Comedy Studies 

About: Comedy Studies is an academic journal published by Taylor & Francis. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Comedy & Comics. It has an ISSN identifier of 2040-610X. Over the lifetime, 263 publications have been published receiving 792 citations.

From toothpick legs to dropping vaginas: Gender and sexuality in Joan Rivers' stand-up comedy performance

Abstract: This article employs sociocultural analysis to examine Joan Rivers' stand-up comedy performances in order to reveal how she successfully operates in a sphere of artistic expression that has been, and continues to be, male-dominated. The analysis uncovers how Rivers' stand-up comedy performance involves a complex combination of elements and how it fuses features that are regarded as ‘traditionally masculine’, such as aggression, with features frequently used by other female stand-up comedians, such as self-deprecating comedy and confessional comedy. Furthermore, the analysis exposes the complex ways in which constructions of gender and sexuality are negotiated and re-negotiated in Rivers’ stand-up comedy performance, and illustrates how dominant ideological identity constructions can be simultaneously reinforced and subverted within the same comic moment.

The science of baby laughter

Abstract: ‘The Baby Laughter’ project (http://babylaughter.net) is a research programme in developmental psychology that uses online surveys and parent submitted videos to study baby laughter. We discuss how infant laughter has been neglected in the study of both humour and of developmental psychology. We describe our surveys and research methodology, together with some of the questions we hope they can address. Some preliminary results are presented together with illustrative comments from parents who took part. These results show that the topics of infant laughter track other cognitive developments, that it is an important form of communication and bond between parent and child and a marker of social and emotional engagement. We conclude by suggesting that the highly important role of laughter in early development has until now been underestimated.

The use of mimicry in Nigerian stand-up comedy

Abstract: The goal of this study is to analyse the use of mimicry in Nigerian stand-up comedy. Mimicry is conceived as a strategy in the routines of Nigerian stand-up comedians, who adopt two kinds of mimicry acts: verbal and nonverbal. For comedians to use mimicry, they have to draw from collective beliefs they share with their audience. On their part, the audience find a mimicry act humorous because it relates to their background assumptions. Data for analysis comprised four routines of four Nigerian stand-up comedians purposively selected because of the comics’ extensive use of mimicry. Mimicry activates background assumptions, distorts the collective representation of the target and could be used for articulating voice in stand-up performances.

Good-natured comedy to enrich climate communication

Abstract: This report explores the use of good-natured comedy to diversify the modes of comedy that can be used in climate communication beyond satire to others modes that are possibly more supportiv...

Take me seriously. Now laugh at me! How gender influences the creation of contemporary physical comedy

Abstract: This paper unpacks some of the complexities of the female comic project, focusing on the creation of physical comedy, via multiple readings of the term ‘serious’. Does female desire to be taken seriously in the public realm compromise female-driven comedy? Historically, female seriousness has been a weapon in the hands of such female-funniness sceptics as the late Christopher Hitchens, who (in)famously declared that women are too concerned with the grave importance of their reproductive responsibility to make good comedy. The dilemma is clear: for the woman attempting to elicit laughs, she is not serious enough outside the home, and far too serious inside it.