ABSTRACT
This chapter presents humor, in particular stand-up comedy (SUC), as an effective discourse weapon against mainstream ideologies due to its ability to introduce new and marginal angles in viewing the status quo under the veil of playfulness. It explores three questions from the perspective of practicing stand-up comedians regarding SUC as a mind-engineering tool in the digital age: (i) Do stand-up comedians consciously use the stand-up platform to promote their own agendas (i.e., actively use SUC as a tool for mind-engineering)? (ii) What are the advantages and drawbacks of disseminating SUC on digital platforms from the perspective of mind-engineering? (iii) Are there topics that are off-limit for such mental manipulation in SUC?
These questions are discussed in the context of a survey with 36 comedians in 12 countries and detailed interviews with 3 comedians from Hong Kong and Singapore. When asked whether SUC can be used as a mind-engineering tool, 30 comedians think it can. When asked whether they make conscious use of SUC to influence other people’s views on issues that are important to them, 14 replied yes. For some comedians, the sole goal of SUC is to make the audience laugh, rather than to push any agendas. Most of the comedians in the survey agree that online clips are perceived differently due to the detachment from the here and now and the lack of discourse ‘context’. The lack of ‘context’ can lead to misinterpretation. Regarding limitations on topic choice, most comedians think there shouldn’t be a firm limit, the line depends on the skills of the comedians and the composition of the audience, though most of them admit that they do avoid certain topics.
