stand-up comedy

For centuries, people have turned to jesters for relief from the miseries of life. As it turns out, some stand-up performers turn pain and rage into their own coping and catharsis.

The star of the new Netflix special Lower Classy talks to NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro about how she writes her Mexican-American identity into comedy, along with stories from her childhood on the border.

Nancherla is riding high with a new TV special, a tour and a new album, Just Putting It Out There — all while dealing with some difficult personal issues, like depression and anxiety, on stage.

The comedian says she doesn't hold back in her biting humor, but she does try to evolve with the times. She isn't calling herself an "F-word hag" these days — but she will joke about Caitlyn Jenner.

American comics are taking the stage in China's small but growing stand-up comedy circuit. Their bicultural, and often bilingual, shows are a new form of cultural exchange.

Whether they find Valentine's Day "icky," or the "Christmas of love," stand-up comics Jim Gaffigan, Marina Franklin and Ted Alexandro all find plenty of funny material in romance — or the lack of it.