'Ironic detachment': Locals laughing 'at' the local on commercial breakfast radio

In considering how this may be applied to regional context, which relies on a participant's particular experience of a particular 'region' in Australia, this article examines the use of 'ironic detachment' as a specific technique by radio program hosts on an Australian regional commercial breakfast program. It uses a combination of conversation and membership category analysis to analyse two particular host/host interactions. The article reveals the way in which program hosts use irony to laugh 'at' that which is local while at the same time performing 'being local' when interacting with one another to entertain their audience.