Even though there is no one person who was the first stand up comedian, there are several who contributed to the art. Humor goes way back but when you think of what is called stand up comedy the person most credited as the first would be Artemus Ward, aka Charles Browne who started out writing funny letters in a newspaper then discovered other people using his gags at minstrel shows and circuses and decided to go on the lecture circuit with his own material, needless to say it worked. Mark Twain loved Artemus and took a page or two from his book and as we know the rest is history. Bert Williams had it a little rougher as he was a black man so it was harder for him to get into mainstream comedy, though his talent shined through and allowed him to make a name and business for himself, at times having to wear blackface to be able to perform at some venues.
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