Concordia’s communications professor Darren Valenta, along with communications students Saige Mattson and Olivia Slyter, held a lecture titled “Drive Me to Doggy Daycare: Stand-up Comedy’s Impact on Suicidality Discourse,” on April 15 in Olin, where they presented their thorough research.
They discussed how sensitive topics, like suicidality or the risk of suicide specifically, can be properly handled by comedians while drawing analytic conclusions based on brief clips of stand-up comedy by Maria Bamford, Taylor Tomlinson and Nikki Glaser.
The team will also go to Claremont, California, on April 24 to present their research at the Critical Humor Studies Association Conference. They will get the opportunity to unveil their findings as well as attend a variety of other panels.
Valenta had originally come up with the project and applied for the Centennial Grant, which allowed him to pursue his research while being paid. He enlisted two of his students, Slyter and Mattson, as he wanted the project to be collaborative rather than solo. They completed their work over the summer of 2024.
“I personally struggle with anxiety, and have struggled with depression in the past, and I noticed in grad school I was encountering more comedy that dealt with those themes, so I was interested in thinking and writing more about that,” says Valenta.
This project aims to destigmatize conversations about suicidality and encourage people to seek help.
“I love conducting research and writing research papers, so I was very excited when Dr. Darren Valenta reached out and asked if I wanted to be a part of this project! Mental health is something that is very important to me, having my own mental health struggles and having lost people close to me to suicide, so I thought the idea of looking at something like comedy through the lens of mental health and how to productively and effectively talk about it was really, really fascinating,” says Slyter.
“Topics like suicide and suicidal ideation are very difficult to talk about and analyze. There were times for all three of us during the project that were difficult, but it’s also important to remember that it’s crucial to talk about these things (in a respectful, effective and productive way) in order to lessen things like suicide contagion,” she elaborates. Suicide contagion is when one suicide in a community increases the likelihood that others in that same community will attempt or die by suicide.
Suicide is an extremely serious threat to public health, so it is important for everyone to know that help is always available for those in crisis. One can call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or text “SAVE” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
For many years comedians have drawn inspiration for their humor from dark and sometimes taboo topics like death, abuse, trauma, mental illness, etc. They therefore have a certain influence on how the subject of suicide is discussed in the world today.
Concordia’s communications Professor Darren Valenta along with communications students Saige Mattson and Olivia Slyter held a lecture titled “Drive Me to Doggy Daycare: Stand-up Comedy’s Impact on Suicidality Discourse,” on April 15 in Olin where they presented their thorough research. They discussed how sensitive topics, like suicidality or the risk of suicide specifically, can be properly handled by comedians while drawing analytic conclusions based on brief clips of stand-up comedy by Maria Bamford, Taylor Tomlinson, and Nikki Glaser.
The team will also go to Claremont, California on April 24 to present their research at the Critical Humor Studies Association Conference. They will get the opportunity to unveil their findings as well as attend a variety of other panels.
Valenta had originally come up with the project and applied for the Centennial Grant which allowed him to pursue his research while being paid. He enlisted two of his students, Slyter and Mattson, as he wanted the project to be collaborative rather than solo. They completed their work over the summer of 2024.
“I personally struggle with anxiety, and have struggled with depression in the past, and I noticed in grad school I was encountering more comedy that dealt with those themes, so I was interested in thinking and writing more about that,” says Valenta.
This project aims to destigmatize conversations about suicide and encourage people to seek help.
“I love conducting research and writing research papers, so I was very excited when Dr. Darren Valenta reached out and asked if I wanted to be a part of this project! Mental health is something that is very important to me, having my own mental health struggles and having lost people close to me to suicide so I thought the idea of looking at something like comedy through the lens of mental health and how to productively and effectively talk about it was really really fascinating,” says Slyter.
“Topics like suicide and suicidal ideation are very difficult to talk about and analyze. There were times for all three of us during the project that were difficult, but it’s also important to remember that it’s crucial to talk about these things (in a respectful, effective, and productive way) in order to lessen things like suicide contagion,” she elaborates. Suicide contagion is when one suicide in a community increases the likelihood that others in that same community will attempt or die by suicide.
Suicide is an extremely serious threat to public health, so it is important for everyone to know that help is always available for those in crisis. One can call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or text “SAVE” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
