--- description: The director knew how to get the laughs title: Woody Allen Stand-Up: Previously Unreleased Material image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe64a56931535dfa/6986a49255a8592653a82b30/2669509.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Comedy](/tag/comedy/) ## Comedy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Rare Woody Allen Stand-Up Comedy From the 1960s to Be Released by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 22, 2014 5:43 PM CUT  US writer, actor and film director Woody Allen. US writer, actor and film director Woody Allen.Evening Standard/Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 22, 2014 5:43 PM CUT Woody Allen may now be best known as a serious director, but in the early ’60s, he was the [Jim Gaffigan](http://time.com/78710/jim-gaffigan-comedian-interview-obsessed-special/ "undefined") of his time. Or maybe the [Larry David.](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1993876,00.html "undefined") Whoever is his modern-day analog, back in the day — before _Annie Hall_ or _Blue Jasmine_, —Allen was a stand-up comic. Allen’s routines were not rapid-fire bits lobbed at the audience; instead, he told long-form jokes that were more akin to short stories, a form he perfected in his collections _Without Feathers_ and _Getting Even._ He related complex, clever tales with a perpetually straight face and his tongue firmly in his cheek. There were punchlines, but they were peppered throughout the stories, and Allen barely paused for the audience to catch their breath from laughing before he volleyed another. While Allen has been off the comedy circuit since his directorial career took off with his 1969 film _Take the Money and Run_, his routines were recorded and released as _Woody Allen_: _The Stand Up Years_, comprised of his three earlier stand-up comedy albums. Recorded at three locations – Mr. Kelly’s in Chicago in March 1964; The Shadows, Washington D.C., April 1965; and Eugene’s, San Francisco, August 1968 — the album captures Allen’s best routines, including the infamous bit [“The Moose.” ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmnLRVWgnXU "undefined") On November 25, Razor & Tie is set to release a two-disc set of _Woody Allen’s_ _The Stand Up Years_, including exclusive material from the original vinyl recordings not available on any previous reissues. In addition, the set will include 25-minutes of audio excerpts from _Woody Allen: A Documentary_. and liner notes by Robert B. Weide, who produced and directed _Woody Allen: A Documentary_ as well as [_Curb Your Enthusiasm_](http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/12/01/curb-your-enthusiasm-the-key-to-peace-in-the-middle-east/ "undefined") (perhaps Larry David is the correct choice after all). The news of the re-release comes on the heels of speculation that Allen may return to stand-up. Last year, he told _New York Times_ reporter Dave Itzkoff that he has been [“toying with the idea”](http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/17/woody-allen-standup-guy/ "undefined") of developing new standup material. Allen was inspired by watching 86-year old comedian Mort Sahl perform: “Watching him, I had the same feeling now, in 2013, as I had when I saw him in 1950-something. Of, ‘Hey, I’d like to get back onstage and do standup again.'” That said, those comments surfaced last year, and Allen was already concerned about the effort, telling Itzkoff, “Just getting together an hour of stuff to talk about would be a lot of work.” Perhaps a new generation of fans will just have to make due with memorizing his old routines, which — luckily — still hold up. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3418447/woody-allen-comedy-stand-up-1960s/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3418447/woody-allen-comedy-stand-up-1960s/"},"headline":"Rare Woody Allen Stand-Up Comedy From the 1960s to Be Released","datePublished":"2014-09-22T17:43:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T07:55:15.367Z","description":"The director knew how to get the laughs","url":"https://time.com/3418447/woody-allen-comedy-stand-up-1960s/","keywords":["Comedy","movies","woody allen"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe64a56931535dfa/6986a49255a8592653a82b30/2669509.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe64a56931535dfa/6986a49255a8592653a82b30/2669509.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Woody Allen","caption":"Woody Allen","creditText":"Evening Standard/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/comedy/","name":"Comedy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3418447/woody-allen-comedy-stand-up-1960s/","name":"Rare Woody Allen Stand-Up Comedy From the 1960s to Be Released"}}]}] ```