In class today we watched a comedian, Ryan Hamilton. The question posed was: can a comedian be persuasive?
Ryan is an interesting comedian, a small-town Mormon trying to make it big in New York obviously has an interesting insight to the city-life, and he's not afraid to share it.
He knows his audience doesn't come from the same background on he does, and he plays to that fact. Cracking jokes about the "sober life" and how it clashes with his social life. Although he presents a strikingly different life-style than other comedians, he does so naturally and with charisma, which made him entertaining to watch and even relate too--despite lifestyle difference with much of his audience. Everything he says can resonate with the other lonely hearts listening in, and makes them laugh in solidarity.
The purpose of persuasion is to sway someone to your point of view/way of thinking. A comedian's purpose is to entertain, not necessarily persuade. To what are they persuading them to do? Or be? Or how to act?
Ryan Hamilton is interesting because his persuasion is in the form of convincing you he's funny. Which is a legitimate form of persuasion. Almost completely dependent on pathos, he works his jokes to be relatable, casual, and to genuinely strike a chord with each viewer.
Persuasion can come in all shapes and sizes, and many different forms. This, to me, is one of the more interesting interpretations of persuasion.
Ryan is an interesting comedian, a small-town Mormon trying to make it big in New York obviously has an interesting insight to the city-life, and he's not afraid to share it.
He knows his audience doesn't come from the same background on he does, and he plays to that fact. Cracking jokes about the "sober life" and how it clashes with his social life. Although he presents a strikingly different life-style than other comedians, he does so naturally and with charisma, which made him entertaining to watch and even relate too--despite lifestyle difference with much of his audience. Everything he says can resonate with the other lonely hearts listening in, and makes them laugh in solidarity.
The purpose of persuasion is to sway someone to your point of view/way of thinking. A comedian's purpose is to entertain, not necessarily persuade. To what are they persuading them to do? Or be? Or how to act?
Ryan Hamilton is interesting because his persuasion is in the form of convincing you he's funny. Which is a legitimate form of persuasion. Almost completely dependent on pathos, he works his jokes to be relatable, casual, and to genuinely strike a chord with each viewer.
Persuasion can come in all shapes and sizes, and many different forms. This, to me, is one of the more interesting interpretations of persuasion.
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