Joke'S On You: An Exploration Of America'S Comedy Landscape

The creative thesis, “Joke’s on You: An Exploration of America’s Comedy Landscape” is a foray into the American comedic field, with a particular focus on stand-up comedy. The thesis is two-fold, consisting of a creative component and an academic component. The creative component consists of 15 minutes worth of material, ranging across a myriad of topics from Asian stereotypes to family quirks to personal upbringing. The humor used is a combination of observational and self-deprecating humor. Finally, the creative component is broken up into four sets: one filmed in front of friends, one filmed in front of an organization, one filmed at an audition for The University of Texas at Austin’s largest talent show, Texas Revue, and one at an open mic. Conversely, the academic component details and develops the history of comedy and types of humor before delving into challenges faced during the personal journey and writing of the creative component. The academic treatise concludes with an analysis of the landscape at large.