大象传媒

Does it matter if the stories and anecdotes stand-up comedians tell in their shows are actually true?

5 Live listener Sasha emailed 5 Live's John Robins: "Your show got me wondering about the authenticity about comedian's content. Did all your stories genuinely happen to you, and were they tweaked in any way to make them funny? How about Elis, and all the comedians you both know personally?"

Elis and John spoke to comedian Sarah Kendall about this important issue.

Click here to listen to the whole podcast on 大象传媒 Sounds (and subscribe!).

Sarah said: "I'm not that bothered about whether it actually happened"

"There is always a kernel of truth... there always has to be something that sparked the idea, but you don't win any trophy for the truest story you've ever told.

"As professionals we can embellish and embroider and make it better... rather than just tell it what happened.

"I've seen someone do a routine and they've embellished it to the point where the other characters don't seem authentic - they're just there to feed a joke.

"The only thing that matters to me is 'is it entertaining?' - and if it's entertaining it means it's ticked all the boxes, so I've believed it, it's got a point, it's well crafted.

"I'm not that bothered about whether it actually happened. I do have a hang up about a badly told story."

John said: "The emotions and little incidents are real"

"To quote James May [when they were asking if things in Top Gear were true] he said 'the show is real, but it's not true'.

"And I think that's a good way of describing it, so the emotions and the little incidents are real but the whole thing together is not necessarily true."

Elis said: "You have to make it performable for an audience"

"I tell stories when I do stand-up, and now I have told the stories so many times that I can't remember what is true and what isn't. I can't remember how it actually happened!

"The thing with truth in storytelling in comedy is, you can use the kernel of truth, but you have to make it performable for an audience who don't know you, don't know the context, don't know your friends, and also you can use that story as a thing to hang observations you might have to make, or characters you might want to impersonate.

"The story becomes a canopy, a skeleton for lots of other things."