Standup Comedy

This article explores the figure of “Raghu Thatha,” as an allegory of Tamil language purism, born from the mishearing of the Hindi phrase “rehta tha” in the 1981 Tamil film Indru Poi Naalai Vaa (Go Today, Come Tomorrow, dir. K. Bhagyaraj). Central to this mishearing is the aspirated “h” sound that becomes a site of linguistic resistance and comedic exaggeration. The article situates Tamil comedy as a modality in which "mishearing" operates as both a comedic device and an embodied form of resistance against dominant auditory norms tied to caste, region, and language politics in South India. Building on Jennifer Stoever’s concept of the “listening ear,” it argues that mishearing becomes a deliberate, performative strategy that protects one's sonic inheritances while parodying linguistic hierarchies in the auditory field.

This paper focuses on 'humour and humiliation' on the part of the actor and the audience in the performance of stand-up comedians in Nigeria. It is not uncommon for people often feel humiliated when issues dealt with during performances affect them directly or indirectly. A lot of today's performance by stand-up comedians contain actions and ideas that critics see as inauthentic, distasteful and lacking artistic merit. Meanwhile, comedians since the beginning of theatre history have continued to face humiliation, just for being comedians. The qualitative approach is employed in this study. It is descriptive in nature and it places emphasis on the observations of the researcher rather than numerical data. This study is anchored on the Goldman's theory unveiling the actor as the "sacred blasphemer" that allows the stand-up comedian to deal with topics considered as taboo. Findings reveal that humiliation in the humour of the stand-up comedian also reflects in the life of the performer as it does in the audience and the issues harped on are derived from society itself not in a vacuum. The implication is that the performance of every comedian is to make society better not bitter and humiliation will always be part of humour; thus, critics and scholars are enjoined to give this sub-genre of the theatre more scholarly and unbiased attention so that society can gain more enlightenment about the theatre.

This study aims to analyze how humor is used to represent violence on new media platforms and how these representations influence societal perceptions. It examines how violence is portrayed in Turkish stand-up programs and its impact on social prejudices. Using thematic content analysis, ten different stand-up performances published on YouTube were analyzed, and thematic coding was applied. The data were then organized using a thematic analysis matrix. The analysis identified thirteen different types of violence, with symbolic violence (12.29%) and social violence (11.26%) being the most frequently represented forms. The study found that humorous narratives targeting women (20%), lower socioeconomic groups (18%), and rural populations (15%) contribute to the reproduction of social prejudices and discriminatory discourse. Although humor has the potential to be a critical tool, the study reveals that it often functions to normalize violence. Techniques such as repetition, irony, and exaggeration aestheticize violence, leading audiences to internalize these behaviors without questioning them. Consequently, the study concludes that humorous content has a limited capacity to critique social norms and instead reinforces existing biases. In this context, the research emphasizes the need for a more conscious approach to representations of violence in new media environments.

A very integral part in the performance of a one-person show in contemporary Nigerian Theatre is the audience that plays an indispensable role otherwise the performance will be incomplete and therefore non-existent. Scholars and critics have underplayed the relevance of the audience in solo performance. A solo performer, even when he records himself with a video camera would be able to excite and titillate any viewing audience watching the recorded performance on television, video projector or even a cinema screen (they are actually watching an image); but juxtaposed with a solo performance with a live audience in attendance the difference cannot be ignored. Even the nomenclature: solo performer, one-man show, one-person performance or the very obvious 'monodrama' or 'monologue' seems lopsided. The focus of this paper however, is not to redefine solo performance but to foreground the important role, 'the audience' plays in this revolutionary sub-genre of the theatre as well as expose the audience as the noisy silent (other) character, that sustains the one-person show. The paper adopts the Field Study Method of information gathering which is descriptive and therefore qualitative with focus on the importance of observations made rather than numerical data. This paper is anchored on the Performance Theory that allows the audience as active participant in the performance as well as the Avant-gardist Theory that allows ample room for experimentation and creating of new rules during performance. Findings in this paper reveal that the audience in solo performance is irrefutably, the indispensable 'dialogue' in the subgenre called 'monologue' in Contemporary Nigerian Theatre. The paper concludes therefore that the audience should be accorded more attention because they play an indispensable role in every dramatic monologue of the theatre.

This essay employs a qualitative, culturally grounded methodology
centred on interviewing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander comedians,
writers, and performers to understand how Blak humour is
used to engage, educate, and empower audiences in Australia.
There is very little published research on First Nations Australian
humour, despite its significance. I employ ‘Blak’ comedy and
humour as an educational tool to facilitate truth-telling and to promote
and evoke deeper engagement with, and understanding of
First Nations Australian history and culture. Inspired by Destiny
Deacon, I embrace ‘Blak’ as a term of self-determination, reflecting
authentic First Nations identity. Building on this, I define ‘Blak’ as a
distinct comedic genre, emphasising its role in expressing
Aboriginal perspectives and resistance. This aligns with my framing
of ‘Blak’ as a unique comedic genre, distinct from ‘black comedy’,
which traditionally explores morbid themes. Aboriginal humour
embraces both ‘Blak’ and ‘Black’ elements, showcasing its depth
and cultural specificity. There are also terms used throughout the
essay like ‘mob’, ‘our mob’, ‘Blak fullas’ or ‘fullas’, that refer to
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These are the words
and phrases we commonly use to describe and identify ourselves
within our communities.