Stand-up as interaction: Performance and Audience in Comedy Venues Jason Rutter University of Saford Institute for Social Research Department of Sociology Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements of Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, September 1997. ABSTRACT This thesis explores stand-up comedy as live performance focusing on the manner in which audience, performer, jokes and venue combine to make a unique interactive experience. It outlines the failure of previous literature in humour research to move beyond simple stimulus models ofjoking and laughter. It argues for a shift in the study of humour towards in situ observation which draws on both conversation analysis and audience research. Through the observation of stand-up interaction the thesis demonstrates that audience laughter is organised in a consistent fashion and that the transition between comedian's talk and audience laughter is socially organised. In turn the thesis examines the openings, middles and closings of stand- up routines. It demonstrates that despite a considerable variety of performance style, comperes' introductions, the commencement of the comedians' routines themselves and the closing of acts, are organised around a set of common features each with a preferred order. Further, it demonstrates the active role played by the audience as well as the performer in maintaining this ordering. It shows how a feeling of "liveness" is built up out of these sequences as they are constructed specifically for, and respond to, individual audiences. Looking at the central section of stand-up routines this work demonstrates how jokes told by comedians incorporate a series of rhetorical and performance specific techniques which work towards announcing to an audience that a point of completion is approaching and that laughter is the preferred response. It is argued that this serves to minimise the audience's risk in laughing in a group situation and so is beneficial for both performer and audience. A new system for understanding stand-up is presented which pivots on notions of performance, interaction and liveness. You know what your trouble was, Willy? You always took the jokes too seriously. They were just jokes. The Sunshine Boys, Neil Simon 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLEOF EXTRACTS ................................................................................ vi TABLEOF FIGURES ................................................................................... xi TABLEOF TABLES .................................................................................... xii CHAPTER1 ................................................................................................... I "This sociologist walks into a bar...": Stand-up and Sociology..........I CHAPTER2 ................................................................................................... 6 HumourTheory: Classics, Jokes And Sociology..................................6 2.1 Classical Theories ............................................................................. 8 2 .1.1 Superiority.....................................................................................g 2 .1.3 Relief...........................................................................................13 2 .1.3 Incongruity ..................................................................................17 2.2 Joke Theory ..................................................................................... 22 2.3 Social Theories ................................................................................ 26 2.3.1 Maintenance Theories ................................................................28 2.3.2 Negotiation Theories...................................................................31 2 .3.3 Frame Theories...........................................................................33 2.4 A Transformative Approach to Humour Research ....................... 37 Notes ....................................................................................................... 49 CHAPTER3 ................................................................................................. 53 "You've been a great crowd": Audience Research and Laughter .....53 3.1 The Comedy Audience....................................................................54 3.1.1 Spatial Variables.........................................................................55 3 .1.2 Group Laughter...........................................................................58 3.1.3 Recorded Laughter.....................................................................61 3.2 Audience Research and Humour Studies .....................................63 U 3.2.1 Effects Model .63 3.2.2 Encoding/Decoding.....................................................................65 3.2.3 Ethnographic Approaches...........................................................66 3.2.4 Humour Audiences .....................................................................67 3.3 Stand-up In The Venue....................................................................71 Notes.......................................................................................................84 CHAPTER4.................................................................................................87 4.1 Establishing a Methodology...........................................................88 4.2 Importance of Conversation Analysis ...........................................95 4.3 Primary Data ....................................................................................99 4.4 Fieldwork and Access...................................................................102 4.5 Conclusions...................................................................................106 Notes.....................................................................................................107 CHAPTER5...............................................................................................110 Funny, Ha Ha: Laughter as Part of Stand-up Interaction ..................110 5.1 Laughter and Joking .....................................................................111 5.2 Laughter and Stand-up .................................................................115 5.3 Laughter and Turn Taking ............................................................121 5.3.1 Performer to Audience Transitions ...........................................126 5.3.2 Audience to Performer Transitions ...........................................130 5.4 Conclusions...................................................................................139 Notes.....................................................................................................142 CHAPTER6...............................................................................................144 Opening Lines: The Commencing of Stand-up Acts and Their Introductions.........................................................................................144 6.1 Introduction....................................................................................144 6.2 The Structure Of Openings...........................................................145 111 6.3 Compere's Introduction .149 6.3.1 Contextualisation ......................................................................151 6.3.2 Framing of Response................................................................154 6.3.3 Evaluation of Comedian............................................................154 6.3.4 Request for Action ....................................................................156 6.3.5 Introduction ...............................................................................158 6.3.6 Audience Applause...................................................................165 6.4 The Stand-up Opening ..................................................................168 6 .4.1 Greeting of Audience ................................................................169 6.4.2 Comment on the Setting ...........................................................172 6.4.2.1 Comment on the Audience .............................................................173 6.4.2.2 Reference To The Local Geography Of The Venue .......................177 6.4.2.3 Self-Reflexive Remarks On The Act..............................................180 6.4.2.4 Meta-Comments..............................................................................181 6.4.3 Request for Audience Action ....................................................184 6.4.4 Response to Request by Audience...........................................186 6.4.5 FirstCannedJoke.....................................................................188 6.5 Conclusions ................................................................................... 190 Notes ..................................................................................................... 193 CHAPTER7 ............................................................................................... 196 "It's the way I tell them" - The Rhetoric of Joking ............................. 196 7.1 Introduction .................................................................................... 196 7.2 Common Rhetorical Techniques..................................................199 7.2.1 Contrast ....................................................................................201 7.2.2 List ............................................................................................205 7.2.3 Puzzle-solution..........................................................................211