The Comedy Studies Reader

"From classical Hollywood film comedies to sitcoms, recent political satire, and the developing world of online comedy culture, comedy has been a mainstay of the American media landscape for decades. Recognizing that scholars and students need an authoritative collection of comedy studies that gathers both foundational and cutting-edge work, Nick Marx and Matt Sienkiewicz have assembled The Comedy Studies Reader. This anthology brings together classic articles, more recent works, and original essays that consider a variety of themes and approaches for studying comedic media - the carnivalesque, comedy mechanics and absurdity, psychoanalysis, irony, genre, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and nation and globalization. The authors range from iconic theorists, such as Mikhail Bakhtin, Sigmund Freud, and Linda Hutcheon, to the leading senior and emerging scholars of today. As a whole, the volume traces two parallel trends in the evolution of the field - first, comedy's development into myriad subgenres, formats, and discourses, a tendency that has led many popular commentators to characterize the present as a 'comedy zeitgeist'; and second, comedy studies' new focus on the ways in which comedy increasingly circulates in 'serious' discursive realms, including politics, economics, race, gender, and cultural power."--Provided by publisher Acknowledgments 10 Volume Introduction: Comedy as Theory, Industry, and Academic Discipline. Nick Marx and Matt Sienkiewicz 14 1.The Carnivalesque 30 Introduction: The Naked Gun 30 A: Rabelais and His World, Mikhail Bakhtin 32 B: “The Frames of Comic ‘Freedom,’” Umberto Eco 38 C: “Sacred Catastrophe, Profane Laughter: Family Guy’s Comedy in the Ritual of National Trauma,” Philip Scepanski 46 2. Comedy Mechanics & Absurdity 58 Introduction: Man Seeking Woman 58 A: Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic, Henri Bergson 60 B. The Logic of the Absurd, Jerry Palmer 64 C: “Pie and Chase: Gag, Spectacle, and Narrative in Slapstick Comedy,” Donald Crafton 68 D: “The New Logic of the Absurd: The Eric André Show,” Evan Elkins 70 3. Psychoanalyzing Comedy 84 Introduction: Archer 84 A: Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious, Sigmund Freud 86 B. “Humor,” Sigmund Freud 87 C: “Lacan’s Harpo,” Paul Flaig 92 D: “Revenge of the Nerds: Failure, Laughter, and Liberation on The Big Bang Theory,” Andrew J. Owens 102 4. Irony 115 Introduction: Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner 2006 115 A: Irony’s Edge, Linda Hutcheon 117 B. “Speaking Too Soon: SNL, 9/11, and the Remaking of American Irony,” Matt Sienkiewiczi 124 C: “Welcome to the Clickhole: The Economics of Internet Parody and Critique,” Amber Day 133 5. Genre 147 Introduction: 22 Jump Street 147 A: Popular Film and Television Comedy, Steve Neale and Frank Krutnik 149 B: “Comedy Verité? The Observational Documentary Meets the Televisual Sitcom,” Ethan Thompson 156 C. “Inventing the Situation Comedy: Jack Benny, the ‘Fall Guy,’ and the Making of a Genre,” Kathryn Fuller-Seeley 166 6. Race & Ethnicity 183 Introduction: Key and Peele 183 A. Watching Race, Herman Gray 186 B: “The Culture Behind Closed Doors: Issues of Gender and Race in the Writers’ Room,” Felicia D. Henderson 192 C: “Naturalizing Racial Differences Through Comedy: Asian, Black, and White Views on Racial Stereotypes in Rush Hour 2,” Ji Hoon Park, Nadine G. Gabbadon, and Ariel R. Chernin 196 D. “‘Indians on TV (and Netflix)’: The Comedic Trajectory of Aziz Ansari,” Bhoomi K. Thakore and Bilal Hussain 208 7. Gender & Sexuality 221 Introduction: Inside Amy Schumer 221 A: The Unruly Woman, Kathleen Rowe Karlyn 223 B: Pretty/Funny, Linda Mizejewski 229 C: “Generic Closets: Sitcoms, Audiences, and Black Male Gayness,” Alfred L. Martin, Jr. 235 8. Nation & Globalization 251 Introduction, Peter Kragh Jensen and Matt Sienkiewicz 251 A: A National Joke, Andy Medhurst 256 B: “Transnational TV Comedy Audiences,” Inger-LiseKalviknes Bore 264 C: “Transgressing Boundaries as the Hybrid Global: Parody and Postcoloniality on Indian Television,” Sangeet Kumar 272 D: “Comedy and the Nation in The Trip,” Brett Mills 280 Contributors 295 Index 300 Volume Introduction : Comedy As Theory, Industry, And Academic Discipline -- The Carnivalesque -- Comedy Mechanics & Absurdity -- Psychoanalyzing Comedy -- Irony -- Genre -- Race & Ethnicity -- Gender & Sexuality -- Nation & Globalization. Edited By Nick Marx And Matt Sienkiewicz. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Surveying comedic texts and performers from The Jack Benny Program to Key and Peele, Saturday Night Live, and Stephen Colbert, this classroom-ready anthology offers a first-ever overview of the field of comedy studies.