[5] The label has been praised for bringing an independent approach to the comedy genre, inspired by Schlissel's roots in punk and indie rock.

Henry Owings, founder of humor magazine Chunklet, stated that Schlissel "has done a great job trying to reintroduce some fresh blood into comedy albums.

After Slipknot left -ismist for Roadrunner Records, Schlissel became disillusioned with running a music label, and moved away from Nebraska in 1998 to take a job at a software company in Minneapolis.

The label released several other comedy albums, including two by Doug Stanhope, Sicko and Something to Take the Edge Off, and Jimmy Shubert's Animal Instincts, while Schlissel launched Stand Up!

Although vinyl remains a niche market with minimal profit margins compared with digital and streaming,[5] Schlissel told an interviewer for Roctober magazine that he continues to support the format because "the physical product matters.

'"[10] The label's dedication to vinyl has been credited with helping a resurgence in the format; Don Steinberg of the Wall Street Journal stated that Stand Up!

has given comedy on vinyl "a hipster comeback,"[14] while John Wenzel of Vulture lauded the label for "honoring the history of the format.

was chosen not only for its obvious connection with stand-up comedy, but for its association with free-thinking and revolutionary ideals, as in the Bob Marley song "Get Up, Stand Up" and the intellectually confrontational comedic approach of George Carlin, Lenny Bruce and Joan Rivers.

[8] The label's logo, a clenched fist holding a microphone aloft, was designed by street artist and activist Shepard Fairey in 2002.

Political material on the label ranges from libertarian Tim Slagle to moderate Will Durst to the left-leaning Black and Maron.

[10] Wendy Pini, creator of the Elfquest comic-book series, illustrated the cover of Keith Lowell Jensen's album Elf Orgy.

[19] In addition to its roster of nationally known comedians, the label also has particularly strong ties with the regional comedy scenes in Minneapolis-St. Paul and Austin, Texas.

Minnesotan comics on the label include Bamford, Chad Daniels, Mary Mack, Tim Harmston, Chris Maddock, "Fancy Ray" McCloney, Corey Adam, and Rich Kronfeld of Comedy Central's Let's Bowl, and Stand Up!

released the posthumous album by Austin's Lashonda Lester, Shondee Superstar,[20] which was praised by Paste magazine as "a lovely introduction to a voice that's both purely unique and universally relatable ...

The festival was co-founded by Schlissel and Twin Cities comic Gus Lynch, who also acted in the films Saving Silverman, North Country, and I Spy.

[20][24] In 2017, during the label's first visit to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Schlissel registered a Scottish tartan with the National Records of Scotland in the name of Stand Up!

Designed by Edinburgh kiltmaker Gordon Nicolson, the tartan blends the colors red, black, and tan (from Fairey's Stand Up!