John Stewart

Stephen Colbert
A Comparative Study of Political Humor

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

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-reportvideos/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 mans shaping of language and these four devices

Methodology
Five 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

Stewarts style is marked by his creative articulation and nonverbal gestures

Colberts style takes on the form

of idioms, neologisms, and multi-faceted jokes Contemporary political sculptors Never the twain shall meet. Stephen Colbert