Linguistic Analysis of Verbal Humour in Algerian Stand-up Comedy

Being a universal trait of human language behaviour, verbal humour has ultimately been a recognized field of research in linguistics. Such subject of study infuses different forms of distraction such as stand-up comedy where laughter thrives. This response is considerably noticed in the shows of Abdelkader Secteur, an Algerian comedian. On the basis of such reaction, this paper aims to disclose the linguistic reasons behind the comedian’s verbal humour which lead to laughter. The question that arises “what makes the stand- up comedian’s discourse humorous?” suggests that the comedian uses a figurative language embodied in a chunk of opposite scripts which mark his performance. To check the proposed hypothesis, an empirical study is given based on a selection of the humorist’s two performances derived from You Tube downloads given to a to an sample of thirty-two Algerian participants be watched then analyzed through the general theory of verbal humour (hereafter, GTVH).