When Laughter Fades: Individual Participation During Open-Mic Comedy Performances

dc.contributor.advisorEnglebretson, Roberten_US
dc.creatorCain, Sarah Seewoesteren_US
dc.date.accessioned2019-05-17T15:48:29Zen_US
dc.date.available2019-05-17T15:48:29Zen_US
dc.date.created2018-08en_US
dc.date.issued2018-06-20en_US
dc.date.submittedAugust 2018en_US
dc.date.updated2019-05-17T15:48:29Zen_US
dc.description.abstractAudiences have traditionally been defined and characterized by the collective responses they produce – behaviors such as clapping, laughing, booing, and the like. But during the course of speaker-audience interactions, individual contributions are also observed. And in the context of open-mic comedy audiences specifically, they quite regularly occur. Individual contributions during speaker-audience interactions are typically treated as “noise” in the interactional system, treated as problematic in some way, are seen as being un-audience-like, or may be dismissed from consideration entirely. In this dissertation, I analyze several types of individual audience member contributions, I ground this work in Conversation Analysis, which operates under the assumption that all social interaction is orderly at a minute level of detail, and I explore ways in which audience members organize themselves and their actions meaningfully. I look at five types of individual contributions – echoing (i.e. partial repetition of a previous utterance), two types of clapping, and two types of ohing – and show that not only are they well-timed, but systematic in when they occur and what they do. I consider what types of actions they pursue relative to the response in progress, what stances they display, and whether the individuals orient to their potential as autonomous individuals or collective group members through their individual participation. Finally, I suggest that collectivity is not fundamental to being an audience but rather is part of what must be managed (alongside autonomy) when participating as an audience.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.citationCain, Sarah Seewoester. "When Laughter Fades: Individual Participation During Open-Mic Comedy Performances." (2018) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/105806">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/105806</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/105806en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectaudiencesen_US
dc.subjectcomedyen_US
dc.subjectconversation analysisen_US
dc.subjectindividual participationen_US
dc.titleWhen Laughter Fades: Individual Participation During Open-Mic Comedy Performancesen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentLinguisticsen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineSocial Sciencesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
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