{"title":"Comic Impossibilities","authors":"JASON LEDDINGTON","doi":"10.1111/jaac.12762","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div>\n \n <p>Magic and stand-up comedy have a lot in common. For example, when successful, both tend to elicit laughter, and many magicians regularly perform in comedy clubs. Nevertheless, the close relationship between magic and comedy is poorly understood. The goal of this article is to explore this relationship and to defend the thesis that magic is actually a form—arguably a limit case—of stand-up comedy. This requires first introducing definitions of both stand-up comedy and magic. The core argument then deploys one of today's best-developed philosophical theories of comic amusement to show that magic, when successful, is humorous. In this way, the article contributes to our understanding of both the emotional response to magic and the nature and scope of comedy. The article begins with an analysis of Steve Martin's 1968 TV debut on the <i>Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour</i>, in which he performs a “socko-boffo comedy routine” that seamlessly integrates absurdist comedy with magic tricks.</p>\n </div>","PeriodicalId":51571,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF AESTHETICS AND ART CRITICISM","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0000,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/jaac.12762","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"JOURNAL OF AESTHETICS AND ART CRITICISM","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jaac.12762","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"ART","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Magic and stand-up comedy have a lot in common. For example, when successful, both tend to elicit laughter, and many magicians regularly perform in comedy clubs. Nevertheless, the close relationship between magic and comedy is poorly understood. The goal of this article is to explore this relationship and to defend the thesis that magic is actually a form—arguably a limit case—of stand-up comedy. This requires first introducing definitions of both stand-up comedy and magic. The core argument then deploys one of today's best-developed philosophical theories of comic amusement to show that magic, when successful, is humorous. In this way, the article contributes to our understanding of both the emotional response to magic and the nature and scope of comedy. The article begins with an analysis of Steve Martin's 1968 TV debut on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, in which he performs a “socko-boffo comedy routine” that seamlessly integrates absurdist comedy with magic tricks.
期刊介绍：
The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism publishes current research articles, symposia, special issues, and timely book reviews in aesthetics and the arts. The term aesthetics, in this connection, is understood to include all studies of the arts and related types of experience from a philosophic, scientific, or other theoretical standpoint. The arts are taken to include not only the traditional forms such as music, literature, landscape architecture, dance, painting, architecture, sculpture, and other visual arts, but also more recent additions such as photography, film, earthworks, performance and conceptual art, the crafts and decorative arts, contemporary digital innovations, and other cultural practices, including work and activities in the field of popular culture.
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