A warm-up comedian or crowd warmer is a stand-up comedian who performs at a comedy club or before the filming of a television comedy in front of studio audience to get the crowd into the mood ready for the show or main act. Their role is to make the audience feel integral to the show and encourage reactions during the show.
They usually work alone and perform a comedy routine while also possibly explaining aspects of the show. They will also perform during commercial breaks. Some warm-up routines before talk shows involve giving prizes to audience members. The use of warm-ups dates back before television to radio shows.
Warming-up is performed before a performance or practice. Athletes, singers, actors and others warm up before stressing their muscles.
A warm up generally consists of a gradual increase in intensity in physical activity (a "pulse raiser"), joint mobility exercise, and stretching, followed by the activity. Warming up brings the body to a condition at which it safely responds to nerve signals for quick and efficient action.
For example, before running or playing an intensive sport, the athlete might slowly jog to warm their muscles and increase their heart rate. It is important that warm ups be specific to the activity, so that the muscles to be used are activated. The risks and benefits of combining stretching with warming up are disputed, although it is generally believed that warming up prepares the athlete both mentally and physically. In a meta-study of 32 high quality studies, about 4/5ths of the studies showed improvements in performance.
Warm-up programs can improve the strength of the knee muscle, which, in turn, may decrease injuries.
Warm Up is a Formula One style racing video game, released in 2000 developed by Lankhor, and published by Microïds, for Microsoft Windows based PCs.
The game can be played by up to 10 players on a network. The game does not have the proper license, and therefore does not have the correct teams and drivers, etc.