The Innocents Abroad (the original stand up comic)

There's a reason why you keep laughing...

"Many point to Mark Twain as one of the fathers of standup. During the 19th century, he used to tour the country giving comic lectures. But his act was not anything close to what we know of standup today. Instead, he delivered long comedic stories that lasted about 7-15 minutes each. These tales often painted the picture of small-town American life. So his act was much more rooted in storytelling than in cracking joke after joke."