Candid Stand-Up Comedian Interviews & Reviews

Hop For Pop talks to comedians about what really happens behind the mic: how a joke gets written, why a set bombs, and what it takes to keep going. Learn how stand-up comedy works from the people who do it, and read our honest comedy reviews and Edinburgh Fringe 2026 coverage, from the team behind The Comics Unseen.

Comedy Via Experience

ComedyComedy Lessons

How to Start Stand-Up Comedy in 5 Steps

If you are trying to work out how to start stand-up comedy, you are probably stuck on the same question as everyone else: what do I actually do first? Not in five years’ time. Tomorrow.On Hop For Pop we spend most of our time asking working comedians how they got…
ComedyComedy Lessons

Why George Carlin’s Comedy Survived the Test of Time

George Carlin died in 2008, and his specials still get passed around like new material. On Hop For Pop we ask almost every comedian who their heroes are. Carlin’s name comes up more than anyone’s, from Edinburgh Fringe debutants to a manager who has spent decades…
ComedyComedy Lessons

What Clown School Teaches Comedians: Six Lessons From Gaulier and Beyond

Sevrin Willinder spent about ten weeks failing at clown school. The method at Philippe Gaulier’s school in France involves a teacher with a drum and a supply of insults. Willinder was not even being insulted, which was worse. The drum would sound and the next student…