Editors’ preface

The idea for this edited collection was born during a morning tea break
at the 2015 conference of the Australasian Humour Studies Network
held in Adelaide, hosted by Flinders University. Meeting in person for the first time, Jessica and Sharyn recalled their exchange of emails about a study on humour and the courts authored by Sharyn and her colleagues Kathy Mack and Jordan Tutton. They conversed more generally about their mutual research interests in the work of courts and in research on courts and humour, and identified other colleagues and acquaintances who seemed to share this interest in two subjects that normally do not overlap. The discussion sparked a proposal to co-edit a scholarly collection dealing specifically with judges and humour. It would be multi-disciplinary, with authors from several countries, and would combine approaches from humanities, social sciences and law.