Conversational Maxims in Stand-Up Comedy Marcello Hernandez’s Performance: A Pragmatic Study

Abstract

This study aims to describe and analyze the use and flouting of conversational maxims in Marcello Hernandez’s stand-up comedy performance from a pragmatic perspective. This research employs a descriptive qualitative method, with data consisting of utterances containing Grice’s maxims: quantity, quality, relevance, and manner. The data source is a stand-up comedy performance video by Marcello Hernandez on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The data were collected through observation, transcription, data reduction, and classification, and then analyzed using the Cooperative Principle theory. The findings reveal two main strategies: observance and flouting of maxims. From the total data analyzed, maxim flouting is more dominant than observance. The maxim of quality is the most frequently flouted, followed by relevance, quantity, and manner. These flouts are achieved through strategies such as hyperbole, metaphor, repetition, and irrelevance, which serve to create humorous effects. Furthermore, the study finds that humor in the performance is generated through cognitive mechanisms, particularly the Incongruity Theory, in which humor arises from a mismatch between expectation and reality that the audience resolves. Therefore, maxim flouting is not a communication failure but an effective pragmatic strategy for producing humor and enhancing audience engagement.