The Comedian as Confidence Man

The Comedian as Confidence Man PDF Author: Will Kaufman
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 9780814326572
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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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

The Comedian as Confidence Man PDF Author: Will Kaufman
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 9780814326572
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 284

Get Book Here

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

Buffoon Men PDF Author: Scott Balcerzak
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 0814339662
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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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

Strange Bedfellows PDF Author: Russell Peterson
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 0813544769
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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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

Red Skelton PDF Author: Wes Gehring
Publisher: Indiana Historical Society
ISBN: 0871953552
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 397

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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

Groucho and W.C. Fields PDF Author: Wes D. Gehring
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN: 9781617034039
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description


Cantinflas and the Chaos of Mexican Modernity

Cantinflas and the Chaos of Mexican Modernity PDF Author: Jeffrey M. Pilcher
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780842027717
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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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

Laughing Feminism PDF Author: Audrey Bilger
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 9780814330548
Category : Dissenters in literature
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
An examination of comedy and feminism in the works of early women British novelists.

Performing Marginality

Performing Marginality PDF Author: Joanne R. Gilbert
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 9780814328033
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
An academic study of stand-up comedy performed by females. This will aid in the understanding of power structures in our society.

American Studies in Europe

American Studies in Europe PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description


The Comedians

The Comedians PDF Author: Graham Greene
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description