English 43 - Fall, 2013

Introductory Topics in Drama

Topic: Comedy

Class Information

Instructor: Shershow, Scott
CRN: 53518
Time: TR 4:40-6:00
Location: 206 Olson

Description

All comedians are interested in justice. The whole point of standing up and screaming about crabgrass, about your mother-in-law, about “kids today,” is justice. You’re trying to square the world, to make the world make sense.
— George Carlin

This course attempts the impossible: a brief introduction to the theory and practice of comedy. We’ll consider comedy both as an ancient tradition and a vital instance of contemporary popular culture, and think about fundamental questions that have always been asked and never really been answered, such as: what is a joke? why do people laugh? what makes something funny?

We’ll read and discuss a wide variety of comic plays from Shakespeare to Seinfeld, as well as a few brief highlights of the history of comic theory, including Bergson’s Laughter and Freud’s Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious. We will also take a few classes to consider the contemporary phenomenon of “stand-up comedy,” using as examples the filmed performances of the late George Carlin and Richard Pryor, which we will discuss alongside the Supreme Court’s landmark 1978 case FCC v. Pacifica (which upheld the power of the state to prohibit “dirty words” on television).

Grading

Evaluation will be based on two papers, a midterm examination, and a final exam.

Texts

Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious, Sigmund Freud
The Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare
Mandragola, Niccolò Machiavelli
Other texts on electronic reserve