Punchline Mechanics to Remember when You Learn Standup Comedy If you intend to learn standup comedy, you should pay particular attention to punchline mechanics. A punchline is considered as the soul of standup comedy. Comedians could not possibly make people laugh on jokes and antics without using punchlines. It s time to learn about the Japanese Manzai. Manzai is a variation of stand-up comedy found within the confines of the Land of the Rising Sun. Basically it features a routine wherein a pair of performers trade blows via jokes done in great speed and succession. The pair is composed of a straight man called as tsukkomi and a funny man, which is identified as a boke. He emphasized in this work that the essence of the ridiculous is the ignorance exhibited by the weak who lacks the ability to fight back even after being ridiculed. Furthermore, Aristotle suggested in his Poetics that an ugliness that does not initiate disgust is necessary for humor. Bharata Muni s Natya Shastra which is a component of Sanskrit Drama identified humor or hasyam as an element of the eight nava rasas otherwise known as principle rasas. This comedic era featured individuals that generally carried out routines based on ethnicity and famous stereotypes. The jokes used were quite broad and the materials were mostly shared. Vaudeville boasts of producing the fathers of modern American stand-up comedy such as Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Frank Fay, Jack Benny, and Fred Allen. Moreover take close attention to the correct timing, style, content, sound effects, and more importantly the audience and take note of the things that usually bring them to the edge of their seats. Moving on, you have to identify your strengths and continually work on them. In the case of stand-up comedy you have to pick out the humor that best suits your interest, taste, and personality. Prepare yourself for instances when you are up on stage facing the nastiest audience with practically nothing but a microphone and a pounding heart. If you are a new entrant, you should be particularly careful in planning and preparing for your first night. The baptism of fire could either make or break you.