The humor paradox and identity in professional stand-up comedy: humor enactment as a predictor of personal-relational and enacted-relational identity gaps in the comedian–audience relationship.

This article investigates how professional stand-up comedians' use of identification humor (IH) and differentiation humor (DH) predicts their perceived identity gaps with target audiences, specifically personal-relational (PR) and enacted-relational (ER) gaps. Identification humor, which seeks to connect comedians with their audiences, was found to negatively predict these identity gaps, indicating closer alignment between comedians' self-perceptions and how they believe audiences perceive them. Conversely, differentiation humor, which emphasizes separateness or opposition, positively predicted identity gaps, suggesting greater discrepancies in these perceptions. The study, based on self-reports from 108 U.S. professional comedians, applies the communication theory of identity (CTI) to explain how humor enactment influences the dynamic comedian–audience relationship, highlighting implications for comedians' identity management and audience reception.