COMPOSITIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF COMEDY SHOWS ABOUT INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Abstract

Stand-up comedy shows, as a genre of comic discourse, captivate huge audiences all over the world. The reason for that lies not only in their entertaining purpose but also in the coverage of paramount issues of humankind at a humorous angle. The jokes about issues of intercultural communication that are told by comedy actors who perform in the genre of stand-up comedy, shed light on differences of society, behavior and traditions of different nationalities as well as reveal ethnic stereotypes.
The article analyses compositional characteristics of comedy shows of such famous comedians of Middle Eastern descent as Maz Jobrani, Russell Peters and Dean Obeidallah. A certain structure has been identified in their shows: similar beginnings and endings that are used by these artists, during which comedy actors express their gratitude to the audience for their attendance. The examples of such beginnings and endings have been examined in this article.
Asking the audience questions concerning their nationalities have also been widely used by comedy actors mainly as a means of establishing rapport with the viewers as well as building cohesive links within some of the jokes.
Components of successful stand-up routine have been investigated in this article as well as the essence of stand-up has been determined.