Pagan Rhetoric
More information on Lyotard's pagans and what they can tell us about comics and audiences.
Category: Theories About Comics
These are theories about the person telling the jokes.
Update: James Davis’ Interview with StarTribune.com
On reading the interview, I made some updates to Intentionality – where I talk about the idea that comics are first and foremost trying to get a laugh on-...
David Misch on Five Jokes
In his article for Splitsider.com (7/6/2017), comic, critic, writer and teacher David Misch brings up five jokes to make a point about authenticity in comedy: L...
Update: Pastemagazine.com Interview with Deon Cole
Persona After reading this interview, I made some updates. The first is an update to post on Persona – where I talk about whether stand-ups “just b...
Chris Crespo, Comics with “Disabilities”
Inclusion [I’ve added this to my piece on “hot” funny women as the problem of inclusion is felt by People of Color and the differently-abled a...
Update: Elle.com’s 2017 Women in Comedy
Here’s something I came across recently that sparked an update to the post on Persona– where I talk about the idea of comics being themselves on-sta...
Comic Intent II: Getting it
My problem with a number of different theories is that they assume certain elements of intentionality, which I’ve discussed before as assuming the comic&#...
John C. Meyer’s Four Functions of Humor
John C. Meyer was interested in how people use humor – what their purpose is. Meyer’s first conception is that people can use humor to unite us or t...
Persona
I’ve already written a bit on the documentary, Dying Laughing, but there’s a lot more to say there [plus, I transcribed quite a bit of stuff, so I&#...
Wise Fools Speaking Truth to Power
When talking about stand-up comedy, a lot of attention is given to the figure of the wise fool. This concept is traceable back to at least the middle ages (for...