Phil Wang Isn’t Trying to Be Political
Question: Can a comic talk about politics without it being political? What about race? Class? Sex? Gender? Sexuality? What differentiates jokes on a political (...
Tag: Relief
Making Stand-Up More Sensitive
Audrey Carleton writes in an Opinion piece for McGill Tribune.com (9/4/2017) that audiences and comics should be more sensitive, not less. Carleton begins with...
Leighann Lord on Relief and Laughter
It’s sad when I picture it. As some describe it, there are vast masses of people living in a state of constant psychological and emotional pressure, on t...
Tig Notaro on Comedy and Release
Though she gives a brilliant interview to Ashley Hoffman of Time (8/25/2017), Tig Notaro only briefly mentions something that touches on my theme here: the idea...
Jeff Foxworthy and Tension Release
In an interview with Edward Pevos of MLive (8/22/2017), Jeff Foxworthy describes his theory of humor in a way that resonates with the Relief theory of humor: I ...
George Lopez on Being a Truthsayer
George Lopez gave an interview to NPR’s Stacey Vanek Smith for All Things Considered (8/5/2017). in which he talks about the limits on his comedy. The ex...
Sara Schaefer on Stand-up in the Age of Trump
Sara Schaefer wrote a poignant article for The Herald (7/29/2017) about telling Trump jokes in the current era. Burnt out vs. ready for more She notes that some...
Sigmund Freud’s Jokes part A. II. b. 6. The Techniques of Conceptual Jokes – Problems
This is the thirteenth of several installments on Sigmund Freud’s Jokes [Witz] and Their Relation to the Unconscious (1905; free eBook) – and the re...
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...
Can Comedy Be Serious?
Philip Stamato of Splitsider.com, talking about late night comedy (6/28/2017) pretty much nails the premise of my humor projects: It seems like nobody can agree...