Where the book starts: an open lined notebook and a pen on a dark desk in warm light
The D.O.C. Stand-Up Comedy Book

Stand-Up Comedy: From Writing to Touring.

By Disciples of Comedy

From the first joke you write to a run of dates in towns that come out for you — the road in one stand-up comedy book. Over 1,000 pages and over 450 short topics, fully illustrated: read it straight through, or open it at the step you're on.

  • Over 1,000 pages
  • Over 450 topics
  • Fully illustrated
  • 21 chapters
  • 43 road maps
  • Appendices A to Z
  • A full index
$29The book as a PDF, a Phone Edition and a page-turning Flip Reader, with two bonuses — yours to download as soon as you've paid.

On sale soon.

Three ways to get it, with the audiobook ↓

The cover of the stand-up comedy book Stand-Up Comedy: From Writing to Touring, 2027 Edition, by D.O.C., Disciples of Comedy — five comics with microphones on a club stage beside a dog in a D.O.C. bandana, a chalkboard of the book's subjects, and a ticket that reads 308 rooms in 50 states and D.C.

Start where you are

This stand-up comedy book opens with Where Are You Right Now? Eleven Places to Start — from never been on stage to making touring pay — and gives you a short reading path for yours. A few of them:

Never been on stage What stand-up is, the five-minute set, premise, setup and punchline, a joke notebook — then your first open mic, from finding one to signing up.
Five good minutes, no bookings yet The showcase set, meeting bookers, being asked back, your five-minute video, an electronic press kit, the submission email and the follow-up.
Hosting and featuring Opening the room, introducing comics and keeping the show moving; then the feature set, travelling as the feature, and who books the middle slot.
Headlining and touring Building and sequencing the hour, selling tickets as a headliner, routing a tour, settlement sheets, and coming back to the cities that came out for you.
Producing your own shows Renting a room, door deals and four-wall deals, ticket platforms, presales and local promotion — a night that's yours from the door to the settlement.

Twenty-one chapters, 455 topics

The stand-up comedy book is built of short topics in the order a career runs: write it, build the act, take it to the stage, get booked, get paid, take it on the road. Each chapter opens with its own list of topics, so you can read a chapter through or go straight to the one you need tonight.

  1. 1Starting From ZeroTopics 1–20
  2. 2Writing ComedyTopics 21–50
  3. 3Building the ActTopics 51–70
  4. 4The StageTopics 71–95
  5. 5Open Mics and Early CareerTopics 96–114
  6. 6Host, Feature, HeadlinerTopics 115–131
  7. 7Working CleanTopics 132–142
  8. 8Getting BookedTopics 143–173
  9. 9The U.S. Comedy Club CircuitTopics 174–196
  10. 10The DIY TourTopics 197–233
  11. 11MoneyTopics 234–257
  12. 12Contracts and the BusinessTopics 258–289
  13. 13RepresentationTopics 290–303
  14. 14Unions, Guilds, and Industry OrganizationsTopics 304–313
  15. 15Traveling ComicTopics 314–347
  16. 16Podcasts, Social Media, and ContentTopics 348–366
  17. 17Recording and SpecialsTopics 367–382
  18. 18MerchTopics 383–399
  19. 19ProfessionalismTopics 400–414
  20. 20When Things Go WrongTopics 415–434
  21. 21Building a CareerTopics 435–455

Road maps for the next step

Beside the chapters sit the road maps, one question to a map — where to start, the next ninety days, what a gig really leaves you — with the route laid out, the topics to read and the worksheets to use.

Each map is free to read on the site — tap its title. The stand-up comedy book holds the full topics behind each one, and the worksheets to use.

