Fem and Funny

Fem and Funny PDF Author: Rachel Eliza Blackburn
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 98

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Book Description
Phyllis Diller, Joan Rivers, and Lisa Lampanelli as performers demonstrate an arc of evolving female empowerment in the world of stand-up comedy. In this thesis I shall study the development of each woman's career by examining her material, progression of her comic persona, and relationship to women's gender roles, both personally and professionally. While there are many other female comics who contribute to the story of women's stand-up comedy in the contemporary period (in particular, Moms Mabley and Elayne Boosler), Diller, Rivers and Lampanelli each represent a distinct shift in how their persona combined with subject matter, allowing women to break new barriers in terms of comic performance. Diller's comedy carved a space for Rivers', and Rivers' comedy carved a space for the likes of Lampanelli. In viewing the trajectory of their effect on comedy as a whole, we can see how each woman asserted herself in stand-up performance, and forever changed the nature of who was allowed to get up on stage, and also, what they were allowed to say by their audiences. To quote Joan Rivers, "First there was a gasp...and then there was a laugh" (Rivers "Piece of Work").

Fem and Funny

Fem and Funny PDF Author: Rachel Eliza Blackburn
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 98

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Book Description
Phyllis Diller, Joan Rivers, and Lisa Lampanelli as performers demonstrate an arc of evolving female empowerment in the world of stand-up comedy. In this thesis I shall study the development of each woman's career by examining her material, progression of her comic persona, and relationship to women's gender roles, both personally and professionally. While there are many other female comics who contribute to the story of women's stand-up comedy in the contemporary period (in particular, Moms Mabley and Elayne Boosler), Diller, Rivers and Lampanelli each represent a distinct shift in how their persona combined with subject matter, allowing women to break new barriers in terms of comic performance. Diller's comedy carved a space for Rivers', and Rivers' comedy carved a space for the likes of Lampanelli. In viewing the trajectory of their effect on comedy as a whole, we can see how each woman asserted herself in stand-up performance, and forever changed the nature of who was allowed to get up on stage, and also, what they were allowed to say by their audiences. To quote Joan Rivers, "First there was a gasp...and then there was a laugh" (Rivers "Piece of Work").

Pretty/Funny

Pretty/Funny PDF Author: Linda Mizejewski
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292756917
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 279

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Book Description
Women in comedy have traditionally been pegged as either "pretty" or "funny." Attractive actresses with good comic timing such as Katherine Hepburn, Lucille Ball, and Julia Roberts have always gotten plum roles as the heroines of romantic comedies and television sitcoms. But fewer women who write and perform their own comedy have become stars, and, most often, they've been successful because they were willing to be funny-looking, from Fanny Brice and Phyllis Diller to Lily Tomlin and Carol Burnett. In this pretty-versus-funny history, women writer-comedians—no matter what they look like—have ended up on the other side of "pretty," enabling them to make it the topic and butt of the joke, the ideal that is exposed as funny. Pretty/Funny focuses on Kathy Griffin, Tina Fey, Sarah Silverman, Margaret Cho, Wanda Sykes, and Ellen DeGeneres, the groundbreaking women comics who flout the pretty-versus-funny dynamic by targeting glamour, postfeminist girliness, the Hollywood A-list, and feminine whiteness with their wit and biting satire. Linda Mizejewski demonstrates that while these comics don't all identify as feminists or take politically correct positions, their work on gender, sexuality, and race has a political impact. The first major study of women and humor in twenty years, Pretty/Funny makes a convincing case that women's comedy has become a prime site for feminism to speak, talk back, and be contested in the twenty-first century.

The League of Extraordinarily Funny Women

The League of Extraordinarily Funny Women PDF Author: Sheila Moeschen
Publisher: Running Press Adult
ISBN: 0762466626
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
A celebration of the most groundbreaking women in comedy who used humor to shake up the status quo and change perceptions of gender and comedy forever. Step aside, Seinfeld. It's time for the brave, hilarious women of comedy to finally get the recognition they deserve. The people who say women aren't funny are actually saying something else: that humor in the hands of women is radical and scary. Nevertheless, women have persisted for generations now, deploying their wit in game-changing ways. The League of Extraordinarily Funny Women is a beautifully illustrated book that showcases fifty women -- past and present -- who use humor to deliver cutting social commentary, tangle with sensitive subjects, challenge traditional ideas about femininity, and, above all, do anything but sit still and stay quiet when laughs are on the line. The result is a sisterhood of empowering and often under-recognized figures who have gone on to become standups, writers, and actresses, including Mae West, Lucille Ball, Gilda Radner, Tina Fey, Amy Sedaris, Wanda Sykes, Ellen DeGeneres, Mindy Kaling, Jessica Williams, and many more.

