Suzanne Ruthven : Author and editor of Writer’s Wheel magazine It’s not always easy to review a how-to book when you’ve little understanding or experience of the genre. By rule of thumb it’s a good idea to think to yourself: “I know nothing about this subject but does the book stimulate my interest? Does it impart information that I find useful and adaptable? Is the author ‘qualified’ for the job?” ‘Get Your Act Together: Writing a stand-up comedy routine’ by Jenny Roche ticks all those boxes. It is said that proper preparation makes for professional performance and this book provides the tools to achieve this, offering down-to-earth practical advice and a logical progression from identifying your stage persona, thinking about your audience and the craft of honing comedy material to fit your persona and audience, through to structuring your stand-up set, preparing for when things might go wrong, and last but not least – progressing your career. This book is for anyone who’s serious about being a stand-up comedian and wants to do it well. It’s for those who want to learn more about the craft of writing material for a stand-up comedy routine and want to approach stand-up in a professional, well prepared, well thought out manner. Non-performing writers who want to write for those who do perform, will also find this book useful. Jenny Roche has over 15 years’ experience of tutoring courses in comedy writing, scriptwriting and journalism for the Universities of Liverpool and Manchester, the Arvon foundation and other organisations. She has also run writing workshops and organised comedy events, together with a wide range of writing experience, selling her writing to newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, theatre and for stand-up comedy performance. A regular contributor to a UK writing magazine she has also produced comedy revue and short sitcom shows for theatre. She has worked with comedians involved in the C.O.M.I.C (Comedy on Merseyside in Creation) initiative to develop Merseyside comedy opportunities; and on her Intro thanks “master comedy craftsman Ken Dodd for his insight and the opportunity to write for his radio show”, together with the comedy actors, director and writers she worked with on a Sitcom Shorts theatre production. I personally like to inject humour into my fiction in the form of one-liners in the dialogue, and found several ideas I could expand upon and use in my own writing. I particularly liked the large number of ‘to do’ slots for each chapter that act as triggers for the would-be stand up comedian. Stand-up is probably the largest comedy showcase of all and the inclusive, reader-friendly style the author uses would encourage wannabees who aren’t necessarily writers. I also liked the author not shying away from alternative comedy scripts. Well worth reading as the author knows her stuff and could take you from the ‘open mike’ night at the local pub to Live at the Apollo! ~ Suzanne Ruthven, Amazon and Goodreads