Investigation Ideas

1. How different comedians manipulate language

   From a list of about 5 comedians I would find a typical example of how each person manipulates language and their speech patterns to their own advantage to entertain an audience. How these people's career language is altered to become humorous to an audience and the differences and similarities they hold between each other.

2. Comedians with different accents and dialects and how they use them to their advantage

   In Britain there are such a wide range of accents and variations of language, comedians very often make jokes about people with different accents and also of them selves and their accent. Being able to imitate different accents can be a great skill in the world of comedy and I think that delving into this would make for a very interesting investigation

3. Comparison of language between different comedy programmes

   There are a lot of comedy programmes on TV now and they all have different themes; I think it would be interesting for an investigation if I took fair data from a range of them and compare them to collect the differences and similarities they have and how different techniques are used and why.

Ethicality Task

   If I was to make sure that the data that I want to collect is comparable then I would make sure that I would have un-biased data by using one of the ideas on the previous post about comparability. I would make sure that I don't choose anything that is from a certain holiday time so that the data will all be similar. I'd also try to narrow down the variables to make sure that the different data collected is only comparable by the way the comedians manipulate language to their advantage.
   To make sure that the data I collect would be ethical, I would use videos/DVDs that have been published and are legally allowed to be viewed by the public.
   I don't think there are any problems I might encounter while doing this investigation, because as long as I follow the comparability, reliability and ethicality guidelines then it should be fine.

Comparibility Task

Classroom Activity 1

1.    The language of advertising varies incredibly between adverts directed at men and those directed at women. An example of a women's advert that is very feminine would probably be a Venus razor. The first words spoken in the advert (by Jennifer Lopez, a well known icon for women to aspire to) are "Every woman has an inner goddess", another quote to emphasize how feminine this advert is "A feeling of confidence, and strength, an inner sparkle and an outer fabulous." The lexical choices that are used are all very positively emotive and encourage women to want to be all of the things listed. Men's adverts are extremely different, mainly focusing on how tough and strong the product will make them and the language that is used in adverts is crucial. The example I'm going to use is a Gillette Fusion advert, the narrator says "until you discover" to introduce the product, by saying that it is made to seem inevitable that the buyer will use it at one point. Also the use of "power" in the name of the product is one of the key words used in adverts directed primarily at men, because of of the stereotypical male features is that men want to be masculine and powerful to become attractive to women. Both of these adverts, although practically the same product and from the same company, are vastly different. The women's razor ad is aimed at women to make them happy with themselves, to be attractive but to also feel "confident", "strong" and "fabulous". The men's razor ad is full of visual sports references and "manly" language, these are both very typical views that male audiences are all looking to attract women and all female audiences want to feel "fabulous".
2.    The difference between radio and television commentaries is that the radio will have to be constantly talking. If you watch live sports on TV then you are able to sit and watch what is happening on the screen in front of you, but with a radio you can't see what is happening so you will essentially need it audio-visual description. The radio commentary will have the commentator constantly talking and describing what is happening, the current scores and adding their own comments as well. However, a commentator on television won't have to describe exactly what is happening because the audience can already see what's going on, the scores will be occasionally repeated so the audience stays up to date but the main thing that a commentator on TV will be doing is adding their own comments and talking about the people that are participating and what they know about them.

Reliability Task

1.    To collect reliable data of editor's letters in women's and men's magazines, an idea would be to select three women's and three men's magazines and open them up to the page where the editor's letter will be. I Would compare the three men's to each other and then the three women's; picking out linguistic features that are similar in all and the things that all three of the male/female directed magazines have in common. If you were to make a list for men's and women's separately, you would then be able to compare the lists of gathered information and what is similar or different to gather an array of un-biased information.
2.    To collect reliable data of Brian Cox's tweets I would use an idea that was previously stated in the booklet we have been given: selecting every third tweet starting from the most recent. By doing this you would be able to collect un-biased data because by not having a choice of the tweets you would be selecting you are able to identify the lingustic features that are out of your own control so you can analyse whatever you need to.
3.    To collect reliable data of Micheal Gove's comments on education I would watch about five interviews of him on the news, transcribe what is said between him and the anchors in the studio, then try and compare the linguistic features found and apply any theory that would be relevant to the topic I would be researching.

Analysis of the language that Bill Bailey used in his Geoferry Chaucer joke

   I've chosen to analyse the language used by Bill Bailey because I find great interest in the way that different comedians are able to manipulate language in a way that suits them and their personality to entertain an audience. In my investigation I'm looking forward to comparing the differences and similarities between male comedians talking about the same subject, reviewing the linguistic ways in which they choose to manipulate language keeping it standard or non-standard and looking into the dialects or sociolects that they hold.
   Bill Bailey is a very well known comedian and has a wide spread audience that appreciate his brand of humor. He plays with language quite a lot when he is on stage, quite often putting on different accents and making fun of different dialects and sociolects. An example of this is from his Tinselworm show, at the beginning of the performance he makes fun of an American's accent by relating the sound of the words to other cultures and making the character sound unintelligent. "He said 'Do you like soccer?' and I said, 'What do you mean? The Caribbean music sensation, Soca?' By doing this he is taking account of the phonology of language in different parts of the world and creating a comedic way of presenting it to an audience. To do this though, he needs a very wide understanding of different ways of living and how to derive humor from these situations. Comedy like this needs to be quite spontaneous and witty for him to be able to respond quickly and humorously to hecklers, to be able to to keep the audience's attention and also to gain the size of fan base that he has. To be able to respond quickly and humorously to hecklers. For Bill Bailey to imitate the Chaucer dialect and to alter language to become non-standard English, he must have a good understanding of the English language.

