Author: Will Kaufman
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 9780814326572
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 284
Book Description
In this lively and fascinating analysis of humorists and their work, Will Kaufman breaks new ground with his irony fatigue theory. The Comedian as Confidence Man examines the humorist's internal conflict between the social critic who demands to be taken seriously and the comedian who never can be: the irony fatigue condition. Concentrating on eight American literary and performing comedians from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, this study explores the irony fatigue affect that seems to pervade the work of comedians—those particular social observers who are obliged to promise, "Only kidding, folks," even when they may not be; in G. B. Shaw's words, they must "put things in such a way as to make people who would otherwise hang them believe they are joking." If these social observers are obliged to become, in effect, confidence men, with irony as the satiric weapon that both attacks and diverts, then the implications are great for those social critics who above all wish to be heeded.
The Comedian as Confidence Man
Author: Will Kaufman
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 9780814326572
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 284
Book Description
In this lively and fascinating analysis of humorists and their work, Will Kaufman breaks new ground with his irony fatigue theory. The Comedian as Confidence Man examines the humorist's internal conflict between the social critic who demands to be taken seriously and the comedian who never can be: the irony fatigue condition. Concentrating on eight American literary and performing comedians from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, this study explores the irony fatigue affect that seems to pervade the work of comedians—those particular social observers who are obliged to promise, "Only kidding, folks," even when they may not be; in G. B. Shaw's words, they must "put things in such a way as to make people who would otherwise hang them believe they are joking." If these social observers are obliged to become, in effect, confidence men, with irony as the satiric weapon that both attacks and diverts, then the implications are great for those social critics who above all wish to be heeded.
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 9780814326572
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 284
Book Description
In this lively and fascinating analysis of humorists and their work, Will Kaufman breaks new ground with his irony fatigue theory. The Comedian as Confidence Man examines the humorist's internal conflict between the social critic who demands to be taken seriously and the comedian who never can be: the irony fatigue condition. Concentrating on eight American literary and performing comedians from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, this study explores the irony fatigue affect that seems to pervade the work of comedians—those particular social observers who are obliged to promise, "Only kidding, folks," even when they may not be; in G. B. Shaw's words, they must "put things in such a way as to make people who would otherwise hang them believe they are joking." If these social observers are obliged to become, in effect, confidence men, with irony as the satiric weapon that both attacks and diverts, then the implications are great for those social critics who above all wish to be heeded.
Buffoon Men
Author: Scott Balcerzak
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 0814339662
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 270
Book Description
Fans and scholars of film history, gender studies, and broadcast studies will appreciate Balcerzak's thorough exploration of the era's fascinating gender constructs.
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 0814339662
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 270
Book Description
Fans and scholars of film history, gender studies, and broadcast studies will appreciate Balcerzak's thorough exploration of the era's fascinating gender constructs.
Strange Bedfellows
Author: Russell Peterson
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 0813544769
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 274
Book Description
It is no coincidence that presidential candidates have been making it a point to add the late-night comedy circuit to the campaign trail in recent years. In 2004, when John Kerry decided it was time to do his first national television interview, he did not choose CBS’s 60 Minutes, ABC’s Nightline, or NBC Nightly News. Kerry picked Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. When George W. Bush was lagging in the polls, his appearance on the David Letterman Show gave him a measurable boost. Candidates for the 2008 presidential election began their late-night bookings almost as soon as they launched their campaigns. How can this be? The reason is that polls have been consistently finding that a significant number of Americans—and an even larger proportion of those under the age of thirty—get at least some of their “news” about politics and national affairs from comedy shows. While this trend toward what some have called “infotainment” seems to herald the descent of our national discourse—the triumph of entertainment over substance—the reality, according to Russell L. Peterson, is more complex. He explains that this programming is more than a mere replacement for traditional news outlets; it plays its own role in shaping public perception of government and the political process. From Johnny Carson to Jon Stewart, from Chevy Chase’s spoofing of President Ford on Saturday Night Live to Stephen Colbert’s roasting of President Bush at the White House Correspondents Dinner, Strange Bedfellows explores what Americans have found so funny about our political institutions and the people who inhabit them, and asks what this says about the health of our democracy. Comparing the mainstream network hosts—Jay, Dave, Conan, and Johnny before them—who have always strived to be “equal opportunity offenders” to the newer, edgier crop of comedians on cable networks, Peterson shows how each brand of satire plays off a different level of Americans’ frustrations with politics.
