Comedy can reinforce power, but it can also expose it. This theme explores the relationship between humour and ideology, including how comedy shapes political attitudes and social norms. Research in this area examines comedy as a cultural form that can normalise dominant values, disrupt them through critique, or produce ambiguity by rendering serious issues laughable. It also considers how comedy institutions and industries shape which kinds of humour become visible and valued.
Lockyer, S. (2013) ‘“Dad’s Army Side to Terrorism”: Chris Morris, Four Lions and Jihad Comedy.’ In Leggott, J., & Sexton, J. (eds.) No Known Cure: The Comedy of Chris Morris. London: British Film Institute/Palgrave, pp. 197–211.
Lockyer, S. (2015) ‘From Comedy Targets to Comedy-Makers: Disability and Comedy in Live Performance’, Disability & Society, 30(9): 1397–1412.
Lockyer, S. (2025) Stand-up Comedy, Disability and Social Justice. In Double, O. The Cambridge Companion to Stand-up Comedy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 175–188.
Lockyer, S., & Attwood, F. (2009)‘“The Sickest Television Show Ever”: Paedogeddon and the British Press’, Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture, 7(1): 49–60.
Malik, S. (2002) Representing Black Britain: Black and Asian Images on Television. Sage Publications Ltd. ISBN 10: 0761970282; ISBN 13: 9780761970286.
Mora, R.A., Weaver, S., & Lindo, L.M. (2015) ‘Editorial for special issue on education and humour: Examining humour as tools for social activism and critical consciousness in contemporary societies’, European Journal of Humour Research, 3(4): 1–8.
Weaver, S. (2018) ‘Brexit Irony on The Last Leg and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Critiquing Neoliberalism through Caricature.’ In J. Webber (ed.) The Joke Is on Us: Political Comedy in Late Neoliberal Times. Lanham: Lexington Books. Chapter Two, pp. 65–86.
Weaver, S. (2019) ‘Brexit Tricksters and the Reconstruction of Taboo: Populism, Irony and Satire in Post-Referendum Britain’, Comedy Studies, 10(2): 154–166.
Weaver, S. (2021) The Rhetoric of Brexit Humour: Comedy, Populism and the EU Referendum. Abingdon: Routledge.
Weaver, S., & Mora, R.A. (2016) ‘Introduction: Tricksters, humour and activism’, International Journal of Cultural Studies, 19(5): 479–485.
Weaver, S., Mora, R.A., & Morgan, K. (2016) ‘Introduction. Gender and humour: Examining discourses of hegemony and resistance’, Social Semiotics, 26(3): 227–233.
Weaver, S., & Oziersanski, P. (2016) ‘New European tricksters: Polish jokes in the context of European Union labour migration’, International Journal of Cultural Studies, 19(5): 577–591.
Funding
- Global Lives Research Centre Project Funding 2018-2019, Brunel University of London, Satire, Populism and Brexit, £2500.
- Research Seminar Series Awards 2017-2018, Brunel University of London, Centre for Comedy Studies Research (CCSR) and Magna Carta Institute (MCI) ‘Beyond a Joke’: Comedy, Politics and Populism Seminar Series 2017-2018, £2489.
- Brunel Research Initiative & Enterprise Fund (BRIEF) 2013-2014, Brunel University of London, Examining ‘Race’, Racism and Representation: An audience reception study of the comedy of Sacha Baron Cohen, £13994.
SAGE Encyclopaedia of Humour Studies
Simon Weaver contributed entries on Ethnicity and Humor and Ethnic Jokes to the SAGE Encyclopedia of Humour Studies, offering clear insight into how humour shapes and challenges ideas about identity.
Weaver, S. (2014) 'Ethinic Jokes', in Attardo, S. (ed.) SAGE Encyclopeadia of Humour Studies. London, New Delhi and Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications., 1.pp 214-215
Weaver, S. (2014) 'Ethnicity and Humor' in Attardo, S. (ed.) SAGE Encyclopeadia of Humour Studies. London, New Delhi and Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications., 1.pp 214-215
Comedy, Politics and Populism
The Centre for Comedy Studies Research (CCSR) is delighted to present a panel discussion exploring the knotty and complex relationships between comedy, politics and populism.
Funny, Honest and ‘Just Like Us’: The Political Co-option of Satire - 16th March 2016
In this podcast Dr Rebecca Higgie (CCSR Endeavour Postdoctoral Fellow) addresses a number of questions related to satire including: What function does satire serve in modern democracy? How do voters respond to politicians who have a sense of humour? What happens to satire when it is celebrated or used by the very people it satirises? How does satirical hijacking in social media impact the public image of political parties? Rebecca summarise the findings from her survey on people’s attitudes towards politicians who go on satire and comedy programmes, which received over 450 responses. She discusses her theory of the political co-option of satire and briefly shares other related research findings, including work on the satirical hijacking of political parties on Twitter.
Say What You Like: Comedy, Politics and Free Speech - 14th February 2016
The Centre for Comedy Studies Research (CCSR) and the Magna Carta Institute (MCI) Comedy and Politics Research Seminar Series 2015-16 in partnership with the Big Difference Comedy and Beyond a Joke present Say What You Like: Comedy, Politics and Free Speech - 14th February 2016 (Leicester Comedy Festival event) What are the relationships between comedy, censorship and freedom of speech? How politically and ethically responsible can, and should, comedians be? How far is too far for comedy? These questions, and more, are hotly debated by a panel of academics, comedians and public figures and chaired by Professor Justin Fisher (Professor of Political Science, Director of the Magna Carta Institute and Head of the Department of Politics, History & the Brunel Law School at Brunel University London). Panellists are: Kate Smurthwaite (Comedian and political activist), Claire Fox (Director, Institute of Ideas), Alistair Jones (Radio Leicester's ‘Politics Pundit’, Principal Lecturer and University Teacher Fellow, Department of Politics and Public Policy, De Montfort University), Maria Jeppesen (co-producer of the Danish Zulu Comedy Festival)
Humour is not Language-based: Political
In this seminar Professor Otto Santa Ana (University of California Los Angeles, USA) discusses his model of laughter and humour that sees both as based in rhetoric, not language. One of the aims of the model is to analyse political humour, from examples such as the 2005 Danish Prophet Muhammed cartoons to Jay Leno’s anti-immigrant jokes. Otto argues that the rhetorical contrivances that we use in humour today have their source in a few cognitive processes that made animal play possible. He claims hominoids have always built social interaction using these cognitive processes. This model is a description of the actual execution of social power in communication. The model appeals to an undertaking of empirical and simulation studies of political humour.
Potential areas for further research include:
- comedy’s role in shaping public narratives — how humour constructs ideas about class, work, austerity, migration, gender, race and national identity
- the politics of “relatable” comedy — who is framed as universal and how relatability reinforces or challenges dominant ideologies
- institutions, gatekeeping and cultural legitimacy — how power circulates through commissioning, regulation, platform governance and cultural hierarchies
- comedy as political communication — Satire, misinformation, soft power and the role of humour in shaping civic discourse
If you’d like to pursue research on this theme, we’re keen to explore possibilities with you. Please reach out via the Centre’s email to continue the discussion.