Thomas, Gareth M.  ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4959-2337
2025.
Funny business: Disability, humour, and performance in theatre and drag spaces.
Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research
27
(1)
, pp. 551-564.
10.16993/sjdr.1350
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Abstract
Disability and humour have an uneasy relationship. Research on disability and humour, particularly when concerned with learning-disabled adults, frequently raises questions of comprehension and highlights the potential for ridicule. Yet, we know very little about the role of humour in the lives of learning-disabled adults. Drawing on observations of a theatre group and a drag group for learning-disabled adults, and on interviews with theatre/drag staff and parents of learning-disabled adult children, I recognise learning-disabled adults as instigators, rather than objects, of humour. Humour is a prominent feature of training spaces and serves various functions, including cultivating a sense of belonging and connection. In public performances, the humour activities of learning-disabled adults, and approving reactions of audience members, reassert the agency, capabilities, and humanity of performers. Despite tensions, such as a potential for mockery and exploitation, I recognise how humour is enacted in ways that dismantle a deficit scripting of disabled lives.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Date Type: | Published Online |
| Status: | Published |
| Schools: | Schools > Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education) |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HM Sociology |
| Publisher: | Stockholm University Press |
| ISSN: | 1745-3011 |
| Date of First Compliant Deposit: | 1 October 2025 |
| Date of Acceptance: | 1 October 2025 |
| Last Modified: | 16 Oct 2025 09:30 |
| URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/181440 |
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