
Taking a Stand
Contemporary US Stand-Up Comedians As Public Intellectuals
University Press of Mississippi
Published on 15. November 2021
Book
Hardback
268 pages
978-1-4968-3548-2 (ISBN)
Description
Stand-up comedians have a long history of walking a careful line between serious and playful engagement with social issues: Lenny Bruce questioned the symbolic valence of racial slurs, Dick Gregory took time away from the stage to speak alongside Martin Luther King Jr., and-more recently-Tig Notaro challenged popular notions of damaged or abject bodies. Stand-up comedians deploy humor to open up difficult topics for broader examination, which only underscores the social and cultural importance of their work.
Taking a Stand: Contemporary US Stand-Up Comedians as Public Intellectuals draws together essays that contribute to the analysis of the stand-up-comedian-as-public intellectual since the 1980s. The chapters explore stand-up comedians as contributors to and shapers of public discourse via their live performances, podcasts, social media presence, and political activism.
Each chapter highlights a stand-up comedian and their ongoing discussion of a cultural issue or expression of a political ideology/standpoint: Lisa Lampanelli's use of problematic postracial humor, Aziz Ansari's merging of sociology and technology, or Maria Bamford's emphasis on mental health, to name just a few. Taking a Stand offers a starting point for understanding the work stand-up comedians do as well as its reach beyond the stage. Comedians influence discourse, perspectives, even public policy on myriad issues, and this book sets out to take those jokes seriously.
Contributions by Jared N. Champion, Miriam M. Chirico, Thomas Clark, David R. Dewberry, Christopher J. Gilbert, David Gillota, Kathryn Kein, Rob King, Rebecca Krefting, Peter C. Kunze, Linda Mizejewski, Aviva Orenstein, Raul Perez, Philip Scepanski, Susan Seizer, Monique Taylor, Ila Tyagi, and Timothy J. Viator.
Taking a Stand: Contemporary US Stand-Up Comedians as Public Intellectuals draws together essays that contribute to the analysis of the stand-up-comedian-as-public intellectual since the 1980s. The chapters explore stand-up comedians as contributors to and shapers of public discourse via their live performances, podcasts, social media presence, and political activism.
Each chapter highlights a stand-up comedian and their ongoing discussion of a cultural issue or expression of a political ideology/standpoint: Lisa Lampanelli's use of problematic postracial humor, Aziz Ansari's merging of sociology and technology, or Maria Bamford's emphasis on mental health, to name just a few. Taking a Stand offers a starting point for understanding the work stand-up comedians do as well as its reach beyond the stage. Comedians influence discourse, perspectives, even public policy on myriad issues, and this book sets out to take those jokes seriously.
Contributions by Jared N. Champion, Miriam M. Chirico, Thomas Clark, David R. Dewberry, Christopher J. Gilbert, David Gillota, Kathryn Kein, Rob King, Rebecca Krefting, Peter C. Kunze, Linda Mizejewski, Aviva Orenstein, Raul Perez, Philip Scepanski, Susan Seizer, Monique Taylor, Ila Tyagi, and Timothy J. Viator.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Jackson
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paper over boards
Illustrations
4 b&w illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
606 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4968-3548-2 (9781496835482)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Jared N. Champion | Peter C. Kunze
Taking a Stand
Contemporary US Stand-Up Comedians as Public Intellectuals
E-Book
11/2021
NYU Press
€29.49
Available for download
Persons
Jared N. Champion is assistant professor of writing and interdisciplinary studies at Mercer University. He is editor of Cliffs and Challenges: A Young Woman Explores Yosemite, 1915-1917.
Peter C. Kunze is visiting assistant professor of communication at Tulane University. He is editor of The Films of Wes Anderson: Critical Essays on an Indiewood Icon and Conversations with Maurice Sendak, the latter published by University Press of Mississippi. He is coeditor of American-Australian Cinema: Transnational Connections.
Peter C. Kunze is visiting assistant professor of communication at Tulane University. He is editor of The Films of Wes Anderson: Critical Essays on an Indiewood Icon and Conversations with Maurice Sendak, the latter published by University Press of Mississippi. He is coeditor of American-Australian Cinema: Transnational Connections.