In this very special between series Working From Home episode, we welcome another guest to The Comedy Bureau. Wayne is based in LA, and is basically the Comedy Bureau’s American cousin, we think. We’re so glad to have him on the show.

He started performing comedy in New York, in the 1980s before moving to LA to continue performing comedy and from there he’s gone on to do almost everything it’s possible to do in comedy. From acting, to late night shows, to improv to voice over… absolutely incredible.

But the most Bureau related of all Wayne’s very noteworthy achievements, is his book - The History of StandUp from Mark Twain to Dave Chappelle.

And, after our episode on the first stand-up comedian, Wayne got in touch and said would we be interested in hearing about Artemus Ward. And we are!

Wayne tells us all about Artemus Ward - an American columnist who got the idea to begin performing his writing after seeing his own writing performed by someone else in a minstrel show. We explore how this contains the beginnings of comedy and who it has influenced in the modern world of comedy before branching off into more general discussions of the differences between the US and UK comedy scene.

We really hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did, and remember to let us know if you have anything you want to hear us discuss. You can reach out to us at [email protected].

Wayne's book is The History of Stand Up Comedy: From Mark Twain to Dave Chappelle, and can be bought here: https://www.amazon.com/History-Stand-Up-Mark-Twain-Chappelle/dp/B08YRP1R2G/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

The other book Olly shows off in this episode is "The Victorian Clown" by Jacky Bratton and Ann Featherstone (Cambridge University Press, 2006), and can be found here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-victorian-clown/jacky-bratton/ann-featherstone/9780521816663