Looking into the language used in the Geordie Shore interview

   What I found that was interesting about the language that the two people being interviewed used, is that because of their dialect being northern and with a strong Newcastle accent they use a fair amount of non-standard English. For instance "I can't believer this like" and "tryna". Dialect and sociolect play a large part of language in reality TV shows so it could be compared to other dialects, for instance The Only Way Is Essex and the southern accent that would apply in that circumstance.

   I'm not quite sure what theory could be applies yet though, possibly Tannen's difference theory or a male vs. female theory of sorts.

   More data could be collected by doing an internet search of typical phrases from different regions and studying the difference that accent and dialect can have on a conversation, this could be done by speaking to people with regional accents or watching more videos or shows where accent is something that is easily noticed.

Geordie Shore Transcription

I: are we gunna see (.) a geordie wedding this season? (0.5) coming up?

V: no (.) we're not (.) erm I think (.) well (1) in aug- (1) hm

R: are you lost for words babe?

V: [laughs]

R: is (.) is she feelin alright? are you feelin alright?

V: I'm not lost for words (.) I'm just strugglin (.) you know /how like

R: /yeah (.) okay

V: shut up (1)

R: I can't believe this like (1) that was just on camera/

V: we don't have a wedding

R: that's never happened/

V: shut up/ (1) we have (.) sort of (.) like (.) erm (.) an engagement party (1) so it's kind of like (.) in the right direction for a wedding (.) but its not a wedding (.) so so we're moving (.) towards (.) a wedding

R: [laughs]

V: but we're still very far away from a wedding (.) don't put so much pressure on me (2)

I: I thin the worst part of planning a wedding (.) it must be a lot of hassle

V: I (.) can't (.) literally (.) I'm so dreadin (.) the point where I have to do something like that (.) you realize we've just had our engagement party (.) for like (.) for all out friends and our family (.)

R: the family obviously couldn't get the (.) couldn't come on the (.) /show though/

V: /and err/ (.) it was (.) the most stressful time (.) tryna plan it (.) and

R: so much planning (.) and so /much organizing/

V: /oh/ yeah Ricci (.) I bet you're knackered (.) after all that planning are you? (1) yeah (.) all those decisions you had to make (.) all those emails you had to send (.) meetings with the cake baker (.) yeah (1)  he did nothing (.) until about a week before (.) where he suddenly got interested and started demanding all sorts of ridiculous things (.) which were just not possible (.) like monkeys carrying trays of drinks (1) so (.) Ricci is not gunna be part of planning the wedding (.) as he didn't plan the engagement party (.) and I'm not planning the wedding (.) until I get a team of people to help us (1) so nobody hold their breath for that

I: what (.) what would your top request for the wedding be? (.) like an elephant carrying drinks? (.) or?

R: /ju-/

V: /probably wants a water running elephant like all day/

R: /do/ you know is I don't mind about the wedding (.) but (.) I'm looking forward to the stag do (.) massively looking forward to the stag do (.) definitely vegas (.) /can't wait for it/

V: /he/ knows all the right things to say doesn't he? (.) he's just such a smooth talker (.) I'm so looking forward to being your wife (.) forever

Looking into the language that Bill Bailey used in his comedic poem

   Linking back to my previous post of the Bill Bailey transcription, what I found most interesting about it was that Bill Bailey has been well known for using non-standard English for comedy and he does it well. He is able to change quite a few of the words and some grammar in the video that the transcript is of, to produce a comedic effect for the audience's pleasure and to create a better experience for himself and the audience that had payed to see him live.
   Some theory that is possible to be linked to how Bill Bailey used language could be a few gender theories that would be to do with the content of the poem that he was reciting, although language and power theory could be helpful as well (due to the fact that one person is conducting the emotions of a large audience).
   Other data that the comedy poem could be compared with would definitely be other performances by Bill Bailey, also other comedians might be a good place to look because some performers tend to have similar ways of conducting the audience and similar styles of comedy, wile still having their own personal style.
   Another form of data that would be possible to collect is watching stand up comedy on TV, on DVD, live (although this can prove to be very expensive) and researching through books and online searches.

Bill Bailey transcription

BB: this is where the joke enters the realm (.) of Jeffery Chaucer. (.) thank you (0.5) three fellows wenten into a pub. (1) and (.) gleefully their hands did rub (.) in expectation of revelry? (.) for it is the hour that is happy? (1) great bottels of wine did they quaff and had a really good laugh (0.5) til drunkenness held full dominion (.) for it was two for the price of one? (3) yet after wine and mead and sack (.) man must have a massive snack (1) great pasties from cornwall (.) scottish eggs round like a ball (1) great hams (.) duck and geese (.) they sucked the bones and drank the grease (.) one fellow stood all pale and wan (.) for he was a vegetarian (3) yet man knoweth that gluttony stoketh the fire of letury (.) upon three young wenches round and sly (.) the fellows cast a wanten eye (.) one did approach with a drunken wink (.) [changes voice tone] elo darlin do ya fancy a drink? (.) [back to voice] soon they caught them on their knee? (.) twas like some grisly puppetry? (.) such was the ludeness and debauchery (.) twas like a sketch by dick emery (2.5) except that dick emery is not yet born so such comparison (.) may not be drawn (5) then (.) the fellows began to pale (.) for quail are not the friend of ale (.) and in their bellies much confusion (.) fro their throats vile extrusion [repeats hand gesture of throwing up] (1) stinking foul corruption came spewing forth (.) from drooling lips that feted stench did fill the pub (.) twas the very arse of Beelzebub (2) thrown they were from horn and trumpet (.) in the street no coin no strumpet (.) homeward bound they must quickly go (.) to that then the donkey stole (.) their hands all with vomit greased (.) the donkey (.) was not pleased (2) and threw them into a ditch of shite (.) they all agreed [changes voice] what a brilliant night.