From Time:
Some Americans may believe we live in a color-blind society, but they’re probably not stand-up comedians. In fact, one aspiring sociologist believes that stand-up comedy is only going to get more racial. Race is still a huge issue in America, says University of California, Irvine’s Raul Pérez. But if it’s less acceptable to talk about race in public places, that increases the workload of comedians who can tackle taboos on stage. For his new study in the journal of Discourse & Society, Pérez spent seven months in comedy classes. Based on more than 200 hours of fledgling routines and guidance from instructors, the doctoral student outlined techniques jokesters use when trying to make race funny in a “post-racism” world. “The novice comic and the professional comic alike need to invoke these strategies,” Pérez says. “Otherwise you get Michael Richards,” i.e. a reputation-wilting act that yields more empty tables than chuckles.

For the full story, please visit http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/06/12/how-to-tell-race-related-jokes-in-a-....