Making an audience laugh is a part of public speaking.
Maybe not Cicero.
Rabbis, priests, ministers, lawyers, politicians, all incorporate comedy in their speaking engagements.
Mocking is part of all of these things too.
But stand-up comedians have as their entire job: stand and make people laugh. That’s it.
So they are in a distinct class of people.
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Talk radio / podcasting / Youtube talking heads – whether Howard Stern, local “zoo in the morning” or Joe Rogan or whoever, are similar to stand up comedians in a number of ways, partly scripted comedy, partly improvisational theatre, “guys laughing together so you can laugh with them”, likely has more in common with stand-up comedians than with your local priest cracking a joke during a sermon.
So I would put those broadcasters in the same class as stand-up comedians.
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actually, more than Erikson or freud, I learned a childhood developmental perspective tied to cognitive stages.
So when I see jokes, I tie them into “what age range – or developmental area – is likely to find this funny and why”.
psychosocial I think?
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