Self-heckle: Russell Kane's stand up as an example of "comedic sociology"

Smith, Daniel ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1004-9487 2015. Self-heckle: Russell Kane's stand up as an example of "comedic sociology". Ephemera: Theory and Politics in Organization 15 (3) , pp. 561-579.

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Abstract

This article explores the possibility that stand-up comedy may provide sociology with a new lens for interpreting social life. Using British comedian Russell Kane as a case study, the article argues that his observational material shares affinities with the sociological tradition of interpretivism. Drawing upon the works of Simmel, Bakhtin, Douglas and Kane himself, the article outlines the concept of a ‘self-heckle’ – an interpretive device whereby comedy acts as cultural criticism providing sociological insight into the lives of people. Derived from Kane’s stand-up comedy, ‘comedic sociology’ is able to explore social and biographical narratives intersection with wider socio-historical transformations, demonstrating comedy’s ability to provide sociological insight into the contradictions, absurdities and incongruities of ‘the social’ and the potential to imagine life differently.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Publisher:	Ephemera Editorial Collective
ISSN:	2052-1499
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	14 January 2019
Date of Acceptance:	20 February 2015
Last Modified:	07 Oct 2023 19:04
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/118370

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