Speak Easy 3: Poetry and Comedy

Where there has been a rise in performance poetry events there has also been an increase in stand up comedy events but it’s comedy that has been able to mainstream faster, gaining much larger audiences. The two mediums actually have a lot in common, share a history, and not just in their propensity to sometimes be funny. What can performance poets learn from stand up’s commercial success and how does comedy exploit poetry to get a few more laughs?