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Madonna trying standup is no joke: she’s a natural comedian and genuine kook

News that the singer had done a slot in New York’s Comedy Cellar was met with derision, but she has always walked a fine line between comedy character and over-the-top pop star

The Greenwich Village club hosted stand-ups like Ray Romano and Jon Stewart early in their careers, and although tourists now flock to the venue in the hope of seeing an A-lister do a surprise drop-in, young comics can still get their start there. Some of these critiques are valid – from young comics, for example, complaining about a comedy dilettante getting coveted stage time at the snap of a finger – but most, sceptical about the idea that someone like Madonnacould ever be funny,are less convincing. This is not to say Madonna has never been totally humourless – see: when she likened an album leak to rape – nor is it to say that she is always in on the joke; her tweets and Instagram captions, no matter how serious the topic, always end up reading like parodies of dadaist poetry.

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