Prosiding The 5 th International Conference on Indonesian Studies: “Ethnicity and Globalization” 144 ETHNIC STEREOTYPES IN STAND-UP COMEDY Nina Setyaningsih Faculty of Humanities, Dian Nuswantoro University, Semarang ninazski@gmail.com Abstract Stand-up comedy has gained popularity in Indonesia recently. Some stand-up comedians even get more recognition by appearing in television series such as sinetrons (Indonesian soap opera- like TV series) and comedy shows. These comedians entertain people through their verbal humor. Hence, stand-up comedy can be regarded as a relevant topic on the study which relates to language and culture. Many comedians present ethnic humor in their performance and many of them also represent certain ethnic groups. According to Davies (in Lowe, 1986), ethnic jokes “delineate the social, geographic and moral boundaries of a nation or ethnic group.”Moreover, Lowe claims that humor plays an important role in group identity formation and solidarity. Ethnic humors usually involve stereotyping. Stereotypes can help one to identify certain groups; however as Mindiola et al (2002) say, stereotypes can be positive or negative impressions about people or groups. This study explores how certain ethnics are stereotyped in Stand-up Comedy Indonesia Season 3, a competition held by Kompas TV Indonesia. The data were collected from three shows of three different comedians. The comedians characterize three different ethnic groups in Indonesia: Bataknese, Maduranese, and East Indonesian. The result of the analysis shows that the ethnic backgrounds of the comedians influence their jokes. They also try to draw their attention to certain issue their ethnicities are facing through jokes. Keywords: ethnic, humor, stand-up comedy, stereotype A. Introduction In daily life, people are often engaged in humorous conversations in many different situations. It shows that humor is a common part in human language. This is in line with what Gruner (1978:1) says that ”without laughter everyday living becomes drab and lifeless; life would seem hardly human at all. Likewise, a sense of humor is generally considered a person's most admirable attribute.” The study of humor thus plays an important role in language and culture fields. Every culture in the world recognizes a sense of humor. Although some humors differs from culture to culture, there are some common features and frequent phenomena that are interesting and significant (Mintz, 2008: 283). Having a sense of humor is characterized by the ability to take a joke directed against oneself, which may or may not be constrained by political correctness or cultural tolerance. However, humor has continued to manifest an elusiveness that no single culture can define (Gonzales & Wiseman, 2005:171).