Pub Date : 2022-09-01DOI: 10.5325/studamerhumor.8.2.0297
Benjamin Schwartz
ABSTRACT:This article explores the satire in Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s Friday Black (2018), specifically focusing on the use of speculative devices to question assumptions about racial progress in the twenty-first century United States. Adjei-Brenyah’s humor unsettles the logic of postracial time and demonstrates how contemporary African American satire disrupts race-neutral discourses that reproduce what Maria Bose calls “postracial capitalism.” Drawing on recent scholarship by Bose, Danielle Fuentes Morgan, Lisa Guerrero, and others, I read Adjei-Brenyah’s dark and hilarious short stories as satires that name and challenge the emerging technologies of racist domination that condemn Black bodies to premature death in contemporary America.
{"title":"Speculative Satire and Postracial Capitalism in Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s Friday Black","authors":"Benjamin Schwartz","doi":"10.5325/studamerhumor.8.2.0297","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/studamerhumor.8.2.0297","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:This article explores the satire in Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s Friday Black (2018), specifically focusing on the use of speculative devices to question assumptions about racial progress in the twenty-first century United States. Adjei-Brenyah’s humor unsettles the logic of postracial time and demonstrates how contemporary African American satire disrupts race-neutral discourses that reproduce what Maria Bose calls “postracial capitalism.” Drawing on recent scholarship by Bose, Danielle Fuentes Morgan, Lisa Guerrero, and others, I read Adjei-Brenyah’s dark and hilarious short stories as satires that name and challenge the emerging technologies of racist domination that condemn Black bodies to premature death in contemporary America.","PeriodicalId":53944,"journal":{"name":"Studies in American Humor","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75577577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-01DOI: 10.5325/studamerhumor.8.2.0395
Miriam M. Chirico
{"title":"The Psychology of Comedy","authors":"Miriam M. Chirico","doi":"10.5325/studamerhumor.8.2.0395","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/studamerhumor.8.2.0395","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53944,"journal":{"name":"Studies in American Humor","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73358128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-01DOI: 10.5325/studamerhumor.8.2.0392
J. Webber
also a useful way to teach (one gets the impression Clayton is a fine teacher of humor). How would the sketch have been different if instead of being about a parrot being returned to a pet store, it had instead been about “a rubber hammer being returned to a hardware store?” (2). Or what if the pet had not been a parrot but another animal, such as a dog? (3) The provisional conclusion as to the sketch-comedy value of the parrot is that parrots “are not so compassionate that the death of an unknown parrot could be felt tragic, but also not so simply decorative as to make it an impersonal matter of return-and-replace” (3). It’s impossible to summarize adequately here the account Clayton provides because its value is in its attention to the details of the scene. If we are going to talk about what makes things funny in sketch comedy then we do need to get down to the details. A later summary of a mock advertisement for the Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! is another fine example of what Clayton’s approach has to offer in its careful attention to detail (113–18). The book concludes with a suggestion that Aristotle’s famous three modes of persuasion—ethos, pathos, and logos—might be instructively applied to theorizing how sketches persuade us to laugh (128). While this is an interesting suggestion, it would have made more sense to have introduced it at the beginning of the book and then to have tried it out during the summaries of sketches that are the substance of the book. This method would have been consistent with the simple approach of the book and perhaps provided a light illustration of how to think through comedy, which is what this book has to offer readers interested in sketch comedy and humor in general.
{"title":"Taking a Stand: Contemporary US Stand-Up Comedians as Public Intellectuals","authors":"J. Webber","doi":"10.5325/studamerhumor.8.2.0392","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/studamerhumor.8.2.0392","url":null,"abstract":"also a useful way to teach (one gets the impression Clayton is a fine teacher of humor). How would the sketch have been different if instead of being about a parrot being returned to a pet store, it had instead been about “a rubber hammer being returned to a hardware store?” (2). Or what if the pet had not been a parrot but another animal, such as a dog? (3) The provisional conclusion as to the sketch-comedy value of the parrot is that parrots “are not so compassionate that the death of an unknown parrot could be felt tragic, but also not so simply decorative as to make it an impersonal matter of return-and-replace” (3). It’s impossible to summarize adequately here the account Clayton provides because its value is in its attention to the details of the scene. If we are going to talk about what makes things funny in sketch comedy then we do need to get down to the details. A later summary of a mock advertisement for the Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! is another fine example of what Clayton’s approach has to offer in its careful attention to detail (113–18). The book concludes with a suggestion that Aristotle’s famous three modes of persuasion—ethos, pathos, and logos—might be instructively applied to theorizing how sketches persuade us to laugh (128). While this is an interesting suggestion, it would have made more sense to have introduced it at the beginning of the book and then to have tried it out during the summaries of sketches that are the substance of the book. This method would have been consistent with the simple approach of the book and perhaps provided a light illustration of how to think through comedy, which is what this book has to offer readers interested in sketch comedy and humor in general.","PeriodicalId":53944,"journal":{"name":"Studies in American Humor","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85077321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-01DOI: 10.5325/studamerhumor.8.2.0384
David Gillota
{"title":"Hitchcock and Humor: Modes of Comedy in Twelve Defining Films","authors":"David Gillota","doi":"10.5325/studamerhumor.8.2.0384","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/studamerhumor.8.2.0384","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53944,"journal":{"name":"Studies in American Humor","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72644323","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-01DOI: 10.5325/studamerhumor.8.2.0390
Michael H. Epp
the 2016 presidential election, and the visible white supremacist reaction to Trump’s appointment, Wood argues that it continues Mabley’s legacy by speaking truth to power. Without apology, these comedians forgo respectability politics or the desire to “find common ground” with audiences who might have historically contributed to anti-Black, antiqueer, and antitrans thought (110). Instead, they use their comedic expertise to hold white people accountable for their complicity in white heteropatriarchy. Scholars looking to laugh and learn will enjoy Cracking Up. It curates a community of Black feminist stand-up comedians and activists and draws attention to key disruptors of white supremacist thought. Both visually and thematically, Mabley is a presence across the text, from the pixilated image of Mabley on the cover of the book to the final screen grab of Wanda Sykes’s impersonation of Mabley from a 2019 episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Wood honors Mabley while telling a more complex story about Black women in stand-up comedy. Through laughter and pleasure, Wood asserts that “the black feminist comic demands more. Nothing short of pure freedom will do” (50). Wood’s book cracks us up, bringing us together and pushing us to toward a more hopeful and joyful future.
