Why We Stand Up: Comedy and Its Impact
| dc.contributor.author | Phillips, Emily Dungan | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2020-09-29T22:08:40Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2020-09-29T22:08:40Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2019 | |
| dc.description | 77 pages | |
| dc.description.abstract | This thesis is a socially-aware analysis of comedy, specifically that of stand-up. It takes a look at the disparities between those enjoying stand-up, and those working the craft itself. Although art in general tends to have a social message of some kind, stand-up comedy takes a more direct approach in saying what it believes, since the art form is simply one person on stage telling jokes and giving their opinions. This can lead to people disagreeing with the comic, and if the audience member is really shocked by what the comedian says, they may call the comedian “offensive”. The latter term is the focus of this thesis. It is a term used often, but not necessarily analyzed for what it actually means. This thesis wants to find out what makes a particular joke offensive, funny, or both. To answer this question, willing participants answered a survey that was posted online during the winter of 2019. This survey comprises five compilations of comedians talking about five controversial topics, namely Religion, Domestic Abuse, The N Word, Being Gay/Lesbian, and Gun Control. The comedians discussing these topics are, in order of their presentation: Sarah Silverman, George Carlin, Woody Allen, Chris Rock, Louis C.K., Jimmy O. Yang, Wanda Sykes, Alex Edelman, Dwight Slade, and David Cross. Survey participants watched these compilations and answered questions on what parts of the jokes they found offensive or funny. An example question is “Which clip do you find more offensive? Why?”, in order to discuss two comedians joking about one of the above topics. People who took the survey were put into a drawing, and could win a free Apple Watch. The second part of this thesis that addresses the nature of offense within humor is the interviews I conducted with local comedians, both on and off the campus of the University of Oregon. These interviews allowed those writing jokes to give their opinion on this topic. An example question from these interviews is: “Is there any topic or type of joke that is off-limits? Why or why not?” Those that answered this survey received a $50 gift card for Amazon. This thesis provides a background on comedy and what made a joke funny throughout the years, since the era of Aristotle. With an understanding of what makes a joke objectively funny, as well as answers from the survey and the interviews on the nature of offense within humor, this thesis will attempt to find out what makes a joke offensive, funny, or a combination of the two. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1794/25798 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.publisher | University of Oregon | |
| dc.subject | Comedy | en_US |
| dc.subject | Offended | en_US |
| dc.subject | Laugh | en_US |
| dc.subject | Stand-Up | en_US |
| dc.subject | Comedians | en_US |
| dc.subject | Survey | en_US |
| dc.subject | Politically Correct | en_US |
| dc.subject | Offensive | en_US |
| dc.title | Why We Stand Up: Comedy and Its Impact | |
| dc.type | Thesis/Dissertation |