Behind the Laughs

Community and Inequality in Comedy

Michael P. Jeffries (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

240 Seiten

2017 | New edition
Stanford University Press (Verlag)
9780804798082 (ISBN)

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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.

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).

Lights
1. Chemistry of a Comedian
2. From Funny to Family
3. Succeeding at Not Failing
4. Celebrity in the Making
5. Privilege, Patriarchy, and Performance
Curtains

Erscheinungsdatum	21.08.2017
Reihe/Serie	Culture and Economic Life
Verlagsort	Palo Alto
Sprache	englisch
Maße	140 x 216 mm
Themenwelt	Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Theater / Ballett
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
ISBN-13	9780804798082 / 9780804798082
Zustand	Neuware