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Andrew Breen
Dr. DiSarro
ENG 101-05
28 March 2014
Standup Comedy and Communication:
The Great Equalizer
It is a widely held belief that standup comedy is the purest method of entertainment,
and the freest flowing form of communication there is. Comedians make a living from
voicing their opinion, stretching the boundaries, and, of course, being funny. Comedy is an
art form, where individuals get on a stage and speak to large numbers of people at a time,
for the purpose of entertainment. Comedy is the most direct and personal form of
entertainment as there is a physical connection between the audience and the comedian. I
love comedy because it give me a voice.
For this assignment, I will be analyzing one of my own creations, which will hopefully
provide me with more insight. The routine I will be discussing is called, Future with
Girlfriend. There are many more topics and sub-topics within the material, but this title
will suffice. It is a routine with a duration of 10-15 minutes, on stage, and has many
different components. I have been chipping away at this for a while, constantly adding and
stripping it of certain details. And, today I finally arrived at a draft I am happy with and
formatted it onto a word processor. I am content with the material as it stands now, but I
know that tomorrow I will be adding another little feature to make it marginally funnier.
Just today, I added a full page. The subject matter contained in this piece includes things
such as relationship problems, tendencies of women and men in relationships and sexual
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normalcy. Even politics and religion rear their heads towards the conclusion of the routine,
which is always a crowd pleaser.
The nearest point of comparison to my routine is that of Dane Cooks material about
relationships. Ironically, Danes and mine are very similar and based on things that occur
within a relationship. There is so much on this topic in which to discuss and to laugh at,
that it makes being in a relationship not only good for love, but also convenient for a
comedian in need of material. I chose to analyze my own creation because often, when
dissecting the work of others, we may not understand the intention of the writer. We may
read too far into the work to locate a purpose or we not read far enough, causing the
denotation to become frequently distorted, while overlooking the main idea. However, in
this case, I am the writer so I know what I mean when I write, making it much less
burdensome to detect the ethos, pathos, and logos within the piece. I chose to take excerpts
and quotations from my writing, present them in this essay, and explain what I wanted the
audience to see or hear, as well as the procedures used to create each line.
Much of my material does include persuasive elements. However, the purpose is not
to change opinions, but to shed light on observations. I think I make legitimate points, but
my routine is for the purpose of not only telling truths, but also making them entertaining. I
loathe the inevitable comparison to Danes work, in this section because of how great he is,
but I will continue to make them. In Danes routine he is telling some truth, but he is not
trying to persuade people. The same principles apply to mine. Of the responses I receive
after performing, my favorite is when I hear members of my audience respond with, Ha Ha
Ha Ha... So true! This makes me feel as though I am performing good comedy, which is my
objective. Following are examples of routines that inspire that reaction, divided into
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smaller bits. The ethos for this routine remains constant because it is always coming from
me. The ethos I hold is nothing more than an observer of everyday life, which includes all
those who have ever lived. The credibility, or lack thereof, comes from my age of 19 and my
current place in life. My youth usually puts me at a slight disadvantage in the challenge to
be taken seriously by more seasoned peers. My other source of credibility is that I am at the
center of attention while I am performing as I am on stage, and the people with whom I am
speaking are in the seats. Subconsciously, this gives me the upper hand in the relationship
while encouraging the people in the audience to listen to what I have to say.
My routine (referring to the kid talk between a couple) reads, in part, It is always the
women who start these talks. Its always the women. You never hear of some guy playing
Xbox like, hey baby, um how many kids do you want again? Oh, 3? Cool - me too. Me too,
damn it. F****n camper.
This is just an observation that I made during my time in a relationship. I have talked
to many people and they thought this was funny, and knew where I was coming from. The
truth or logos of the matter is only the underlying truth found the subject. This is similar
too much of the material we see today; it has emotional appeal or pathos. In this situation,
every man who has ever been caught off guard or any man who has seen a romantic
comedy and can appreciate the contrast. I am unsure if this comparison is that good, as I
am focused on the fact that it is my creation, but the feedback that I have received from
people is very positive and they seemed to know exactly what I was talking about.

My routine continues, And you know what, I have 60 dollars in the bank. I dont
know where Im getting this hot tub or even the house for that matter.
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This part is hyperbole of exchange between a man and his girlfriend on the topic of a
future home together. This is also a gentle and comedic version of material shortage, a
common experience of many people. This analysis is completely general and lighthearted,
which is how it was intended, but there are different ways in which people interpreted this
message. There is a video of my performance somewhere online and one person
commented saying, Thats the circle of life man. Girls all want things that men cant buy
and at the end nobody is happy. I thought that was a bit dramatic, but it illustrates another
viewpoint. This material appeals only to pathos, as it is a subjective observation that
happens to ignite some emotional response from the listeners, which is why people
appreciate the joke and laugh.
Then I say, I was 18! Obviously, I was caught off guard. I wasnt planning to have this
talk for another decade! Five minutes ago I was just living a carefree life, watching
cartoons. Now Ive fathered three kids.
This part is virtually identical in content and meaning to the one directly above, but is
another aspect of the male-female relationship. My ethos is as a person who has been in a
relationship and has experienced relationship-type things. The ethos demonstrated here
involves the words I say. Most of the audience has had similar experiences, so I know if I do
not accurately depict them, they will notice immediately. However, I obtain the ethos by
accurately covering content that has been universally experienced. We can be honest and
say that in most relationships the female initially mentions the future children. My
credibility is evident in the apparent truth of each statement.
