It's not all fart jokes: Why the social sciences should embrace stand-up comedy

Stand-up comedy does not play a significant role in how the mainstream social sciences are communicated. The structures and techniques used to deliver academic knowledge are usually infused with seriousness. Humour, as a vehicle for expressing an argument, is often seen as antithetical to the ‘proper’ delivery of ideas (Watson, 2015). In this paper, I will argue that the social sciences have a great deal to learn from the structure of stand-up comedy when it comes to sharing research, both in written and oral formats. As anthropologist Kate Fox said, “at its best … social science can sometimes be almost as insightful as good stand-up comedy” (2004, p. 71).