Funny‎,‎ lively and unpredictable‎,‎ stand‎-up comedy is above all a medium to be enjoyed‎.‎ Popular as a good night out and packing the TV schedules‎,‎ stand‎-up permeates British society and culture‎.‎ Ubiquitous though it is‎,‎ we are generally reluctant to consider comedy‎'‎s social consequences‎.‎ When comedians offend we seem ready to consider the potential for stand‎-up to do some wider harm‎,‎ yet we rarely consider the good that it might do‎.‎ This book looks at the social and political impact of stand‎-up comedy in both its positive and negative forms‎.‎ Drawing on exclusive interviews with comedians such as Stewart Lee‎,‎ Josie Long‎,‎ Joe Wilkinson and Mark Thomas‎,‎ and examples of comic material on everything from revolution‎,‎ terrorism and homosexuality‎,‎ to knitting and the inefficiency of the home shower‎,‎ it explores comedy‎'‎s role in determining our attitudes and opinions‎.‎ While revealing the conventions comics use to manage audience response‎,‎ Sophie Quirk demonstrates how comedy audiences allow themselves to be manipulated‎,‎ and the potential har‎.‎‎.‎‎.‎