The script of this programme 本節目臺詞
Andrea: Hey Feifei, here's a joke for you.
Feifei: Oh no Andrea. I hope it's better than the last time you told me a joke.
Andrea: Well... what's brown and sticky?
Feifei: Erm. 我實在是不想去想一個棕色的，粘糊糊的東西。但是什麼東西是棕色的、粘糊糊的呢？
Andrea: A stick.
Feifei: A stick 一根拐杖。Hmmm. 我明白你的這個笑話了，不過我不覺得怎麼好笑。
Andrea: Hello, I'm Andrea and this is On the Town.
Stand-up comedians stand up on stage and tell funny stories.
Feifei: 大家好，我是馮菲菲。英國有很多名勝古蹟，玩的東西也不少。但是一個長久不衰、備受歡迎的傳統就是 stand-up comedy 單人滑稽喜劇表演。
Andrea: Yes, across Britain there are hundreds of comedy clubs. These are places where people love to go to have a few drinks and a few laughs.
Feifei: To have a few laughs 笑一笑，輕鬆一下。
Andrea: Noel Faulkner is a stand-up comic and has been running the Comedy Café in London for the last 21 years. But what exactly is stand-up comedy? Let's listen to Noel.
Stand-up is basically where one person, man or woman, stands on stage and tells funny stories about what's going on in their life, or funny people or funny things that happened to them: getting on the bus to work or how smelly people are on the bus. They talk about their wives, their marriages, relationships.
Feifei: 喜劇演員 Noel Faulkner 說單人戲劇滑稽表演就是一個男人或女人自己站在臺上，給大家重述真實好玩兒的故事。
Stand-up is basically where one person, man or woman, stands on stage and tells funny stories about what's going on in their life.
Noel Faulkner
Andrea: Another word for stories is 'anecdotes'. Stand-up comedians love to tell funny stories or anecdotes about anything - from getting on the bus, to stories about their wives or husbands.
Feifei: 當然大家之所以能捧腹大笑，是因為這些好玩的故事都是真實發生過的事情。不過總能讓觀眾笑聲不斷確實不是件容易的事兒！
Andrea: I know! Here's what Noel has to say about that.
Anybody can be funny when it just happens because then everybody's on your side. But to walk up to a group of people and to say 'I'm going to be funny, say sit down, shut up' – it takes an awful lot.
Feifei: Noel 說任何一個人跟朋友在一起的時候都可以很隨性的、即興的講個笑話。Anyone can be funny.
Andrea: That's because everyone's on your side.
Jimmy Carr started out as a stand-up comedian but now has a successful TV career.
Feifei: They're on your side 大家都在支持你。
Andrea: But it's really hard to make a group of strangers sit down and listen. Noel says that it takes an awful lot. He means it's really very difficult. It takes an awful lot.
Feifei: It's definitely not something that I would want to do! How about you, Andrea?
Andrea: No way! But on the other hand, it can be fantastic being a stand-up comic.
When you do a show to 100 or 200 people, when you come off stage you're on such a high because they love you. They've laughed at everything you said. You are the greatest person in the world to them. Every time you click your fingers, move your head they're laughing. So it's an incredibly powerful position.
Feifei: Noel said you're on such a high 這是一個非正式表達，意思是你非常亢奮，也很高興。
When you do a show to 100 or 200 people, when you come off stage you're on such a high because they love you. They've laughed at everything you said.
Noel Faulkner
Andrea: Yes, stand up comedians are on a high when they come off stage. And they feel very powerful because you just click your fingers or move your head and people laugh.
Feifei: 短語 'to click your fingers' 可以用來形容一個有權力或能力的人。一個人只需要兩個手指一碰，所有人都按這個人說的做。
Andrea: But comedians don't always come off the stage on a high...
When it all goes horribly wrong, the room just goes quiet and people stare at you, and one drunk person is shouting at you, swearing at you and it all just goes off the rails. And you just have to get off stage. That is the rule. And it feels like the whole world's had a meeting and they've all agreed that you're a loser. It's a horrible, horrible feeling.
Andrea: Noel talks about 'it all going off the rails'.
Feifei: 短語 to go off the rails 的意思是一輛火車脫軌。Noel 用這個短語想表達一件事情沒有像預期一樣順利進行，出了差錯 to go off the rails.
Andrea: When it all just goes off the rails the only thing a stand-up comedian can do is get off the stage quickly. They feel like a loser.
Feifei: Not nice at all. 不過英國有很多著名的單人滑稽喜劇表演家。
The two Ronnies were a very popular comedy double act.
Andrea: Billy Connelly.
Feifei: The two Ronnies.
Andrea: And more recently people like Michael MacIntyre and Jimmy Carr. It seems that however hard it may be, stand-up comedy and its clubs will continue to remain a tradition in Britain.
Feifei: 如果你也想成為一名單人滑稽喜劇表演家，那就請注意聽下面 Noel 給大家的重要貼士！
You need to try some jokes out on your friends. Sit down and write them out. And then you need an audience. An audience can be any meeting of a group of people, where you can persuade the people that are putting the meeting on that this man wants to stand up and do five minutes worth of jokes.
Andrea: So you need to try out some jokes on friends. Practise, practise, practise.
You need to try some jokes out on your friends. Sit down and write them out. And then you need an audience.
Noel Faulkner
Feifei: 把你要講的故事先寫下來。
Andrea: You need an audience. This could be any group of people.
Feifei: An audience 觀眾是非常重要的。
Andrea: So do you think I could have a future as a stand-up comic, Feifei?
Feifei: Er... I'm not sure, Andrea… 不過要堅持練習！今天的節目到這裡就結束了，別忘了登陸 www.bbcukchina.com 來收聽更多免費的英語教學節目。感謝收聽，我們下次再會。Bye!
Andrea: Bye!