Stand-up comedy can be serious business. Most comedians fret endlessly about their delivery and to them it’s no joking matter.

Chris Rock says people often take his chatter the wrong way. “I remember as kid when I got really serious about things, really hot and bothered, people would laugh. That still happens to this day. They think I'm telling a joke sometimes when I'm really serious. I loved comedy as a child — loved watching Bill Cosby hosting ‘The Tonight Show,’ Dean Martin roasts.

“I was a weird kid. I went to a club on audition night and passed the audition. And as far as making a living, I found that out along the way. They started giving me money to do it. And I really didn’t do it for money. I just loved doing it. If I were driving a bus right now, I’d probably do comedy on the weekends.”

Paula Poundstone, one of the few female stand-ups who’s still touring says, “The first time I went on I was pretty good in Boston. The second time I was awful. When I bussed tables, I’d spend all day repeating the thing I was going to say that night. I was very nervous. I used to live in rooming-house. I was getting dressed a few days before and inadvertently put my underwear on outside of my pants. I didn’t realize that I was that nervous till I saw my new fashion.”

In spite of 180 episodes of his TV smasheroo, “Seinfeld,” Jerry Seinfeld says that stand-up comedy for him is like a vacation for someone else.

“It's a liberating type of performance,” he says. “Putting on a weekly TV show is very complicated. There's 100 people on the crew and production and actors and a dozen writers and casting and editing — extremely complex.

“Stand-up was the best place for me to actually feel free and feel relaxed. To be in front of the audience, that's the most fun I can have. I've been on beaches. I've been on boats. It's pleasant. But it's not really FUN.''

Denis Leary, who recently starred in Fox’s sitcom, “Going Dutch,” says, “What I find is if you're a controversial comic who already has a reputation and a career, they expect you to push the envelope ... What I’ve noticed is the younger comics are frustrated by the political correctness because they feel as soon as they go to try out some new material, and they push the envelope, people are tweeting about it and complaining about it.

"And they’re worried because they’re young, they’re not necessarily making a lot of money right now. That’s the part that worries me. I think it’s going to need to be someone from the younger generation — and I don’t know who it is yet — who will finally put their comedy foot down and take the political correctness to task.”

One of those younger comics is Chris Fleming, 39, who performs his stand-up, “Live at the Palace,” for HBO Max. “I came from the Johnny Carson model of stand-up,” he says. “I was taught that in Boston, which was the five-to-seven-minute late-night set. And we would hold onto that for years ... Once I write something, it doesn't get much better ... I don't think I'm very good at promotion, but I am good at bleeding myself dry of things.”

Another young comic is Josh Johnson, 36, whose stand-up, “Symphony” is also streaming on HBO Max. “I don't think that there's anything that I want to say that I cannot say. .. I've definitely tabled things until I was either more learned about the world or a better comic or had the chance to talk to someone who actually knew more about it than I did, or lives it.”

Ray Romano, of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” thinks stand-up is stimulating. “You get a little high,” he says. “There’s a buzz. You also have a creative side of you that you satisfy — the writing and creating of material — and strangers are laughing at it. I still do it. I love when I come up with new material it gets me going, it’s part of what I do.”

George Lopez thinks hard knocks help a comedian. “Regarding stand-up, say you grew up by yourself and you're funny by yourself and you like to be alone, what other perfect profession is there?,” he says.

“Jay Leno says a lot of comedians had bad childhoods and his was happy, God bless him. But I think having nicks and bangs and dings make you more interesting. Sometimes the road less traveled is the better road when you get there.”

Billy Crystal recalls that the abrupt cancellation of three of his TV shows left him stunned and bewildered. “But it set me off on a good way to make myself better,” he says. “So, I just took off performing as much as I could. I was headlining EVERY place. Even though I knew I’d been canceled, the audience didn’t know about it. They said, ‘Oh, there's that guy on that show!’ They don’t know that I feel bad about it, and then it just made me better.”

