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. Stand-up comedians deploy humor to open
up difficult topics for broader examination, which only underscores
the social and cultural importance of their work. 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. Comedians influence discourse,
perspectives, even public policy on myriad issues, and this book
sets out to take those jokes seriously. Contributions by Jared N.
Champion, Miriam M. Chirico, Thomas Clark, David R. Dewberry,
Christopher J. Gilbert, David Gillota, Kathryn Kein, Rob King,
Rebecca Krefting, Peter C. Kunze, Linda Mizejewski, Aviva
Orenstein, Raul Perez, Philip Scepanski, Susan Seizer, Monique
Taylor, Ila Tyagi, and Timothy J. Viator.
General
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