Stand-up comedy and the ethics of freedom of expression

Stand-up comedy and the ethics of freedom of expression 2 This paper situates stand-up comedy within the context of contemporary concerns around freedom of speech.It argues that stand-up comedy necessarily involves complex and sometimes challenging freedom of expression; therefore, it is an important arena for exploring the ethics of freedom of expression.The paper argues for freedom of expression as positive freedom to give due attention to the individual and collective conditions necessary to creative stand-up performances.Comedians and comedy analysts alike have long recognised the injunction to 'punch up' as a helpful ethical rule of thumb in focusing on the relative power of performer and comedy subject.The paper explores ethical and non-ethical uses of freedom of expression of stand-up comedians in case studies of punching up (Gina Yashere) and punching down (Jimmy Carr).The paper argues that while notions of punching up and punching down are key starting points for making sense of ethical uses of freedom of expression in stand-up comedy those notions need to be used in focused and contextualised ways to aid understanding and assessment of the ethical and non-ethical practices of stand-up comedians and audiences.