Interviewer: Hi, everybody out there. Welcome to a new edition of “Meet A Star” on OMEGA 2 Radio Channel. Our guest today is the retired humourist, Joanne Thomson.
Nice to have you with us, Joanne. My first question would be…er…Well I guess a good sense of humour is essential to be a successful stand-up comedian. Is that so?
Joanne Thomson: Yeah, you gotta have a pretty good sense of humour. But it’s only one part of making people laugh. It’s really tough to get on a stage in front of an audience and do stand-up comedy. To do any kind of live performance, you need to have a strong ego and nerves of steel. Almost everybody gets stage fright the first time they perform a comic show.
Interviewer: I’m not sure I got your point. Would you clarify that, please?
Joanne Thomson: I wanna say people think stand-up comics do nothing but tell little stories and jokes to others. It’s a lot tougher than that. Stand-up comics spend hours every day practising and perfecting their shows, and they havta (have to) know their audience and the kind of humour they’ll respond to.
Interviewer: Do you mean stand-up comics prepare their acts beforehand rather than improvise them?
Joanne Thomson: That’s exactly what I mean. You havta (have to) figure out what you’re gonna say before you get on stage. The audience may find it amusing when you’re stuck, but preparation is really important. Even great comics write down their shows first. They have their acts all planned out, then they improvise around them.
Interviewer: Comedians need other things to perform well, don’t they?
Joanne Thomson: Certainly. Reading and watching the most outstanding comedians are also necessary ingredients. These give the comedian a wide range of comic words and tricks. The idea isn’t to copy others, but it helps comedians gain new wits and moves. Look, comedians lose their charm if they stick to a certain style for a long time.
Interviewer: I can’t understand why there aren’t many famous female stand-up comedians.
Joanne Thomson: Well, let’s not make a gender issue out of it. But, I think it’s a question of personal tendency and career choice. It’s NOT at all a question of ability or talent!
Interviewer: Thanks a lot, Joanne.
Vocabulary: 
Stand-up:(adj)describes comedy performed by a single person telling jokes: stand-up comedy/stand-up comedian. Tough:(adj)involving considerable difficulty or hardship; requiring great determination or effort. : "The training has been quite tough" "he had a tough time getting into a good college".(صعب/قاسي) Ego: a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance. : "a boost to my ego". (الأنا) Steel: a strong metal that is a mixture of iron and carbon, used for making things that need a strong structure, especially vehicles and buildings. (الفولاذ) Fright: a sudden intense feeling of fear. : "I jumped up in fright". (الخوف) Figure out: to finally understand something or someone."Can you figure out the answer to question 5?".(عرف) Be/get stuck: not able to continue reading, answering questions, etc. because something is too difficult: "I'm really stuck - do you have any ideas how to answer these questions?" ( عالق) Improvise: create and perform (music, drama, or verse) spontaneously or without preparation. (ارتجل) Outstanding: exceptionally good: excellent. (رائع/ممتاز) Ingredient: one of the parts of something successful. (مكون) Range: a set of different things of the same general type. : "the area offers a wide range of activities for the tourist".(نطاق) Wit: a natural aptitude for using words and ideas in a quick and inventive way to create humour. : "a player with a sharp tongue and a quick wit". Charm: the power or quality of giving delight or arousing admiration. (روعة/سحر) Stick to: to limit yourself to doing or using one particular thing and not change to anything else. (يلتزم ب) Issue: an important topic or problem for debate or discussion. (قضية/موضوع) Tendency: an inclination toward a particular characteristic or type of behaviour. (اتجاه/نزعة) Career: occupation, job, profession.(مسار مهني مسار وظيفي)