Where Are You Right Now? Eleven Places to Start Your stage, and a short reading path for it.
Your Next 90 Days Ninety days of work for your stage, and the proof that says move on.
Getting to the Magical Hour Five minutes to sixty: where a set your length gets booked, and what proves you're ready for the next.
Who to Study The styles, from clean and observational to crowd work and deadpan, and whose recordings to study.
Getting the Gigs Who books you at your stage, and when an agent or manager is worth having.
The Math of a Gig Five offers worked out with real costs, so you know what a date leaves you before you say yes.
Routing Packs Twelve runs through real rooms, with the legs in road miles and hours.
City by City A scorecard for after the show, and when a city has earned a bigger room.
Get Paid, Get Back The deal in writing, the door on the night, and the second booking.
Buddy Up: Bring the Whole Night Two to four comics, one car, a whole show — the lineup, the party package and the money.
D.O.C. Comedy on Wheels The tour van as a pop-up stage: where to pull up, the rig and the set.
Nerves, Hecklers and Security The hour before, the room you actually have, and keeping the show yours.
Breakout Stages Kill Tony, roast battles, contests and TV contests — how they work and who they made.
What Would You Do? Twelve nights that go sideways — a sick feature, a vanished promoter, a dead mic — and the calm next step for each.
Went Viral Comics whose clip broke them, platform by platform — and what a viral clip did and didn’t do.
Why Is This Taking So Long? Comics whose breaks came late: the years they put in, and what finally turned it.
Launching Pads The shows and stages that carried stand-up careers, and who from them is on stage now.
Your Team Agent, manager, talent buyer, publicist and the rest: what they do, and when help is worth the percentage.
Do Not Do This Yet The special, the twenty-city tour, the 500 shirts — and the proof that says go.
Staying in It The long road, the same-set blues, the stalls — and what helps.
Watch List The series, films and documentaries about the life, and why a comic should watch them.
The Hollywood Effect The pay-to-play offers and the fake meetings — how to spot each one and what to say instead.
How Big It Got Stand-up’s biggest crowds, its firsts into stadiums and streaming, and the tours that sold the most.
Write It: From an Idea to a Tight Five One idea taken step by step to a premise, a punchline, tags and a tested five.
Joke Shapes: A Template for Twenty Kinds of Joke The one-liner, the act-out, the callback, the clean rewrite and more, each with an example.
AI as a Sparring Partner Practice rounds, not punchlines: you write the punch, and you read the original source.
The One-Person Show From your hour to a story on stage: the arc, the draft, a director, the fringe and the run.
Keep the Money: Taxes and Saving Quarterly taxes, records, a separate account, an emergency fund and retirement, with dated rules.
The Corporate Gig The inquiry, the quote, the contract and the custom lines — and getting asked back.
The College Market How campuses book comics: the clean set, the showcases and the rebook.
Podcasts and Socials Building an audience that buys tickets, one or two platforms at a time.
Your Scene: Networking With Other Comics The mic, the hang, trading spots — and the comics who helped comics.
Travel Smart Packing, flights, miles and points, hotels, and what to do when the airline cancels.
Fit and Fed on the Road Eating well cheap, twenty minutes a day, and sleep.
After the Show The merch line, meet-and-greets, groupies, and getting everyone home safe.
Keep Your Name Edge without wreckage: the target, the clip, the room, and putting a mistake right.
No, Not Yet Every kind of no, the next morning, and what comics did after the pilot that didn’t go.
Your First Five The week before to the ride home: the mic, the five minutes, the light — and comedy around a day job.
The Idea Mine Finding material every week: lists, a map, the angle, a premise — and a plan for the dry spells.
Why People Laugh The main theories, each with what it means at the desk — and a check for the joke that stopped working.
Learn It Cold Rehearsing and memorizing a set: beats, a keyword list, cue words, and run-throughs under adrenaline.
Who You Are Up There Attitude, persona and commitment, built from your own tape — and the name on the poster.
Classes, Coaches and Writing Groups What a class can and can’t do, ten questions before you pay, a writing night, and your own open mic.
Guitar, Props and Puppets The specialty act: the rig, flying with gear, the sound check and where bookers place you.
Writing for Hire Jokes for other comics, late-night packets, punch-up, toasts, the spec script and the Writers Guild.
The Late-Night Set How comics land TV stand-up: the tape, the TV five, standards, taping day and the follow-up.
Women in Stand-Up Rooms, lineups and the road: finding your rooms, producing your own show, and women comics’ advice.
That’s Not Funny Protecting the people in the room: eight lines, the power test, and what to do if you see it.
Based on a True Story Six true stories from comics’ careers, told without names, and the lesson in each.
Moving Up to Headline From the feature spot to the hour: the signs you’re ready, the draw, the deal and running the night.

