The World Stands Up is a series of twenty half hour television programs featuring the best in stand up comedy from all over the world.  A co-production between Comedy Central in the USA and IMWP in association with Paramount Comedy (UK), the series is also supported by the Comedy Channel in Australia.

The appeal of exposure on three continents attracted top names in stand up to the series including John Pinette, Emo Philips, Greg Proops, Jake Johannsen, Adam Hills, Tony Hawks, Ed Byrne, Boothby Graffoe and Deirdre O'Kane to name just a few.

Each episode has four acts, two from America and two from the rest of the world.  The final (and shortest segment) in each show features musical comedy - from the legendary seventh Python and Rutle, Neil Innes to one of New York's hottest tickets, Stephen Lynch. 

Shot in London in Jan/Feb 2004, the series avoids any topical references to ensure long shelf life and is available in both US version with three commercial breaks and UK version with one.  Running time of episodes are between 20.45 and 21.00 minutes.  Content and language comply with US free to air cable S&P.