In this episode, supervising producer Emily Stuchbery explores what happens when we think about stand-up comedy as a listening practice.
Emily and Maia are back and ready to uncover how listening shapes the discipline of stand-up comedy, both as an audience member and as a comic. Featuring interviews with Danielle Bobker, scholar of comedy and the 18th century in Concordia University’s English department, and Raquel Maestre, a Montreal-based stand-up comedian, Emily and Maia unpack the mechanics of a good joke and consider how comedy can disrupt our listening selves. Open your ears for some comical insights, some good jokes... and maybe a few bad ones along the way.
Interviewees
Professor Danielle Bobker and Raquel Maestre
Featured Comedians
Carmina Berbar, Alex Griffin, Dan Pearse, Adrienne Roy, Lauren Mallory, Elspeth Wright, Raquel Maestre
Episode Contributors
Producer: Emily Stuchbery
Hosts: Emily Stuchbery and Maia Harris
Editor: Emily Stuchbery
Audio Engineer: Lou Raskin
Series Producers: Jason Camlot and Katherine McLeod
Audio Support: Sorcha Leigh
Resources
Billig, Michael. “Laughter and Unlaughter.” In Laughter and Ridicule: Towards a Social Critique of Humour. SAGE Publications, Limited, 2005. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/concordia-ebooks/detail.action?docID=334443.
Brodie, Ian. “Stand-up Comedy as a Genre of Intimacy.” Ethnologies 30, no. 2 (2008): 153–80.
Morreall, John. Philosophy of Humor. November 20, 2012. https://Morreall, John. Philosophy of Humor. November 20, 2012. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2020/entries/humor/.
Morreall, John. Philosophy of Humor. November 20, 2012. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2020/entries/humor/.
Nilsen, Don L. F., and Alleen Pace Nilsen. “Phonetics and Phonology: Which English Sounds Are Funny, and Why.” May 2024. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/380485409_Phonetics_and_Phonology_Which_English_Sounds_Are_Funny_and_Why.
The Atlantic, dir. Why We Laugh. 2014. 6:17. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck0QfHytI6w.
Solomon, Diana. Prologues and Epilogues of Restoration Theater: Gender and Comedy, Performance and Print. University of Delaware Press, 2013.
Zukerman, Wendy. “The Funniest Joke in the World.” Season 16 Episode 9. Science Vs., 2 May 2024, 56m. Accessed September 22, 2026. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-funniest-joke-in-the-world/id1051557000?i=1000654297304.
Music and Sound Effects
The Literary Listening theme music was composed by Jason Camlot.
From Blue Dot Sessions: Bossa Cova, For We Shall Know Speed
From Free Sounds: 237993_janhgm_beep_1000hz_200ms_mono_jahoma_generated, 73750_timbre_remix-of-benboncan_sad_trombone_more_wah_brightde-clicked, 614014_aarontheonly_roar8, 65709_noisecollector_stealthpunk, 269476_kwahmah_02_clean-record-scratch, 402451_plasterbrain_fast-forward, 407571_cyrilenerossouw_people-laughing, 449459_abbeyellison_laughing, 399089_rwan0731_3-people-laughing-together