Roseanne Barr, like fellow jesters Tim Allen, Billy Gardell and Kevin James, parlayed her schtick into a smash sitcom. She says stand-up can be a challenge. “You have to want to do it. I don't think you're like a regular person in wanting to do it. It's a craft and it's about work and rhythm and stuff. You're looking at about eight levels at once. That's why it's exciting because you're writing, you're performing, and you're also crafting the whole.

"You're kind of directing it, and that's why I think, comics ... when we move out of that genre into another one like television or something, we're sort of control freaks because we're totally a self-contained entertainment unit thing, and it's hard to let go and learn and collaborate — there was a great deal of difficulty in doing that for me, as there is for many comics.”

Steve Martin slipped into movies and the tube via his stand-up high jinks. “You don’t make a career choice in show business,” he says.“It happens. You go audition at a nightclub, and you either get it or you don’t. It’s such a slow, slow progress. You don’t say, ‘I’m going to be an actor.’ I never said that. I was interested in comedy. If I had chosen to be an actor, I’d still be at the audition line, I’m sure.”

Jim Carrey reports he had the impulse to perform since before he could read. "My report card used to say: 'Jim finishes his work first and then bothers the other students.' I was good in school. I used to whip through it. I had one teacher who had a meeting with me and gave me 15 minutes at the end of the day to do a routine.''

Muhammad Ali is the subject of new series

Boxing champion and colorful character Muhammad Ali is the subject of a new authorized series, “The Greatest,” premiering on Prime Video Wednesday, Nov. 4. Newcomer Jaalen Best plays Ali along with Giovanni Ribisi and Michael Ealy as Malcolm X. The series is designated authorized because the late boxer’s wife, Lonnie Ali, is one of the executive producers.

The story covers the young Cassius Clay, who makes his way through personal and professional battles along his knockouts to fame.

This is a new kind of role for the blue-eyed Ealy. “I love acting,” he says. “I’m basically I think I had such a normal childhood, no drama, no trauma, just very safe and sheltered and I think there’s a part of me — deep-down inside seeks out some sort of drama, some sort of conflict. I get to be able to do that while I act as opposed to bringing it into my actual life. It’s more healthy to do it that way.”

Danica McKellar celebrates Christmas early

Fans of Danica McKellar will be happy to know she stars in one of the early Christmas outings this season when “The Christmas Yes List” lands on Great American Pure Flix Nov. 12, followed by Great American Family and GFAM+ on Nov. 14.

Devotees remember McKellar as “that little girl on ‘The Wonder Years.'" But she went on to flourish in brain-busting mathematics, though she missed acting.

A few years ago she tried another effort outside her element: dancing. She competed on “Dancing with the Stars” and broke her ribs in the process.

“It was pretty humiliating because I was sobbing, and that made it on national television,” she recalls.

“It’s one thing to cry as a character, it’s another one when it’s really me. I was embarrassed and didn’t want to be weak. Didn’t want to lose like that. I kept dancing for two more weeks after that,” she says.

In spite of her injuries she and partner Val Chmerkovskiy kept on dancing. But McKellar’s efforts earned no awards. She placed sixth in the competition.

Danny Trejo shares some secrets

If you're tired of the phony thrillers on TV you might want to try “Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo” as host. Season 3 premieres Nov. 12 on the History Channel, which promises some scintillating finds this season.

Top it off with a recovered and unknown canvas by Vincent Van Gogh. How about the tennis shoe once belonging to basketball great Michael Jordan, retrieved from a dumpster? Then there’s the dab of movie history that inspired Walt Disney.

Trejo, who’s known for his menacing roles, spent 10 years in prison. Today he says, “People talk about this ‘career.’ I always say, ‘The 12-step program.’ “ He credits the 12-step program with setting him on the right path. “I wasn't like a nice guy in prison and wasn't a nice guy even when I was trying to help people.

“There's this survival mode that I can go into if I go back to the penitentiary that is not a pleasant person. That's why I don't get involved in competition. It's like race cars — let's build the fastest race car — whoever's got the most money can build the fastest race car. I have no regrets. I have to say the first half of my life was a character study, and now I'm playing most of those characters.” His latest film is the horror flick “Accursed,” streaming on Fawesome and on demand via Prime Video.

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