The Comedy Studies Reader The Comedy Studies Reader EditEd by Nick Marx & Matt SiENkiEwicz University of Texas Press   Austin Copyright © 2018 by the University of Texas Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America First edition, 2018 Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to: Permissions University of Texas Press P.O. Box 7819 Austin, TX 78713–7819 utpress.utexas.edu/rp- form ♾ The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of aNSi/NiSO z39.48–1992 (r1997) (Permanence of Paper). Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Marx, Nick, editor. | Sienkiewicz, Matt, editor. Title: The comedy studies reader / edited by Nick Marx and Matt Sienkiewicz. Description: First edition. | Austin : University of Texas Press, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LccN 2017046018 iSbN 978- 1- 4773- 1599- 6 (cloth : alk. paper) iSbN 978- 1- 4773- 1600- 9 (pbk. : alk. paper) iSbN 978- 1- 4773- 1601- 6 (library e- book) iSbN 978- 1- 4773- 1602- 3 (non- library e- book) Subjects: LcSH: Comedy films—United States—History and criticism. | Television comedies—United States—History and criticism. | Popular culture—United States—History—20th century. | Motion pictures—United States—20th century. | Comedy—Social aspects—United States. | Comedy—History—20th century. Classification: Lcc PN1995.9.c55 c664 2018 | ddc 791.43/617—dc23 Lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017046018 doi:10.7560/315996 Contents Acknowledgments ix Volume Introduction: Comedy as Theory, Industry, and Academic Discipline 1 Nick Marx aNd Matt SiENkiEwicz 1. The Carnivalesque Introduction: The Naked Gun 17 A: Rabelais and His World, MikHaiL bakHtiN 19 B: “The Frames of Comic ‘Freedom,’” UMbErtO EcO 25 C: “Sacred Catastrophe, Profane Laughter: Family Guy’s Comedy in the Ritual of National Trauma,” PHiLiP ScEPaNSki 33 2. Comedy Mechanics & Absurdity Introduction: Man Seeking Woman 45 A: Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic, HENri bErgSON 47 B: The Logic of the Absurd, JErry PaLMEr 51 C: “Pie and Chase: Gag, Spectacle, and Narrative in Slapstick Comedy,” dONaLd craftON 55 D: “The New Logic of the Absurd: The Eric André Show,” EvaN ELkiNS 57 3. Psychoanalyzing Comedy Introduction: Archer 71 A: Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious, SigMUNd frEUd 73 B: “Humor,” SigMUNd frEUd 74 vi Contents C: “Lacan’s Harpo,” PaUL fLaig 79 D: “Revenge of the Nerds: Failure, Laughter, and Liberation on The Big Bang Theory,” aNdrEw J. OwENS 89 4. Irony Introduction: Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner 2006 102 A: Irony’s Edge, LiNda HUtcHEON 104 B: “Speaking Too Soon: SNL, 9/11, and the Remaking of American Irony,” Matt SiENkiEwicz 111 C: “Welcome to the Clickhole: The Economics of Internet Parody and Critique,” aMbEr day 120 5. Genre Introduction: 22 Jump Street 134 A: Popular Film and Television Comedy, StEvE NEaLE aNd fraNk krUtNik 136 B: “Comedy Verité? The Observational Documentary Meets the Televisual Sitcom,” EtHaN tHOMPSON 143 C: “Inventing the Situation Comedy: Jack Benny, the ‘Fall Guy,’ and the Making of a Genre,” katHryN fULLEr-S EELEy 153 6. Race & Ethnicity Introduction: Key and Peele 170 A: Watching Race, HErMaN gray 173 B: “The Culture Behind Closed Doors: Issues of Gender and Race in the Writers’ Room,” fELicia d. HENdErSON 179 C: “Naturalizing Racial Differences Through Comedy: Asian, Black, and White Views on Racial Stereotypes in Rush Hour 2,” Ji HOON Park, NadiNE g. gabbadON, aNd ariEL r. cHErN iN 183 D: “‘Indians on TV (and Netflix)’: The Comedic Trajectory of Aziz Ansari,” bHOOMi k. tHakOrE aNd biLaL HUSSaiN 195 7. Gender & Sexuality Introduction: Inside Amy Schumer 208 A: The Unruly Woman, katHLEEN rOwE karLyN 210 B: Pretty/Funny, LiNda MizEJEwSki 216 C: “Generic Closets: Sitcoms, Audiences and Black Male Gayness,” aLfrEd L. MartiN Jr. 222 Contents vii 8. Nation & Globalization Introduction: Klovn and Curb Your Enthusiasm, PEtEr kragH JENSEN aNd Matt SiENkiEwicz  238 A: A National Joke, aNdy MEdHUrSt 243 B: “Transnational TV Comedy Audiences,” iNgEr- LiSE kaLvikNES bOrE 251 C: “Transgressing Boundaries as the Hybrid Global: Parody and Postcoloniality on Indian Television,” SaNgEEt kUMar 259 D: “Comedy and the Nation in The Trip,” brEtt MiLLS 267 Contributors 282 Index 287 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK Acknowledgments The editors wish to thank all those who have helped in the creation of this volume, including Jordin Clark, Ava Goepfert, Lynn Petrella, Max In- hoff, Ellen Burr, Cecilia Aycinena, Michael Atkinson, Julia Biango, Leslie Douglas, our anonymous peer reviewers, and the staff at the University of Texas Press. Thanks to Mary Beltrán for shaping our thinking about comedy studies a decade ago at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, and to Jonathan Gray and Jeffrey Jones for providing key insights that greatly influenced this volume early on. Finally, we wish to thank Jill Jarvis Marx and Carrie Benedon. ix