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Haziq Harun, Universiti Teknologi Brunei, BruneiAbstract
This study investigates the humour mechanisms and identity construction in the Bruneian stand-up comedy scene. Stand-up comedy has long been viewed as a tool for entertainment. Nowadays, stand-up comedy is more than just about eliciting laughter; it is also a form of identity work. While much of the existing research focused on Western contexts, Southeast Asia remains absent scholarly, Brunei, in particular. Using a qualitative case study design, the study analysed a one-hour live performance by a prominent Bruneian comedian, Ahmad Aiman. Through the General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH) by Attardo and Raskin, alongside Identity Theory by Burkes and Stets, the research provides a comprehensive analysis of how a comedian employed specific humour mechanisms and constructed their identities. The study uncovers two major findings. First, while the analysis reveals that Ahmad Aiman employs six humour mechanisms: Script Opposition (SO), Logical Mechanism (LM), Situation (SI), Target (TA), Narrative Strategy (NS), and Language (LA) to generate laughter; Crowd Work (CW) emerged as a new, seventh humour mechanism. Second, through humour, Ahmad Aiman constructs positive portrayals of multiple identities: a caring father, a religiously rooted individual, an everyday worker, and a professional comedian. The most salient identity is fatherhood, while his agency lies in how he uses comedy to critique structural norms while still being respected in his culture. This study proves how humour functions as a catalyst for identity construction in Bruneian stand-up comedy, contributing to regional comedy studies in Brunei.
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Conference: KAMC2025Stream: Performing Arts Practices: Theater
This paper is part of the KAMC2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Harun H. (2026) Humour and Identity Construction in Ahmad Aiman’s One-Hour Abati Show: A Stand-Up Comedy Analysis ISSN: 2436-0503 – The Kyoto Conference on Arts, Media & Culture 2025: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 825-842) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2436-0503.2025.66
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2436-0503.2025.66
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