28th Annual Student Research Conference
Building the Quintessential Comedian: A Demographic Analysis
Danny L. Hearst*, Max V. McDermott, Evan C. Bruce, Emily E. Koenig, Taylor M. Moore, Priyanka Prabhu, Jared S. Luebbert, Elizabeth S. Rehfeldt, Melissa L. Stockwell, and Deyvnn C. Campbell
Dr. Mark Hatala, Faculty Mentor
Demographic information of Comedy Central's top one hundred stand up comedians was analyzed to find the characteristics that define the quintessential comedian. Through chi square analysis, comedians from this selection were found to be significantly over-represented (p<.005) by men, high school dropouts, individuals born into a low socioeconomic status, and individuals born into Jewish families. One comedian from this selection, Lenny Bruce, was found to have all of these characteristics and was ranked third on Comedy Central's top one hundred list.
Keywords: comedy, demographics, culture, psychology
Topic(s):Psychology
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 10-2
Location: GEO-SUB
Time: 3:30