American vs. Hungarian Stand-up Comedy

Abstract

The American and Hungarian stand-up comedy performances are far from identical. In order to properly examine the political criticism present in recent stand-up comedy, the first part of this paper will be dedicated to the comparison of the history and development of stand-up comedy in the United States and in Hungary. The second part of the paper will look into the artistry of two comedians who were contemporaries to each other: George Carlin from the American side, and Géza Hofi from Hungary, and compare their comedy by focusing on the influence of the political context, the choice of targets they decided to criticize, and the way they addressed these target issues.