Because I Tell a Joke or Two: Comedy, Politics and Social Difference - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0415129214 ISBN 13: 9780415129213

Publisher: Routledge, 1998

Synopsis

Because I Tell a Joke or Two explores the complex relationship between comedy and the social differences of class, region, age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity and nationhood. It shows how comedy has been used to sustain, challenge and to change power relationships in society. The contributors, who include Stephen Wagg, Mark Simpson, Stephen Small, Paul Wells and Frances Williams, offer readings of comedy genres, texts and performers in Britain, the United States and Australia. The collection also includes an interview with the comedian Jo Brand.
Topics addressed include:
* women in British comedies such as Butterflies and Fawlty Towers
* the life and times of Viz, from Billy the Fish to the Fat Slags
* queer readings of Morecambe and Wise, the male double act
* the Marx brothers and Jewish comedy in the United States
* black radical comedy in Britain
* The Golden Girls, Cheers, Friends and American society.

About this title

About the Author

Stephen Wagg is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sport Studies at Roehampton Institute, London. His previous books include Come on Down? and The Social Faces of Humour.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415129214
• ISBN 13: 9780415129213
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 340
• Editor: Wagg Stephen