The extra twist after the punchline that generates an extra laugh. A good comic can keep tagging a joke more than once, twisting a premise back and forth to continue generating laughs. “The joke itself does alright, but the tag gets a huge laugh.”

See ‘Bit,’ above.

The comedian’s act for a specific show. “The early crowd was wild, ready to laugh but also attentive. It was a really great set. Then I bombed the late show. That set sucked.”

The voice, personality, mannerisms, and everything else that the comic adopts when they go up on stage. For some comics this is completely different from their normal personality, but for most it’s an exaggerated version of themselves (the rule of thumb is “you plus 15%”). “His career really started to click once he got comfortable with his persona [..]

a.k.a. “No, I did NOT steal that joke!” Occurs when two or more comics come up with the same material independently. “Someone asked me if I got that joke from Will Ferrell’s one man show, but it turned out to be parallel thinking.”

Short for merchandise, refers to the DVDs, CDs, t-shirts, etc. that a comic will often sell after a show. “The club owner would like you to set up your merch table over by the bar.”

See ‘Host,’ above.

Can refer to a single joke, a bit, a routine, or one’s entire act.  “I feel really good about the new material I’ve been working on lately. It’s darker and edgier than my old material.”

Another way of saying venue; the physical location of the gig where the comedian performs their act, be it a comedy club, bar, old folks’ home, frat mixer, etc. If a comedian says “That’s a really difficult room to work”

Often used interchangeably with ‘Feature,’ above.