Humour Discourse Analysis in Stand-up Comedy

A Case Study of Ali Wong's "Baby Cobra"

Chen, Jiunhua

The present study aims to explore humorous discourse in English standup comedy by analysing the work of a famous American female comedian, Ali Wong. To reach the goal, three research questions are formed: (i) What humorous strategies and techniques are used; (ii) What social aspects are highlighted and what effects were made; (iii) How do incongruity, hostility and release theories of humour are exploited. Quantitative results and qualitative discussions would be provided for the first and second research questions, and the third research question is qualitative. The result has shown that most prominent joke techniques include taboo language, ridicule, humorous metaphor, hyperbole, wordplay, repetition and pauses. Also, findings show Wong’s performance addresses various social topics to shape public opinion, which conveys four subversive effects. Further, these elements have been analysed and proved to go in line with the humour theories. Jianhua Chen. Graduating with excellent academic performance from Sun Yat-Sen University in China, the author majored in English Language and Literature for her bachelor degree. Before gaining her master degree of Applied Linguistics in English in Autonomous University of Madrid, she was an English teacher for three years in China and acquired important practical knowledge in the field. For now she continues her further academic study in linguistics, attending the doctoral program of Autonomous University of Madrid, under the supervision of Dr. Laura Hidalgo Downing.