The first naked stand-up show

A group of American comics have performed what could be the world’s first naked stand-up show.

The little-publicised event in Boston on Tuesday night was a sell-out.

Compere and organiser Andy Ofiesh said he's been hosting private comedy shows in the nude for three years – but this was the first one he’d done in public

Before the Naked Comedy Show gig, he told the Boston Globe: ''You definitely connect on a different level with the audience."

And he said it was legal “as it's not a strip show . . . And you're not allowed to tip performers while they're onstage”.

Following a disclaimer dissociating the venue with the content of the show, acts included Happy the Sad Clown, who performed in only her red nose and a visor

Headliner Tim McIntire had done some of the earlier shows, but wondered how Ofiesh – who is performing in Why Work? at Edinburgh’s Underbelly next month - had persuaded him to go public.

'If I liked how I looked naked I wouldn't be doing comedy in the first place," he told the audience at ImprovBoston.

Published: 29 Jul 2005