Understanding Comedy through College Comedies
Understanding Comedy through College Comedies

Author: Norman Kagan

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2018-08-15

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 0761870636

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Understanding Comedy through College Comedies explains the nature of comedy through the study of college comedy films, including classics (College, The Freshman); romantic/screwball comedies (Where the Boys Are, Ball of Fire, Sterile Cuckoo); famous comedian comedies (Horse Feathers, The Nutty Professor, The Klumps); intergenerational college comedies (That’s My Boy, Back to School, Old School); social comedies (The Graduate, Breaking Away, Risky Business); political comedies (Getting Straight, Strawberry Statement, Last Supper); ethnic comedies (School Daze, Soul Man, How High); and college farces (Charlie’s Aunt, Animal House, Revenge of the Nerds, Slackers). In this book, Norman Kagan explains comic terminology, concepts, and theories, including Freud’s “displaced sexual content” in Decline of the American Empires, Langer’s “vitalism” in Slacker, Bergson’s “anesthesia of the heart” in The Squid and the Whale, and Frye’s “reversal of literary modes” in Storytelling. The reader will discover the reasons why they are laughing, new reasons to laugh, and new films that will provide new sources of laughter.

A Comedian and an Activist Walk into a Bar
A Comedian and an Activist Walk into a Bar

Author: Caty Borum Chattoo

Publisher: University of California Press

Published: 2020-03-24

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 0520299760

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Comedy is a powerful contemporary source of influence and information. In the still-evolving digital era, the opportunity to consume and share comedy has never been as available. And yet, despite its vast cultural imprint, comedy is a little-understood vehicle for serious public engagement in urgent social justice issues – even though humor offers frames of hope and optimism that can encourage participation in social problems. Moreover, in the midst of a merger of entertainment and news in the contemporary information ecology, and a decline in perceptions of trust in government and traditional media institutions, comedy may be a unique force for change in pressing social justice challenges. Comedians who say something serious about the world while they make us laugh are capable of mobilizing the masses, focusing a critical lens on injustices, and injecting hope and optimism into seemingly hopeless problems. By combining communication and social justice frameworks with contemporary comedy examples, authors Caty Borum Chattoo and Lauren Feldman show us how comedy can help to serve as a vehicle of change. Through rich case studies, audience research, and interviews with comedians and social justice leaders and strategists, A Comedian and an Activist Walk Into a Bar: The Serious Role of Comedy in Social Justice explains how comedy – both in the entertainment marketplace and as cultural strategy – can engage audiences with issues such as global poverty, climate change, immigration, and sexual assault, and how activists work with comedy to reach and empower publics in the networked, participatory digital media age.

What Are You Laughing At?
What Are You Laughing At?

Author: Dan O'Shannon

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2012-07-05

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 1441114955

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If you're looking for a book that will teach you how to write comedy, we suggest you keep moving. You still have time to pick up a copy of Writing Big Yucks for Big Bucks before the store closes. However, if you want to understand the bigger picture -- what is comedy, why do we respond to it the way we do -- then you've come to the right place. What Are You Laughing At? presents an entirely new approach to comedy theory. It challenges long-held beliefs and shows how the three main theories of comedy (incongruity, superiority, and relief) are not in conflict; but rather, work as parts of a larger model. There are many examples pulled from the author's own experiences, writing for shows such as Cheers, Frasier, and Modern Family. By the end, you'll have an understanding of just what happens when man meets comedy. It will change the way you hear laughter.

Laughing matters
Laughing matters

Author: John Mundy

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2017-10-03

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1526130521

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Laughing Matters takes an analytic approach to film, television and radio comedy and provides an accessible overview of its forms and contexts. The introduction explains the value of studying comedy, concisely outlines the approach taken and summarises the relevant theories. The subsequent chapters are divided into two parts. The first part examines the specific forms comedy has taken as a constant and key element in film and broadcast comedy from their origins to the present. The second part shows how the genre gravitates towards contentious issues in British and American culture as it finds humour in the boundaries of class, gender, sexuality, race and logic. The authors cover silent cinema comedy including Chaplin, Lloyd and Keaton, sound film comedies including the Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy, Romantic film comedy, radio, television situation and sketch comedy, comedy and genre (including parody and spoof), animations from cartoons to CGI, issues of gender and sexuality from drag comedy to queer reading, issues of taste and humour from Carry On to contemporary 'gross-out' , and issues of race and ethnicity including a case study of African-American screen comedy. Numerous opportunities for following up are highlighted and advice on further reading, writing academically about comedy and an extensive bibliography add to the value of this textbook.

Teen Boys' Comedic Monologues That Are Actually Funny
Teen Boys' Comedic Monologues That Are Actually Funny

Author: Alisha Gaddis

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2015-06-01

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 1495035409

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You wanna be funny for your audition? This book of monologues, written by people who are actually funny for a living, has your back. This incredibly hysterical, cutting-edge monologue book will give the teen actor the extra bang he needs to land the perfect comedic role! Teen Boys' Comedic Monologues That Are Actually Funny features monologues by writers and comics who have written for and/or performed on Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, Last Comic Standing, E! Entertainment, Comedy Central Stage, and many, many more. This book is the answer to the comedic monologue needs of teen actors everywhere!

High Comedy in American Movies
High Comedy in American Movies

Author: Steve Vineberg

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 9780742526341

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High Comedy in American Movies explores the 'comedy of manners' film throughout the twentieth century, from the advent of movie sound to recent films, and shows how class comedy's inside view of the aristocratic lifestyle has been influenced by the culture and times in which the movies are produced. Outlining the conventions of class comedy, Steve Vineberg discusses its British roots and analyzes how many American filmmakers have modified the genre, creating a distinctly American approach to class. Easily accessible, High Comedy in American Movies makes an engaging supplement to courses in American film, film genre, and film studies.

Teen Girls' Comedic Monologues That Are Actually Funny
Teen Girls' Comedic Monologues That Are Actually Funny

Author: Alisha Gaddis

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2015-12-01

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 1495049655

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This cutting-edge, incredibly hysterical monologue book is specifically for teen girls who need the extra bang to land the perfect comedic role. Teen Girls' Comedic Monologues That Are Actually Funny features monologues by writers and comics who have written and/or performed for Comedy Central, Backstage magazine, NBC, Huffington Post, The Onion, Second City, E!, and many more. This book is the answer to the comedic monologue needs of teen girls everywhere!