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 0813544769
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 274
Book Description
It is no coincidence that presidential candidates have been making it a point to add the late-night comedy circuit to the campaign trail in recent years. In 2004, when John Kerry decided it was time to do his first national television interview, he did not choose CBS’s 60 Minutes, ABC’s Nightline, or NBC Nightly News. Kerry picked Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. When George W. Bush was lagging in the polls, his appearance on the David Letterman Show gave him a measurable boost. Candidates for the 2008 presidential election began their late-night bookings almost as soon as they launched their campaigns. How can this be? The reason is that polls have been consistently finding that a significant number of Americans—and an even larger proportion of those under the age of thirty—get at least some of their “news” about politics and national affairs from comedy shows. While this trend toward what some have called “infotainment” seems to herald the descent of our national discourse—the triumph of entertainment over substance—the reality, according to Russell L. Peterson, is more complex. He explains that this programming is more than a mere replacement for traditional news outlets; it plays its own role in shaping public perception of government and the political process. From Johnny Carson to Jon Stewart, from Chevy Chase’s spoofing of President Ford on Saturday Night Live to Stephen Colbert’s roasting of President Bush at the White House Correspondents Dinner, Strange Bedfellows explores what Americans have found so funny about our political institutions and the people who inhabit them, and asks what this says about the health of our democracy. Comparing the mainstream network hosts—Jay, Dave, Conan, and Johnny before them—who have always strived to be “equal opportunity offenders” to the newer, edgier crop of comedians on cable networks, Peterson shows how each brand of satire plays off a different level of Americans’ frustrations with politics.
Red Skelton
Author: Wes Gehring
Publisher: Indiana Historical Society
ISBN: 0871953552
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 397
Book Description
For more than twenty years, Hoosier comic Red Skelton entertained millions of viewers who gathered around their television sets to delight in the antics of such notable characters as Freddie the Freeloader, Clem Kaddiddlehopper, Cauliflower McPugg, and Sheriff Deadeye. Noted film historian Wes D. Gehring examines the man behind the characters—someone who never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Gehring delves into Skelton's hardscrabble life with a shockingly dysfunctional family in the southern Indiana community of Vincennes, his days on the road on the vaudeville circuit, the comedian's early success on radio, his up-and-down movie career with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and his sometimes tragic personal life.
Publisher: Indiana Historical Society
ISBN: 0871953552
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 397
Book Description
For more than twenty years, Hoosier comic Red Skelton entertained millions of viewers who gathered around their television sets to delight in the antics of such notable characters as Freddie the Freeloader, Clem Kaddiddlehopper, Cauliflower McPugg, and Sheriff Deadeye. Noted film historian Wes D. Gehring examines the man behind the characters—someone who never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Gehring delves into Skelton's hardscrabble life with a shockingly dysfunctional family in the southern Indiana community of Vincennes, his days on the road on the vaudeville circuit, the comedian's early success on radio, his up-and-down movie career with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and his sometimes tragic personal life.
Groucho and W.C. Fields
Author: Wes D. Gehring
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN: 9781617034039
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 214
Book Description
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN: 9781617034039
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 214
Book Description
Cantinflas and the Chaos of Mexican Modernity
Author: Jeffrey M. Pilcher
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780842027717
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 284
Book Description
Why was Cantinflas, actor Mario Moreno's film persona, the most popular movie star in Mexican history? Was it because every Mexican - rich or poor, Creole or Indian, man or woman, young or old - could identify with him?
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780842027717
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 284
Book Description
Why was Cantinflas, actor Mario Moreno's film persona, the most popular movie star in Mexican history? Was it because every Mexican - rich or poor, Creole or Indian, man or woman, young or old - could identify with him?
Laughing Feminism
Author: Audrey Bilger
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 9780814330548
Category : Dissenters in literature
Languages : en
Pages : 268
Book Description
An examination of comedy and feminism in the works of early women British novelists.
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 9780814330548
Category : Dissenters in literature
Languages : en
Pages : 268
Book Description
An examination of comedy and feminism in the works of early women British novelists.
American Studies in Europe
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 214
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 214
Book Description
Performing Marginality
Author: Joanne R. Gilbert
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 9780814328033
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 260
Book Description
An academic study of stand-up comedy performed by females. This will aid in the understanding of power structures in our society.
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 9780814328033
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 260
Book Description
An academic study of stand-up comedy performed by females. This will aid in the understanding of power structures in our society.
The Comedians
Author: Graham Greene
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 324
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 324
Book Description