![Sample our Humanities journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5939/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Humanities.jpg"})
Abstract
Greg Giraldo, a Harvard Law graduate, achieved notoriety thanks to regular appearances on the popular Comedy Central roasts. The success that Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong, MD (‘Dr. Ken’) had as a stand-up comic earned him roles as Ben Chang on the television series Community and Leslie Chow in The Hangover I, II and III. In this paper, grounded in a series of in-depth interviews with working stand-up comedians with graduate-level educations, I probe the relationship between intellectualism and humor production, and describe the degree to which ‘aca-comics’ can integrate their identities as comedians and their professional lives. To cite just a few examples, I will share the story of a young woman employed by the Center for Disease Control who uses a stage name and never discusses work for fear of damaging her professional reputation, a PhD in Psychology who markets himself in the professional speaking world as a psychologist who is also a comedian, and an Assistant Professor of African History who longed for tenure so he could ‘come out’ to his colleagues about his other life as a stand-up comic in New York City.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Eric Shouse
Eric Shouse teaches communication theory and cultural studies at East Carolina University. His research draws upon cultural studies and rhetoric to better understand the role of humor in popular culture. Dr Shouse is a stand-up comic and a professional joke writer and an active member of The International Society for Humor Studies. He is currently working very hard thinking and writing about the rhetorical and performative techniques stand-up comics use to invite laughter, whereas you have squandered your valuable time and energy reading his biography.