Later in my routine, I explain, She made it all the way down to kids. Are we gunna
have good kids? And I just froze. Like in Jurassic park when the guys like, stay still. If you
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dont move it cant see you.
This is definitely one of my favorite parts of the bit because people can relate to it.
They say, A picture is worth a thousand words, which I believe also applies to mental
images. It is not enough to state that I was nervous because that is just an empty word,
which does not provide the impact that I was looking for. So, I chose to use a relatable
image, which makes for a good analogy. This is when the joke hits and the mental imagery
begins. The best feeling about being on stage is when the joke works, people laugh and,
relate to what I am saying. As a comedian, this is a great feeling because you know your
work achieved the connection you are looking for, which is not easy. If you have ever
watched a comedy special, you have seen an applause break. This is when an audience
recognizes that a comedian has done something that takes talent and hard work. That is the
goal for every good comedian when it comes to every joke he or she writes.
Finally, I close my routine with, Children are formed through random genetic pairing,
with some DNA and chromosomes thrown in there somewhere. But, when couples talk
about their future children they ignore that. What they do is take the best characteristics
from each person to make their kid, like theyre creating a fantasy player on Madden career
mode. There is some Ethos presented here using science. While it is Elementary level
science, it is science nonetheless. It reminds me of Martin Luther King Jr. when he wrote,
Letter From Birmingham Jail. He did not cite sources to give him tangible credibility or
ethos. He relied on the words he spoke to put demonstrate his intellect. This is what I am
trying to accomplish, although, I admit on a much less serious and less impressive scale.
Whether communicating on stage or using paper and pen, I have very few, if any, sources
for my information. I rely on the eloquence of my speech and the subjective truth in my
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words to give me credibility.
Moving on to other comedic material, I say No matter what happens, there is nothing
better than when one of those right-wing rednecks pops out a gay kid. There is nothing
better. There was some politician from the South a few years ago, that throughout his
whole life, he was bashing gays, calling them sinners, and then his kid came out as gay.
Poetic justice at its finest. Two weeks ago theyre at a rally chanting, God hates fags!! now
here comes their son sliding out of the womb throwing glitter. The ethos in this example is
tricky to pinpoint. The emotional appeal is prevalent with the image of people hating
others through nothing more than ignorance and perhaps a fair amount of self-hatred. The
ethos is completely subjective, when it comes to this section. Some people may agree with
me and like the way I present the information, which gives me a high level of credibility.
However, there are people, most of them in my extended family, who will disagree with
everything I say and, in their eyes, I represent an uninformed, God-hating, tradition-
crushing twit. My pathos is also questionable in this routine. Usually pathos refers to facts
and logical credibility. Although, I do not command any factual evidence, besides the sheer
existence of the politician I mentioned, to many people, I have moral credibility. In the
sophisticated world in which we live, the acceptance of people for being different is a
highly valued moral. As I speak of something that draws acceptance and agreement from
the crowd, there is pathos. I can tell when I have reached an audience, not strictly by
laughs, but by the faces they make as if to express, Wow! That is what I like the most and
that gives me a sense of accomplishment. It is one thing to go on stage or play a sport, and
receive acceptance. It is a whole other, powerful thing when you work hard to entertain the
audience and they respond with, That is amazing how he did that!
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When it comes to standup comedy, boundaries are definitely pushed. There may be
topics that are difficult to discuss in standard conversation and in traditional settings. The
beauty of comedy is that it puts an innocent and comical spin on matters that are seemingly
humorless.
One of the main ways to write and perform a routine is through the use of satire.
Satire is effective in communicating serious ideas and messages to the masses. The unique
thing about satire is that it can be used to depict a problem of everyday life in a way that is
mocking and comical, making it relatable to many audiences. One example is the topic of
blocking abortion clinics, used by one of my favorite comedians, Bill Hicks. He said, If you
people are so pro-life, dont block abortion clinics. Block cemeteries. Well see how
committed you really are. I think this is funny because it takes such an emotionally
charged issue, such as abortion, and makes a complete joke of it. Bill was being a little
unfair to the pro-lifers with some of the language he used, but he was trying to make a
point. This principal is called reductio-ad absurdum, which is defined as, extending ones
argument to ridiculous proportions, and then criticizing the result. Take, for example,
someone making an argument against affirmative action. A possible response one could
use might be something like, If you do not support affirmative action, then that means you
want to go back to slavery! Clearly that is preposterous, but it is a technique that appeals
to the pathos of many people, which is why it is so prevalent. Bill used this tool, which he
supported by fact and wit. He took the pathos and marginal logos to come to a conclusion,
which makes him one of the best at what he does.
Whether it is television, the big screen, radio, or a stage in Waltham Massachusetts,
there is an indisputable beauty in the freedom that comes with performing. The comedian
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is always free. In standup comedy the flow of ideas and thoughts is seamless. It is person to
person communication. That is what keeps it honest. There is nothing keeping me from
saying I hate a certain race, but there is also nothing stopping the members of the audience
from throwing heavy objects in my direction. The flow of information and different
opinions is of the utmost importance and should be cherished and protected. Some
opinions are controversial and outrageous now, but could prove to be revolutionary in the
future.
Whether you are a member of the Republican Party, Democratic Party, or Whig, I
think we all value the First Amendment of the constitution as necessary, and as a salvation
to us as a country. It allows comedians to do what they do. The liberties that come with
that Declaration of Independence are often challenged and infringed upon, but as long as
there is that person-to-person connection and as long as there are people out there with
progressive opinions to pass on, nothing can derail the progression of society.