What It Is to Perform , Not Tell , Jokes: Toward a Manifesto of Stand-Up Research

Abstract: This essay makes a case for studying stand-up comedy with theatre analytical tools by highlighting its performative nature and discussing how body interactivities within its enactment produce meaning and humor beyond what comedians say. It provides an alternate reading of stand-up comedy to the prevalence of linguistic evaluations, which often conflate stand-up art with other comedic traditions that are not performed. I argue that such perspectives often downplay the co-participation of the audience and what comedians do with their bodies. Citing joke samples from three African diasporic comedians—Gina Yashere, Urzila Carlson, and Hoodo Hersi performing in the US, New Zealand, and Canada, respectively—I explore the use of the body, audience involvement, and other performed aspects from which hilarity is derived.