"Senior citizens. People say they don't know how to drive. You think it's so easy to maneuver a car on the sidewalk?"
--Jack Rothman, 78, Los Angeles
Like many retirees, Jack Rothman, a former professor of public affairs at UCLA, devotes himself to a favorite activity in his senior years. But Rothman's is not one of the customary retirement pastimes--not golf or travel or genealogy or a reading club. No, Rothman's pursuit is a lot more laughs than those, but it's also more difficult and, to some, much scarier. It's stand-up comedy.
Rothman's performing instincts blossomed when his three children gave...