Laughing Matters

What makes people laugh? Where does the urge to make people laugh come from? And just how hard can it be to become a stand-up comedian? In pursuit of the answers to these questions - and more - writer and comedy obsessive, Steve Jacobi has set himself a horrifying task: to perform as a stand-up comic in six comedy clubs around Britain. As he gathers together material for his big adventure, Jacobi will track down his comedy heroes, Ken Dodd and Woody Allen and seek their advice and wisdom. He will look at the long tradition of British humour and talk to, among others, a Python, Eric Sykes, Frank Skinner and Steve Coogan to get their take on comedy. And then he will embark on his ordeal, logging - in unsparing detail - the venues, audiences, hecklers and humiliation from Barnsley to Birmingham and Portsmouth to Great Yarmouth. All the while charting his all-important material, evolving - and hopefully refining - as he travels across the country on his masochistic odyssey.