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Stand-up comedy performances in India are undergoing significant changes, marked by transformations in linguistic choices. One noteworthy shift is the inclusion of profane words in the repertoire of Indian stand-up comedians. Given the context that obscene and vulgar content in a public performance may be punishable by imprisonment under Indian laws, this development demonstrates a crucial cultural shift in a conservative society like India's. This study employed critical discourse analysis to analyse videos (n = 82) of stand-up comedy uploaded on YouTube of Indian stand-up comedians, to understand the content delivery styles and the usage of profanity. The findings revealed that many Indian comedians purposefully incorporated Hindi and English profanity into their stand-up acts, either as an inherent part of their performance style or to amplify the impact of certain portions of their discourse. Interestingly, these videos were also published online without censoring the profanity, indicating a departure from strict self-censorship practices. The results demonstrate the integral role of profanity and its increasing relevance in the discourse of Indian stand-up comedy within the Indian urban subcultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humor is a very powerful weapon, it can change mentalities, induce ideas, propose new behaviors. The stand-up comedy phenomenon has taken a strong lead, it is enjoyed and consumed by a large and diverse audience. By briefly analyzing the genre, the history and emergence of the phenomenon and its development, in social and educational contexts, this paper tries to contribute to understanding the importance of producing quality comedy, avoiding not only the distortion of the artistic act, but also the decay of society. Some Romanian Perspectives of this comic form are also analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reflects on the importance of comedy when considering media engagements with sexual abuse themes. This approach is informed by how closely the study of humour is rooted in the analysis of power relations, with comic theorists, both historical and contemporary, grounding the work.The comic figures of both the child sex (CS) abuser and the sexual violence survivor are first identified, before exploring what exactly about these tropes evoke laughter, and what this means for wider conceptions of interpersonal abuse and victimology. In analysing examples of CS abuser themed British and American comedy, animated adult comedies such as Family Guy (1999-present) and Monkey Dust (2003-2005) are considered in the context of early 2000s anxieties towards the suburban dirty old man and online child safety. In the case of the sexual violence survivor, Saturday Night Live’s 1993 ‘Is It Date Rape?’ sketch is considered within the context of 1990s anxieties regarding feminist campus politics, and is paralleled to the mid-2010s media panic surrounding British and American university students and trigger warnings through examples including The Simpson’s 2017 ‘Caper Chase’ episode and early to mid-2010s online academic polemics on the humourless feminist, such as Mark Fisher’s ‘Exiting The Vampire Castle’ (2013) and Jack Halberstam’s ‘You are Triggering Me!’ (2014). The article concludes by considering the changing consensuses for sexual violence themed humour in the Me Too era through the 2018 episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005-present) ‘Times Up For The Gang.’

In 2015, comedians Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Bill Maher, and several others took to their respective media platforms to voice their frustration with the institution of political correctness. Of course, no one would argue that having less tolerance, understanding, and inclusivity would be a good thing for America or any other nation. Nonetheless, a point appears to be emerging in which a person's taste in humor is becoming an extension of their political identity. In other words, it is not funny unless it meets the taste requirements as prescribed by a political paradigm. Inspired by the ongoing debate started by Seinfeld and Rock, this article offers a textual analysis of the comedy of George Carlin in an effort to demonstrate his 'politically incorrect' speech actually espoused highly progressive values. Furthermore, the downside to political correctness is that it sometimes produces impulsive, mechanical reactions to certain key words, phrases, and topics. And these reactions occur at the expense of critical inquiry and can have an adversarial influence on various social institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]