Comedians in novels

I've talked to a few amateur stand-up comedians, including those who've attended comedy workshops. I've watched many stand-up shows (including some open-mic ones) and can see how it's a fertile source of literary material. The author's problem is how to cope with the "tears of a clown" cliche.

Joseph O'Connor's short story "The Wexford Girl" has an obsessive joker, and I've read other short stories about sad stand-up acts. Novel-length attempts are rarer, not least because so many jokes are needed. I've read/heard -

• "Good Material" by Dolly Alderton - Andy (35, a comedian who does a lot of other bit-jobs) has been gently dumped. The PoV is shared by him and his ex. It's like a Nick Hornby novel.
• "A horse walks into a bar" by David Grossman (Jonathan Cape, 2016) - Dovaleh, 57, is doing his act. We're given it nearly verbatim - his life-story rather than jokes, though he has jokes ready when he needs them. The audience trickle away. In the end it's only him and a judge he'd invited along. They'd been schoolfriends, etc., though they've not met for decades. The judge and comedian take turns with the PoV.

In both we learn tricks of the stand-up trade. Confession and self-humilation on stage can be like an author's performance in a novel where life and art mingle - how much of it is therapy?