Queens of Comedy

Queens of Comedy PDF Author: Susan Horowitz
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781476154886
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
They are comedy legends: Lucille Ball, Phyllis Diller, Carol Burnett, and Joan Rivers! Cinderella had a glass slipper, but comics have clown shoes that leave footprints on our fannies and handprints on our hearts. Queens of Comedy includes Dr. Sue's personal interviews with great stars, show business advice, comedy secrets, and insights into humor and gender.Dr. Sue Horowitz asks pertinent questions, receives candid answers, and offers a banquet of food for thought. What can these great ladies of laughs teach us about how to be funny, appeal to audiences, look fabulous (yes, they do, despite the self-deprecating jokes), overcome obstacles, and make a success in show business - or any business? How do they connect (they must - or they wouldn't be so popular) with the lives and fantasies of people all over the world? Do they simply reflect gender roles (with a girlish giggle)? Or do their imaginative schemes, clever remarks, and the fact that they are outrageously funny women challenge and undermine those roles?Dr. Sue shows how gifted performers turn their lives into laughs and indelible stage and screen personalities. These show business icons share their secrets of comic delivery, writing, and connecting to audiences. They also share details about their personal lives - often a triumph of sheer determination over harsh adversity. They made hard choices, honed their talents, and turned private pain into public success - and laughed all the way to the bank!Dr. Sue also places her four queens in context in the grand tradition of female comedy, present and past - Ellen DeGeneres, Tina Fey, Goldie Hawn, Joy Behar, Lily Tomlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin, Elayne Boosler, Mae West, Sophie Tucker, Moms Mabley, Fanny Brice, Totie Fields Gracie Allen and other talented but less-known performers. These great ladies of laughs stormed the barricades (or charmed the guards) to gain admittance to the "all-boys club" of traditional comedy. They challenged stereotypes and stigmas that limit all of us. They know the difference between being the butt of a sexist joke and the self-defined subject of a laugh-line and - and so should we.Queens of Comedy is a fun, thoughtful glimpse into the private lives, public personae, and comic craft of these great ladies of laughs. Anthologies of comedians often ignore or minimize the talents of funny women - despite their powerful presence in media that reach millions of people all over the world.Dr. Sue's engaging book makes a lively, original, cogent argument that it's all about sex appeal, comic appeal and power - and that show business is everybody's business. Queens of Comedy shows that, like the queens on a chess board, women comics can be powerful, make the last move, and have the last word!Endorsements:"Susan Horowitz has analyzed female comedy and dissected it clear to the bone. She's used a fine-tooth-comb to find motivation, why and how. Queens of Comedy is truly a textbook worthy of study." - Phyllis Diller, Comedienne"The subject of women who make people laugh seems an ongoing source of interest. And just when you thought everything had been said, along comes Susan Horowitz with a whole new slant. A must for the student of comedy and anyone else who wants to crack the mystery of estrogen-induced yuks." - Joy Behar, Comedienne"Dr. Sue Horowitz is a wonderful combination of somebody who puts women's comedy in context, and is a funny, effervescent performer!" -- Regina "Gina" Barreca, Ph.D., Author/Editor/ Professor of English Literature and Feminist Theory at the University of Connecticut"Queens of Comedy is informative, original, and vastly entertaining - a must-read for comedy fans and a seriously funny way to look at gender roles."-- Professor...

Hysterical!

Hysterical! PDF Author: Linda Mizejewski
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 1477314547
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 568

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Book Description
Susan Koppelman Award Winner: “A juicy read for those who love the many ways female comics use their art to question the patriarchy.” —Bust Amy Schumer, Samantha Bee, Mindy Kaling, Melissa McCarthy, Tig Notaro, Leslie Jones, and a host of hilarious peers are killing it nightly on American stages and screens, smashing the tired stereotype that women aren’t funny. But today’s funny women didn’t come out of nowhere. Fay Tincher’s daredevil stunts, Mae West’s linebacker walk, Lucille Ball’s manic slapstick, Carol Burnett’s athletic pratfalls, Ellen DeGeneres’s tomboy pranks, Whoopi Goldberg’s sly twinkle, and Tina Fey’s acerbic wit all paved the way for contemporary unruly women, whose comedy upends the norms and ideals of women’s bodies and behaviors. Hysterical! Women in American Comedy delivers a lively survey of women comics from the stars of the silent cinema up through the multimedia presences of Tina Fey and Lena Dunham. This anthology of original essays includes contributions by the field’s leading authorities, introducing a new framework for women’s comedy that analyzes the implications of hysterical laughter and hysterically funny performances. Expanding on previous studies of comedians such as Mae West, Moms Mabley, and Margaret Cho, and offering the first scholarly work on comedy pioneers Mabel Normand, Fay Tincher, and Carol Burnett, the contributors explore such topics as racial/ethnic/sexual identity, celebrity, stardom, censorship, auteurism, cuteness, and postfeminism across multiple media. Situated within the main currents of gender and queer studies, as well as American studies and feminist media scholarship, Hysterical! masterfully demonstrates that hysteria—women acting out and acting up—is a provocative, empowering model for women’s comedy. “An invaluable collection and a great read.” ?Journal of Popular Culture Winner of a Susan Koppelman Award for Best Anthology, Multi-Authored, or Edited Book in Feminist Studies, Popular and American Culture Associations (PACA), 2017

