The marriage of Zainab Mousavi, a famous comedian nicknamed the Emperor Kuzco

Since ancient times, people have staged comedic performances, but modern stand-up has roots in vaudeville acts from the late nineteenth century. Vaudeville acts were live and included a lot of slapstick. As comedy grew in popularity, jokes started to change. They developed a defined setup and punchline. Charley Case, a vaudeville performer, is credited with doing the first real stand-up act sometime during the 1880s. He performed comedic monologues in front of an audience, leaving out the props and antics of vaudeville. Like comedians today, Case told anecdotal jokes—funny stories from his life. Stand-up comedy as we know it today was born.