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A Look Behind the Curtains of Stand-Up Comedy: Psychology in Stand-Up Comedy

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A Look Behind the Curtains of Stand-Up Comedy: Psychology in Stand-Up Comedy UNIVERZITA PALACKÉHO V OLOMOUCI Filozofická fakulta Katedra psychologie A Look behind the Curtains of Stand-Up Comedy: Psychology in Stand-Up Comedy Bakalářská diplomová práce Autor: Benedikt Říčný Vedoucí práce: PhDr. Jan Šmahaj, Ph.D. Olomouc 2014 Prohlášení „Ochrana informací v souladu s ustanovením § 47b zákona o vysokých školách, autorským zákonem a směrnici rektora k Zadání tématu, odevzdáváni a evidence údajů o bakalářské, diplomové, disertační prací a rigorózní prací a způsob jejich zveřejněni. Student odpovídá za to, že veřejná část závěrečné práce je koncipovaná a strukturovaná tak, aby podávala úplně informace o cílech závěrečné práce a dosažených výsledcích. Student nebude zveřejňovat v elektronické verzi závěrečné práce plné znění standardizovaných psychodiagnostických metod chráněných autorským zákonem (záznamový arch, test/dotazník, manuál). Plné znění psychodiagnostických metod může být pouze přílohou tištěné verze závěrečné práce. Zveřejněni je možné pouze po dohodě s autorem nebo vydavatelem.“ Místopřísežně prohlašuji, že jsem bakalářskou diplomovou práci na téma: „A Look behind the Curtains of Stand-Up Comedy: Psychology in Stand-Up Comedy“ vypracoval samostatně pod odborným dohledem vedoucího diplomové práce a uvedl jsem všechny použité podklady a literaturu. V…………………..dne ….……….. Podpis …………………………… Acknowledgement At this point I would like to thank the supervisor of this study PhDr. Jan Šmahaj, PhD. for the wonderful guidance, effort and time invested in this study. Further, I would like to thank my friends especially Mister Petr Pýcha, family and partner for much needed support and relief. Last but not least, I would like to thank all the respondents for letting me interview them on their own free time and through various difficulties. Contents Contents .................................................................................................................................................. 5 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 9 In Theory .............................................................................................................................................. 10 1 Theoretical background ............................................................................................................ 11 1.1 Stand-Up Comedy in Theory .......................................................................................... 11 1.2 Types of humour ................................................................................................................ 12 1.3 Conditions of Stand-Up Comedy .................................................................................... 12 1.3.1 The Venue and the setting ....................................................................................... 12 1.3.2 The Audience .............................................................................................................. 13 Audiences in general .............................................................................................................. 13 A typology of audiences ........................................................................................................ 13 The Theatre Audience ........................................................................................................... 14 Group dynamics in Theatre Audiences ......................................................................... 15 Group dynamics in Stand-Up Comedy ......................................................................... 16 Suspending the Audiences Disbelief and the Aesthetic distance in Theatre Audiences ............................................................................................................................. 17 The role of the Audience in Stand-Up Comedy .......................................................... 17 Audience response .................................................................................................................. 18 1.4 The Stand-Up Comedian and their Strategies ............................................................ 19 1.4.1 Personality traits of Stand-Up Comedians .......................................................... 19 1.4.2 Public Speaking and Stand-Up Comedy ............................................................... 21 1.4.3 Aristotle’s rhetoric ..................................................................................................... 22 Ethos ......................................................................................................................................... 22 Logos ......................................................................................................................................... 24 Pathos ........................................................................................................................................ 24 Summary and applicability of Ethos, Logos and Pathos on Stand-Up Comedy ...... 25 1.4.4 The Five Canons of Rhetoric .................................................................................. 27 Invention .................................................................................................................................. 27 Considering the principle of Invention in Stand-Up Comedy ................................. 28 Arrangement ........................................................................................................................... 28 Considering the principle of Arrangement in Stand-Up Comedy .......................... 29 Style ........................................................................................................................................... 29 Considering the principle of Style in Stand-Up Comedy .......................................... 30 Memory .................................................................................................................................... 31 Considering the principle of Memory in Stand-Up Comedy ................................... 31 Delivery .................................................................................................................................... 31 Considering the principle of Delivery in Stand-Up Comedy ................................... 33 1.4.5 Non-verbal Communication .................................................................................... 33 Bodily contact .......................................................................................................................... 33 Proximity ................................................................................................................................. 33 Orientation and personal territory ..................................................................................... 34 Appearance ............................................................................................................................... 34 Posture ...................................................................................................................................... 34 Head-nods ................................................................................................................................ 35 Facial expressions/Mimics .................................................................................................. 35 Gestures .................................................................................................................................... 35 Kinesics ..................................................................................................................................... 36 Looking ..................................................................................................................................... 36 Non-verbal Aspects of speech .............................................................................................. 36 1.4.6 Strategies in use by Stand-Up Comedians ........................................................... 37 Transition to a new joke sequence ..................................................................................... 37 The use of Profanity in Stand-Up Comedy ...................................................................... 39 The study .............................................................................................................................................. 40 2 Research problem ....................................................................................................................... 41 2.1 The aim of the research .................................................................................................... 41 2.2 Research questions ............................................................................................................. 41 3 Methodological framework of the study ............................................................................... 42 3.1 The logistics and process of the research ..................................................................... 42 3.2 Methods of data analysis used ......................................................................................... 43 3.3 The research’s ethical issues and their solving ........................................................... 43 4 The sample ..................................................................................................................................
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