Hurricane Sandy, the Challenger explosion, 9/11, Tiger Woods' infidelity...Why is it in the aftermath of a tragic event or a public figure's (particularly a celebrity's) misfortune we make jokes? Trevor J. Blank tries to explain.
The Last Laugh: folk humor, celebrity culture, and mass-mediated disasters in the digital age by Trevor J. Blank (University of Wisconsin Press, 2013)
We all know the punchlines - the pressed red button, the imbedded golf club, the rumored pedophilia. They're tasteless, inappropriate, and cringe-inducing, but we laugh anyway. Trevor J. Blank, an assistant professor of communications at SUNY/Potsdam, explains that it's all a part of being human, of creating a form of folklore. These awful jokes seep into our collective consciousness, allowing us to cope with horrific events, show our anger, and express schadenfreude while modulating our fear, disappointment, hostility, and disgust.
Although peppered with many examples of these jokes, this very academic book is recommended only for those who are interested in cultural anthropology, psychology, or human communication.
Reading on our smartphones and tablets in public have taken some of the fun, social aspect, and opportunities to craft the perfect pick-up line. However, sometimes - just sometimes - it's probably better not to broadcast to the world what you're perusing. Here, comedian Scott Rogowsky reimagines the experience of reading an actual book on the subway with hilarious results. Click here and enjoy. (NSFW)
There's nothing like an expert to explain "the funny." Listen to Larry David, Amy Poehler, and Randy Newman discuss what they know best in this interview from The New Yorker Festival. Thank you, NPR.
Get ready for some information overload!
The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy by Kliph Nesteroff (Grove Press, 2015)
Comedy is not pretty, and self-described "comedy nerd" Kliph Nesteroff wants to make sure that you don't miss one ugly inch. His exhaustive and fascinating tome (400+ pages, with footnotes and index), comes at you rapid fire, leaving you feeling like you watched a Laugh-In marathon. There is just so much here, and yet there is something vitally missing (more on that later).
Starting with
the early 20th century, Neteroff shows us the roots of stand-up comedy,
beginning with Frank Fay, a vaudeville comic (later actor) who eschewed pratfalls and slapstick,and instead stood in front of an audience and told straightforward jokes. (But that's not where the term "stand-up comedian" originated...and I ain't tellin'.)
He moves on to the likes of Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Groucho Marx, et
al, and rather than fawn over their comic genius, Neteroff prefers to
show how each comic screwed the others, or were screwed by others. From
stealing jokes to stealing the spotlight, one comes away feeling that
they will never look at these adored luminaries in the same way, or will
feel a little twinge of guilt when they laugh at their jokes.
Now, here's the missing stuff:
My first beef is semantical. The first half of the subtitle is quite accurate. However,
I would have preferred that Nesteroff called the book "a history"
rather than "the history," as it does not cover anything before the 20th
century, and I'm sure funny stuff was going on in the country prior to
1900 (except when the Puritans landed on Plymouth Rock. They were real
buzzkills.). Even better, he should have called it "a history of
stand-up comedy."
My other beef is where are the women? With the exception of a few paragraphs devoted to
Pearl Williams (an early "dirty comic"), Joan Rivers, Jean Carroll, Moms
Mabley, and Lily Tomlin, plus some discussion of Mitzi Shore, the evil queen of The Comedy Store, women are essentially missing. The contribution of the likes of Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Phyllis Diller, Sarah Silverman, Sophie Tucker, et al, are pretty much non-existent. Women, if anything in this book, are just names. Aren't women part of the history of American comedy, too? They're certainly part a huge part of its future.
Despite its flaws, this is a must-read.