Queens of Comedy

Queens of Comedy PDF Author: Susan Horowitz
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136642870
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 186

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Book Description
Through candid personal interviews with Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, and other visionary performers, Queens of Comedy explores how comediennes have redefined the roles of women in not only the entertainment business, but society as a whole. Detailing both their public and private lives - as well as their many and varied performances - Queen of Comedy examines the impact these women have had on the predominantly male-oriented world of comedy. Performers like Carol Burnett, Joan Rivers, and their more recent counterparts, comediennes Brett Butler and Roseanne, have helped to sift women's roles in comedy from object to subject. This book maps out this shift, providing an often brutally honest picture of women's lives in both the spotlight of comedy and this modern world.

We Killed

We Killed PDF Author: Yael Kohen
Publisher: Picador
ISBN: 9781250037787
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice A Very Oral History With a New Introduction by the Author "We Killed shines in its details and its anecdotes....Well crafted and entertaining."—The Boston Globe From live comedy to television and bestseller lists, women rule the comedy industry—and, as this fascinating oral history shows, they have fought long and hard to make their way to the top. In We Killed, Yael Kohen assembles America's most prominent comediennes—along with the writers, producers, and nightclub owners in their orbit—to piece together the rise of women in American comedy. Beginning with the emergence of Phyllis Diller and Joan Rivers in the fifties, and moving forward to the edgy intelligence of Elaine May and Lily Tomlin on to the tough-ass stand-ups who would take SNL by storm, Kohen chronicles the false starts, backslides, and triumphs of female comedians. With a chorus of more than one hundred creative voices, We Killed takes us backstage to tell the story of the revolution that brought us Tina Fey, Sarah Silverman, and Chelsea Handler—and a world where women can be smart, attractive, sexually confident, and flat-out funny.

Comediennes

Comediennes PDF Author: Darryl J. Littleton
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1480329754
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
COMEDIENNES: LAUGH BE A LADY

In On the Joke

In On the Joke PDF Author: Shawn Levy
Publisher: Doubleday
ISBN: 0385545797
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 378

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Book Description
“A sensitive and vivid study of early female stand-ups… [Levy is a] painstaking, knowledgeable guide.” —New York Times Book Review A hilarious and moving account of the trailblazing women of stand-up comedy who broke down walls so they could stand before the mic—perfect for fans of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Hacks Today, women are ascendant in stand-up comedy, even preeminent. They make headlines, fill arenas, spawn blockbuster movies. But before Amy Schumer slayed, Tiffany Haddish killed, and Ali Wong drew roars, the very idea of a female comedian seemed, to most of America, like a punch line. And it took a special sort of woman—indeed, a parade of them—to break and remake the mold. In on the Joke is the story of a group of unforgettable women who knocked down the doors of stand-up comedy so other women could get a shot. It spans decades, from Moms Mabley’s rise in Black vaudeville between the world wars, to the roadhouse ribaldry of Belle Barth and Rusty Warren in the 1950s and '60s, to Elaine May's co-invention of improv comedy, to Joan Rivers's and Phyllis Diller’s ferocious ascent to mainstream stardom. These women refused to be defined by type and tradition, facing down indifference, puzzlement, nay-saying, and unvarnished hostility. They were discouraged by agents, managers, audiences, critics, fellow performers—even their families. And yet they persevered against the tired notion that women couldn’t be funny, making space not only for themselves, but for the women who followed them. Meticulously researched and irresistibly drawn, Shawn Levy's group portrait forms a new pantheon of comedy excellence. In on the Joke shows how women broke into the boys’ club, offered new ideas of womanhood, and had some laughs along the way.

Female Force: Women in Comedy: Betty White, Kathy Griffin, Rosie O'Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres

Female Force: Women in Comedy: Betty White, Kathy Griffin, Rosie O'Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres PDF Author: Marc Shapiro
Publisher: Bluewater Productions
ISBN: 1123990093
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 100

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Book Description
Betty White, Kathy Griffin, Rosie O'Donnell, and Ellen DeGeneres are some of the most entertaining and hilarious women in modern-day comedy. The Female Force comic series offers a broad examination of strong and influential women who have shaped modern history and culture. This graphic novel features these comedy queens for the first time, together!