# Timing structures in live comedy: A matched-sequence approach to mapping performance dynamics

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method to analyze timing in live comedy performances, revealing how comedians structure their shows and interact with audiences.

## Contribution

The novel TAMS framework automatically detects and maps timing structures in live performances, offering insights into performer-audience dynamics.

## Key findings

- TAMS identified consistent placement of novel material at the start of comedy shows.
- The method revealed sections with tightly timed repeated material in performances.
- TAMS provides a new way to study audience-performer dynamics through microtiming and laughter.

## Abstract

Live performance is a ubiquitous cultural and social behavior that has not yet benefited from systematic scientific study. We present a computational methodology that visualizes and describes timing structures in live performance, showcasing their engineering. This novel analysis framework, Topology Analysis of Matching Sequences (TAMS), automatically detects matching sequences and maps their timing. Locating material that is repeated across performances reveals the skill behind apparently effortless communication between performer and audience. Applying TAMS to two stand-up comedy tours uncovered structural features at the macro- and microlevels, including consistently placed novel material at the beginning of shows and sections dedicated to tightly timed repeated material. TAMS also provides a new frame of reference for examining audience–performer dynamics through speech microtiming and laughter. TAMS can be applied to other forms of repeated speech, such as political stump speeches, as well as extended to other types of performance, such as dance.