The Phenomenology of the Stand-up Comic: Toward a Sociology of Gendered Humour

The contemporary study of humor stands at a precarious theoretical crossroads, caught between the cognitive abstraction of incongruity and the deterministic weight of social power. While the field has long relied on the triadic pillars of relief, incongruity, and superiority, these frameworks often fail to account for the fluid and performative nature of gendered identities. This special issue seeks to address conceptual stagnation by interrogating the "under-socialised" and "over-socialised" tendencies in current humour scholarship. By centring the performance and subversion of masculinities and femininities, this collection moves beyond the binary of humor as either a psychological reflex or a tool of oppression, repositioning it as a sophisticated site of social negotiation.

The prevailing reliance on Incongruity Theory often results in an under-socialised perspective, in which the "mismatch" between expectations is analysed as a sterile cognitive event. Such an approach effectively divorces the comedic act from the intersubjective social relationships and cultural scripts that render a situation comical. In the context of gender, this abstraction ignores how patriarchal norms provide the very logic of expectation that humor seeks to violate. Conversely, Superiority Theory risks an over-socialized interpretation, reducing the vast spectrum of the comic to a mere instrument for the reproduction of social hierarchies. When humor is viewed exclusively through the lens of dominance, the nuanced, playful, and often fragile performances of gender—particularly those that seek to destabilize traditional archetypes—are lost to a reductive model of social control.

The recent proliferation of stand-up comedy provides a critical site for analyzing this tension through live, embodied performance. On the stand-up stage, the humorist operates within a laboratory of "fragile performance," where the efficacy of a joke is entirely dependent on the audience’s shared understanding of social hierarchies. For performers navigating the complexities of masculinity and femininity, traditional archetypes—such as the hyper-masculine provider or the submissive domestic figure—are not merely mocked but are deconstructed through a series of discursive failures and ironic reversals. By reclaiming the "superiority" position, marginalized voices use the stage to invert traditional power dynamics, transforming the microphone into a tool that exposes the inherent instability of the status quo.

This destabilization is further amplified by the rise of short-form video content and social media reels, which have ushered in an era of "digital masquerade." These platforms allow for a rapid-fire performance of gender that is inherently intertextual and highly socialized. Humorous reels often rely on the visual and auditory "remixing" of gendered scripts, where creators use filters, trending audios, and algorithmic repetition to perform exaggerated or subversive versions of femininities and masculinities. This digital mode highlights the under-socialized nature of classical theory; the humor is not found in a vacuum but in the communal participation of a global audience. These reels frequently subvert the over-socialized view of humor as a tool of control by democratizing the ability to satirize elite or traditional identities. In this virtual landscape, the performance of gender becomes a fluid, hyper-mediated act that constantly tests the boundaries between the private domestic sphere and the public comedic performance.

Ultimately, this special issue proposes a middle-range theoretical framework that views humor as a primary mechanism for performing and subverting gendered scripts. Masculinities and femininities are not static categories that humor merely reflects; rather, they are continuously enacted and revised through the comic mode. By synthesizing contemporary platforms with rigorous theoretical critique, this volume aims to provide a definitive scholarly account of how the socialized comic functions as a vital mechanism for understanding the complexities of identity in an increasingly mediated world. Through this interdisciplinary lens, we invite a reconsideration of the sociality of the comic, offering a critical intervention into the sociology of humor and the broader field of gender studies.

Areas of enquiry (but not limited to ) are listed below:

1. The Mic as Subversion
2. Masculine and Feminine Subversions
3. Incel Masculinities
4. The Digital Masquerade
5. Office Banter and Gendered Hierarchy
6. The "Gym Bro" Satire
7. The "Man-Child" and the Rejection of Adulthood
8. The "Dad Joke" as Soft Power
9. Satirizing the "Girlboss"
10. Non-Binary Wit
11. Stand-up comics as case study

This special issue welcomes

1. Original Research Articles
2. Theoretical Contributions
3. Case Studies
4. Critical Review Essays
5. Digital Media Critiques
6. Methodological Interventions
7. Position Papers
8. Review Essays
9. Short Communications
10. Interdisciplinary Reports

Submission Instructions

Word Limits and Timelines

Abstract Word Limit: 500 words

Submission: 10th June

Notification of acceptance: 20th June 2026

All abstracts should be mailed to: debopriyaganguly6@gmail.com

Full-length manuscript submission: 31st August 2026

All full length manuscripts should be submitted through the selection of "special issue title” when submitting your paper to ScholarOne.

Expected Publication: November-December 2026