On stage there’s just a comedian and a mic. But behind the scenes,directors such as John Gordillo and Phil Nichol can get or smash the show. What exactly accomplish they accomplish?[br]It’s one of the great secrets of standup: that behind nearly every successful comic is a director you’ve never heard of.
It seems absurd that, in the age of the superstar comedian, and the person directing the shows is anonymous but then,there’s no way of knowing they’re there. The only time you’ll see a director’s name on the poster is when they’re more illustrious than the comedian: Noel Fielding directing Paul Foot, for example. Directing in comedy works differently to other art forms. A Martin Scorsese film or a Rupert Goold theatre show has got their fingerprints all over it. In comedy, or however much input the director has,the show always belongs to the performer. The comic employs the director, not the other way round.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com