Taking a stand : contemporary US stand-up comedians as public intellectuals /
Stand-up comedians have a long history of walking a careful line between serious and playful engagement with social issues. Lenny Bruce questioned the symbolic valence of racial slurs, Dick Gregory took time away from the stage to speak alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and more recently, Tig Notaro...
| Other Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Jackson :
University Press of Mississippi,
[2021].
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | Stand-up comedians have a long history of walking a careful line between serious and playful engagement with social issues. Lenny Bruce questioned the symbolic valence of racial slurs, Dick Gregory took time away from the stage to speak alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and more recently, Tig Notaro challenged popular notions of damaged or abject bodies. Taking a Stand: Contemporary US Stand-Up Comedians as Public Intellectuals draws together essays that contribute to the analysis of the stand-up-comedian-as-public intellectual since the 1980s. The chapters explore stand-up comedians as contributors to and shapers of public discourse via their live performances, podcasts, social media presence and political activism. Each chapter highlights a stand-up comedian and their ongoing discussion of a cultural issue or expression of a political ideology/standpoint, Lisa Lampanelli's use of problematic postracial humor, Aziz Ansari's merging of sociology and technology, or Maria Bamford's emphasis on mental health, to name just a few. Taking a Stand offers a starting point for understanding the work stand-up comedians do as well as its reach beyond the stage. |
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| Physical Description: | ix, 284 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781496835482 1496835484 9781496835499 1496835492 |