John Stewart

A Comparative Study of Political Humor

Stephen Colbert

Just a Snippethttp://www.thedailyshow.com/collections/60-seconds-videos

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/268831/april-01-2010/4-1-10-in--60-seconds

Preliminary Questioning

What kind of linguistic devices do both men use to develop and define their humor?

Non-verbal gestures, articulation/emphasis, joke types, slang/colloquial language

Do they use similar or different patterns of these devices to achieve their uniqueness?

How come these two shows, which air back-to-back on a nightly basis, are not redundant?

The Aim of the Inquiry

Not comparing laughs or majority opinion

Humor is all about perception how do you analyze an inherently biased concept?

A manipulation of language to obtain a desired sarcastic reception by audience

Dependent upon each man’s shaping of language and these four devices

MethodologyFive stage process:

1. Watch both episodes on given day back to back with minimal notes.2. Re-watch each episode, pausing when needed to transcribe pertinent utterances.3. Organize original written notes (both general notes and transcriptions) into Excel spreadsheet.4. Refine categorization and labeling to pinpoint patterns.5. Analyze determined linguistic patterns of each man and give it quantifiable significance both individually and comparatively.

Organized Data

Final Comparative Results

Implications of Results

Quantifying shows how

Patterns are distinctive but not restrictive

Unique and fluid combination of four devices each night avoids redundancy

Breaking it Down One Last Time

Stewart’s style is marked by his creative articulation and non-verbal gestures

Colbert’s style takes on the form

of idioms, neologisms, and

multi-faceted jokes

Contemporary political sculptors

“Never the twain shall meet.”

– Stephen Colbert