{"title":"Funny How? Sketch Comedy and the Art of Humor","authors":"Michael H. Epp","doi":"10.5325/studamerhumor.8.2.0390","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/studamerhumor.8.2.0390","url":null,"abstract":"the 2016 presidential election, and the visible white supremacist reaction to Trump’s appointment, Wood argues that it continues Mabley’s legacy by speaking truth to power. Without apology, these comedians forgo respectability politics or the desire to “find common ground” with audiences who might have historically contributed to anti-Black, antiqueer, and antitrans thought (110). Instead, they use their comedic expertise to hold white people accountable for their complicity in white heteropatriarchy. Scholars looking to laugh and learn will enjoy Cracking Up. It curates a community of Black feminist stand-up comedians and activists and draws attention to key disruptors of white supremacist thought. Both visually and thematically, Mabley is a presence across the text, from the pixilated image of Mabley on the cover of the book to the final screen grab of Wanda Sykes’s impersonation of Mabley from a 2019 episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Wood honors Mabley while telling a more complex story about Black women in stand-up comedy. Through laughter and pleasure, Wood asserts that “the black feminist comic demands more. Nothing short of pure freedom will do” (50). Wood’s book cracks us up, bringing us together and pushing us to toward a more hopeful and joyful future.","PeriodicalId":53944,"journal":{"name":"Studies in American Humor","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77393328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-01DOI: 10.5325/studamerhumor.8.2.0387
Abbey A. Morgan
{"title":"Cracking Up: Black Feminist Comedy in the Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century United States","authors":"Abbey A. Morgan","doi":"10.5325/studamerhumor.8.2.0387","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/studamerhumor.8.2.0387","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53944,"journal":{"name":"Studies in American Humor","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84735845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-01DOI: 10.5325/studamerhumor.8.1.0210
Jay Friesen
{"title":"Tragedy plus Time: National Trauma and Television Comedy","authors":"Jay Friesen","doi":"10.5325/studamerhumor.8.1.0210","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/studamerhumor.8.1.0210","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53944,"journal":{"name":"Studies in American Humor","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73050944","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-01DOI: 10.5325/studamerhumor.8.1.0013
K. Leng
This article considers comedy as a practice of care. Its analysis focuses on major US late-night talk shows produced during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. Drawing on interdisciplinary feminist scholarship about care and autobiographical reflection, I argue that comedy plays important roles in cultivating capacities for physical, emotional, and intellectual development; maintaining social ties; supporting well-being; and sustaining reproductive activities. I further suggest that bringing comedy and care together within a common frame can expand our understanding of the relationship between performer and audience as well as our definition of what constitutes care.
{"title":"Comedy as a Practice of Care","authors":"K. Leng","doi":"10.5325/studamerhumor.8.1.0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/studamerhumor.8.1.0013","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This article considers comedy as a practice of care. Its analysis focuses on major US late-night talk shows produced during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. Drawing on interdisciplinary feminist scholarship about care and autobiographical reflection, I argue that comedy plays important roles in cultivating capacities for physical, emotional, and intellectual development; maintaining social ties; supporting well-being; and sustaining reproductive activities. I further suggest that bringing comedy and care together within a common frame can expand our understanding of the relationship between performer and audience as well as our definition of what constitutes care.","PeriodicalId":53944,"journal":{"name":"Studies in American Humor","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87667629","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-01DOI: 10.5325/studamerhumor.8.1.0201
Heidi M. Hanrahan
{"title":"Who's Laughing Now?: Feminist Tactics in Social Media by Jenny Sundén and Susanna Paasonen (review)","authors":"Heidi M. Hanrahan","doi":"10.5325/studamerhumor.8.1.0201","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/studamerhumor.8.1.0201","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53944,"journal":{"name":"Studies in American Humor","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78349044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-01DOI: 10.5325/studamerhumor.8.1.0198
Christine Smaller
{"title":"Laughter After: Humor and the Holocaust","authors":"Christine Smaller","doi":"10.5325/studamerhumor.8.1.0198","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5325/studamerhumor.8.1.0198","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53944,"journal":{"name":"Studies in American Humor","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73211828","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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