Chaplin]] in ''[[The Champion (1915 film)|The Champion]]'' (1915).
| official_names     = {{flatlist|
* Comedian
* comic
* clown
}}
| type               = [[performing arts|Performing art]]
| activity_sector    = {{flatlist|
* [[comedy (drama)|Theatre]]
* [[comedy album|sound recording]]
* [[comedy film|film]]
* [[radio comedy|radio]]
* [[television comedy|television]]
}}
| competencies       = {{flatlist|
* [[Acting]]
* [[dance]] (optional)
* [[magic (illusion)|magic]] (optional)
* [[singing]] (optional)
* [[ventriloquism]] (optional)
}}
| formation          = 
| employment_field   =
| related_occupation = [[Humorist]]
}}
A '''comedian''' (feminine '''comedienne''') or '''comic''' is a person who seeks to [[entertainment|entertain]] an [[audience]] by making them [[laughter|laugh]]. This might be through [[joke]]s or [[amusing]] situations, or acting foolishly (as in [[slapstick]]), or employing [[prop comedy]]. A comedian who addresses an audience directly is called a [[stand-up comedy|stand-up comedian]].

A popular saying often attributed to [[Ed Wynn]] states: "A comic says funny things; a comedian says things funny."<ref name=Bartleby>{{cite web|title=Simpson's Contemporary Quotations, 1988|url=http://www.bartleby.com/63/93/8993.html|website=Bartleby.com|access-date=2008-04-01|archive-date=2008-03-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080316092036/http://www.bartleby.com/63/93/8993.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> This draws a distinction between how much of the [[comedy (drama)|comedy]] can be attributed to verbal content and how much to acting and persona.{{fact|date=February 2022}}

Since the 1980s, a new wave of comedy, called [[alternative comedy]], has grown in popularity with its more offbeat and experimental style. This normally involves more experiential, or observational reporting (e.g., [[Alexei Sayle]], [[Daniel Tosh]], [[Malcolm Hardee]]). As far as content is concerned, comedians such as [[Tommy Tiernan]], [[Des Bishop]], [[Kevin Hart]], and [[Dawn French]] draw on their background to poke fun at themselves, while others such as [[Jon Stewart]], [[Ben Elton]] and [[Sarah Silverman]] have very strong political and cultural undertones.{{fact|date=February 2022}}

Many comics achieve a [[cult following]] while touring famous comedy hubs such as the [[Just for Laughs]] festival in [[Montreal]], the [[Edinburgh Fringe]], and [[Melbourne Comedy Festival]] in [[Australia]]. Often a comic's career advances significantly when they win a notable comedy award, such as the [[Edinburgh Comedy Award]] (formerly the Perrier comedy award). Comics sometimes foray into other areas of entertainment, such as film and television, where they become more widely known (e.g., [[Eddie Izzard]], [[Lee Evans (comedian)|Lee Evans]]). A comic's stand-up success does not always correlate to a film's critical or box-office success.{{fact|date=February 2022}}