From the road: comics in their own words

Throughout this stand-up comedy book, “From the road” boxes put a working comic beside the topic you're reading — the first open mics, the first paid weekend on the road, the long climb to an hour — in their own words, with the comic's name. Comics Quoted in This Book, at the back, lists the comics and the topics where they appear.

The advice tells you what to do; the comics tell you how it felt to do it, and what finally turned it.

Appendices, A to Z

The stand-up comedy book carries twenty-seven appendices to take to the next gig: a directory of rooms, the booking routes and rules the clubs publish, and sheets to fill in or print.

Where to play
  • AU.S. Comedy Directory — the comedy rooms of D.O.C.'s Club Directory
  • BLive Submission Links — the talent route the clubs publish on their own sites
  • B2What Each Room Asks of Comics — the rules the clubs publish, in plain words
  • Y 50-State + D.C. Index
Getting booked
  • C Booking Email Template
  • D EPK Builder
  • E Sample Engagement Agreement
  • F Performance Rider
  • S Club Contact Tracker
  • U Booker Follow-Up Tracker
The set
  • L Five-Minute Set Worksheet
  • M Ten-Minute Set Worksheet
  • N Feature Set Worksheet
  • O Headliner Set Worksheet
  • P Clean-Set Converter
The money
  • G Settlement Calculator
  • H Tour Budget Calculator
  • R Merch Profit Calculator
The road
  • I Mileage & Routing Worksheet
  • J Show-Day Checklist
  • K Road Packing Checklist
  • T Tour Planner
  • V Emergency Road Kit
The business
  • Q Podcast Decision Worksheet
  • W Organizations & Guilds
  • X Industry Resources
  • Z Working Comic Glossary

Get the stand-up comedy book

Three ways to have it: the book in every reading format, the audiobook, or both together. Read it on your phone between sets, listen on the drive to the gig, and print the worksheets for the next one.

The Book

$29

  • The PDF — over 1,000 pages and over 450 topics, fully illustrated, with an index
  • The Phone Edition — the same book set for a phone: big type, one page at a time
  • The Flip Reader — pages that turn, in any browser, with the contents, search and live links
  • Rules of the Road — every topic's Road Rule in one pocket companion
  • The Printables Pack — the worksheets, checklists, trackers and calculators, one to a page

On sale soon.

Best value

Book + Audio

$49.99

  • Everything in The Book — the PDF, the Phone Edition, the Flip Reader and both bonuses
  • Everything in The Audio Set — five volumes and the Audio Companion

Coming with the audiobook.

The Audio Set

$39.99

  • Five volumes — the 21 chapters read aloud, from writing the act to building the career
  • Chapter by chapter — MP3 files to keep, for the car, the gym or the walk to the mic
  • The Audio Companion — each volume's worksheets, calculators and Road Rules in a PDF

Read by a digital narrator. The club directory, the clubs' rules and the web addresses stay in the book and on the site, where they're easier to use.

Coming with the audiobook.

How it comes: you pay on Payhip's secure checkout, by card or PayPal, and the download is yours the moment the payment goes through — on the screen and by email. Save the files and they're yours to keep. Payhip's help center walks through buying from Payhip, step by step.

The site and the stand-up comedy book go together: Road Maps, The Writers’ Room, The Working Comic, Buddy Up, Comedy on Wheels and the Tour Planner name the book's topics, so a page here leads to the chapter that goes deeper.

Questions about the stand-up comedy book

Who is this stand-up comedy book for?

Comics from the first open mic to the headline hour, and the ones producing their own shows. It opens with eleven places to start, from never been on stage to making touring pay, and a short reading path for each.

Do I have to read it front to back?

No. The 455 topics are short and run in the order a career does. Each chapter opens with its own list of topics, and the index at the back finds the rest, so you can go straight to the step you're on.

Can I read it on my phone?

Yes. The Phone Edition is the same book set for a phone, in big type, one page at a time, and the Flip Reader turns its pages in any browser. Payhip's help center shows how to save a PDF on iOS or Android.

What is in the audiobook?

The Audio Set reads the 21 chapters aloud in five volumes of MP3 files to keep, by a digital narrator, volume by volume in the same order as the stand-up comedy book. Its Audio Companion holds each volume's worksheets, calculators and Road Rules in a PDF.