Stand-up Comedy in Theory, or, Abjection in America

John Limon

Published by Duke University Press 2000

Stand-up Comedy in Theory, or, Abjection in America

John Limon
Edited by: Donald E. Pease

In the series New Americanists

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822380504

Overview
Contents

About this book

A cultural theory of stand-up comedy.

Author / Editor information

John Limon is Professor of English at Williams College. He is the author of The Place of Fiction in the Time of Science and Writing after War.

Reviews

“John Limon’s book opens up exciting new possibilities in cultural studies. Stand-up comedy—manic, smutty, abusive, improvisatory—has up to now evaded academic critics, as if its pleasures were too volatile for examination. Limon carries off the feat—rarely achieved by analysts of humour—of taking comedy seriously without spoiling the jokes.”—Maud Ellmann, University of Cambridge

“Limon’s close readings of specific comic performances are masterful, making vivid and compelling his larger and more abstract arguments about the ways that comedy allows us to deal with the process of cultural abjection. Speaking as someone who has taught and written about the American comic tradition for more than a decade, I can honestly say I learned something significant about each of the performers he examines.”—Henry Jenkins, author of Classical Hollywood Comedy

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Introduction. Approximations, Apologies, Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Inrage: A Lenny Bruce Joke and the Topography of Stand-Up Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
2. Nectarines: Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	28
3. Analytic of the Ridiculous: Mike Nichols and Elaine May Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	50
4. Journey to the End of the Night: David Letterman with Kristeva, Céline, Scorsese Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	68
5. Scatology: Richard Pryor in Concert Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
6. Skirting, Kidding: Ellen DeGeneres and Paula Poundstone Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	104
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	125
Works Cited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145

Language: English
Publisher: Duke University Press
Pages
- Main content: 160

eBook

Published: June 23, 2000
ISBN: 9780822380504