Have you ever watched a standup comic and thought - how on earth does this guy make a living? Whenever I watch a television broadcast of a standup comic, I always wonder why the people in the audience are actually laughing. Why? It's not really funny. It's not intelligent. It's not even remotely amusing. Are they getting paid to laugh? You would have to pay me pretty well to not go do something better with my time.

Another thought - why do comics who are inherently unfunny resort to more and more offensive jokes? Is it because they are trying to blackmail their audience into laughing? No one wants to look like the only closed minded fool in the audience, so everyone at these shows is always chuckling tentatively and looking around to make sure that everyone else is doing the same thing. Besides, apparently if you are doing stand up comedy - it gives you license to say whatever the hell you want - because is "JUST a joke - jeez, lighten up"
I love those stand-up routines that are just a two hour rantfest. You know, I have those all of the time - and I don't even charge admission!