Aditi Mittal on the Postmodern, Stand-up’s Power and Free Speech
Some folks would say, don’t you study American stand-up? What’s with the stuff on these Indian and Pan-Asian comics? Stay in your lane! Well, I just...
Category: Stand Up Comedy
My academic “wheelhouse.” This site used to be entirely devoted to stand-up comedy, but as I’ve begin to branch out into my other interests, I’ve collected everything to do with stand-up here.
Bill Maher and Fran Lebowitz on Comedy That Cuts Deep
In an interview with Philip Galanes of the New York Times (7/15/2017), Bill Maher and Fran Lebowitz talk a bit about Maher’s recent controversy, and enter...
Sigmund Freud’s Jokes part A. II. a. 1. The Techniques of Verbal Jokes – Condensation
This is the fourth of several installments on Sigmund Freud’s Jokes [Witz] and Their Relation to the Unconscious (1905; free eBook) – and the reacti...
Dawn Picken on Comedy and Laughter
Dawn Picken of the New Zealand Herald (7/21/2017), expresses a few common and scientific interpretations of comedy and laughter, but she also expresses a better...
Jerry A. Flieger on Freud’s Introduction
In The Purloined Punch Line, Jerry Aline Flieger picks apart Freud’s arguments, looking for consistency. She finds some problematic assumptions right from...
Is Tiffany Haddish Serious?
Tre’vell Anderson of the Los Angeles Times is doing double duty with his interviews: two articles in the same day feature his interview with Tiffany Haddi...
Sigmund Freud’s Jokes part A. I. b. – Introduction
This is the second of several installments on Sigmund Freud’s Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious (1905; free eBook) – and the reactions to ...
Sigmund Freud’s Jokes part A. I. a. – Introduction
This is the first of several installments on Sigmund Freud’s Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious (1905; free eBook) – and the reactions to i...
Rosie O’Donnell: There’s No There, There
Rosie O’Donnell’s in the news for a Tweet in which she promotes an online game, “Push Trump Off A Cliff Again.” At first glance, it see...
Mike Birbiglia on Getting Personal
Mike Birbiglia spoke to Bill Brownstein of the Montreal Gazette (7/14/2017) about getting personal. Getting personal is crucial in comedy. I feel that we’re liv...