An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature, theatre, music, video games, or academics in any medium. Audience members participate in different ways in different kinds of art. Some events invite overt audience participation and others allow only modest clapping and criticism and reception.

Stand-up comedy is a type of comedy performance directed to a live audience in which the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues, with occasional physical acts. The performance is usually a rhetorical sketch with rehearsed scripts, but many performers also employ varying degrees of live crowd interaction as part of their routine. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, observations, or shticks that may incorporate props, music, impressions, magic tricks, or ventriloquism.