Michael P. Jeffries

Behind the Laughs (eBook, ePUB)

Community and Inequality in Comedy

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Comedy is a brutal business. When comedians define success, they don't talk about money-they talk about not quitting. They work in a business where even big names work for free, and the inequalities of race, class, and gender create real barriers. But they also work in a business where people still believe that hard work and talent lead to the big time. How do people working in comedy sustain these contradictions and keep laughing?

In Behind the Laughs, Michael P. Jeffries brings readers into the world of comedy to reveal its dark corners and share its buoyant lifeblood. He draws on conversations with comedians, as well as club owners, bookers, and managers, to show the extraordinary social connections professional humor demands. Not only do comedians have to read their audience night after night, but they must also create lasting bonds across the profession to get gigs in the first place. Comedy is not a meritocracy, and its rewards are not often fame and fortune. Only performers who know the rules of their community are able to make it a career.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Stanford University Press
• Seitenzahl: 240
• Erscheinungstermin: 15. August 2017
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781503602977
• Artikelnr.: 49945912

Autorenporträt

Michael P. Jeffries is Associate Professor of American Studies at Wellesley College. He is the author of Paint the White House Black: Barack Obama and the Meaning of Race in America (Stanford, 2013) and Thug Life: Race, Gender, and the Meaning of Hip-Hop (2011).

Inhaltsangabe

Contents and Abstracts
Lights
chapter abstract
This chapter introduces the book's thesis. Contrary to popular belief,
comedy workers are not anti-social outcasts, but a highly social group with
a deep commitment to their comedy communities. The pride in, and emphasis
on, community becomes a psychological wage that offsets the unfairness and
exploitation of the comedy business, and gives performers the support they
need to pursue their dreams against long odds. However, comedy communities
are experienced differently depending on intersections of race, class, and
gender. Despite the collective identity affirmed by comedy workers from
different backgrounds, women and people of color face numerous
disadvantages and forms of mistreatment that white men do not.
1Chemistry of a Comedian
chapter abstract
This chapter offers an introduction to comedy workers in their own words.
Performers describe the qualities and personality traits they share, which
makes it impossible to reduce them to the most commonly held stereotypes of
comedians as narcissistic social misfits. The chapter describes the process
through which the interviewees enter the comedy world, and recounts the
earliest and most important lessons they learn about comedy. In discussing
both topics - their personal qualities, and their early comedy careers -
performers reveal themselves to be highly social animals. They move through
comedy with great awareness of their surroundings, and strong connections
to the people around them.
2From Funny to Family
chapter abstract
3Succeeding at Not Failing
chapter abstract
4Celebrity in the Making
chapter abstract
5Privilege, Patriarchy, and Performance
chapter abstract
Curtains
chapter abstract