UNIT II: LISTEN & SPEAK

A Radio Chat

Interviewer: Hi, everybody out there. Welcome to a new edition of “Meet A Star” on OMEGA 2 Radio Channel. Our guest today is the retired humourist, Joanne Thomson.

Nice to have you with us Joanne. My first question would be…er…Well I guess a good sense of humour is essential to be a successful stand-up comedian. Is that so?

Joanne Thomson: Yeah, you gotta have a pretty good sense of humour. But it’s only one part of making people laugh. It’s really tough to get on a stage in front of an audience and do stand-up comedy. To do any kind of live performance, you need to have a strong ego and nerves of steel. Almost everybody gets stage fright the first time they perform a comic show.

Interviewer: I’m not sure I got your point. Would you clarify that, please?

Joanne Thomson: I wanna say people think stand-up comics do nothing but tell little stories and jokes to others. It’s a lot tougher than that. Stand-up comics spend hours every day practising and perfecting their shows, and they havta (have to) know their audience and the kind of humour they’ll respond to.

Interviewer: Do you mean stand-up comics prepare their acts beforehand rather than improvise them?

Joanne Thomson: That’s exactly what I mean. You havta (have to) figure out what you you’re gonna say before you get on stage. The audience may find it amusing when you’re stuck, but preparation is really important. Even great comics write down their shows first. They have their acts all planned out, then they improvise around them.

Interviewer: Comedians need other things to perform well, don’t they?

Joanne Thomson: Certainly. Reading and watching the most outstanding comedians are also necessary ingredients. These give the comedian a wide range of comic words and tricks. The idea isn’t to copy others; but it helps comedians gain new wits and moves. Look, comedians lose their charm if they stick to a certain style a long time.

Interviewer: I can’t understand why there aren’t many famous female stand-up comedians.

Joanne Thomson: Well, let’s not make a gender issue out of it. But, I think it’s a question of personal tendency and career choice. It’s NOT at all a question of ability or talent!

Interviewer: Thanks a lot Joanne.

Vocabulary

Stand-up:(adj)describes comedy performed by a single person telling jokes: stand-up comedy/stand-up comedian.

Tough:(adj)involving considerable difficulty or hardship; requiring great determination or effort. : "the training has been quite tough" "he had a tough time getting into a good college".

Ego: a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance. : "a boost to my ego".

Steel: الفولاذ

Fright: a sudden intense feeling of fear. : "I jumped up in fright".

Figure out: to finally understand something or someone."Can you figure out the answer to question 5?".

Be/get stuck:  not able to continue reading, answering questions, etc. because something is too difficult:"I'm really stuck - do you have any ideas how to answer these questions?"

Improvise: create and perform (music, drama, or verse) spontaneously or without preparation.

Outstanding: exceptionally good: excellent.

Ingredient: one of the parts of something successful.

Range: a set of different things of the same general type. : "the area offers a wide range of activities for the tourist".

Wit: a natural aptitude for using words and ideas in a quick and inventive way to create humour. : "a player with a sharp tongue and a quick wit".

Charm: the power or quality of giving delight or arousing admiration.

Stick to: to limit yourself to doing or using one particular thing and not change to anything else.

Issue: an important topic or problem for debate or discussion.

Tendency: an inclination toward a particular characteristic or type of behaviour.

Career: occupation, job, profession.