**Warning: Course material is
totally unexpurgated! Be aware that over the
course of the semester, you will
be subjected to four [and even five and six] letter
words, scatological [as opposed
to logical?] material, ethnic slurs, and, most regrettably, humor that you will
not find humorous.
My
own experiences in comedy both as scholar and performer…Introductions from each
of you, including your interest in things funny.
Obstacles Meant to Keep This From Being
Unfettered Fun [In other words, what things will I make you do in order to
determine a final grade]: First, a reminder that this is a WRITING intensive course.
With that in mind, 90% of your final grade will derive from a series of short
3-4 page papers to be assigned at timely points during the semester. This will
also include a longer 6-8 page paper due towards the end of the semester and
based on a book selected from a bibliographic list that I shall provide in due
time. The final 10% of your grade shall be based on commitment to the course
work, including attendance, participation in classroom discussion, and
participation in a FINAL assignment:
>>>EACH of you, either singly or in teams, will perform
or present 3-5 minutes of stand-up comedy, preferably original, but derivative
is acceptable. You may perform this live and in person, or you may submit the
performance on video to be played in class. The performance is required but
WILL NOT be graded.
Concepts
and Questions: What differentiates “Stand-Up” from other kinds of comedy?…How
has American stand-up comedy changed over the decades?…Is stand-up comedy mere
entertainment, or does it have characteristics and ramifications worth
thoughtful consideration?
Performance
Clips: Carlin Forty Years, various
audio and video clips on ventriloquists.
ASSIGNMENT: Read article [which I’ll give you] on what - according to Freud
and Bergson - makes things funny. Discussion at next class meeting.
Opening
Sidebar: Impressionists Rich Little, John Byner, Frank Gorshin, David Frye (Ed
Sullivan Show)
Primary
Theme: The Minstrel Show,
The
interlocutor or “middle man” as “straight man,” the “end” men, Tambo
(tambourine) and Bones (bones), as the actual punch-liners. From Jim Crow to
Sambo.
Concepts
and Questions: What is a Minstrel Show?…What are the components of
African American stereotype transmitted via
Minstrel entertainment?
Performance
Clips: Dailey Paskin’s Radio Minstrels, “Gentlemen, Be Seated!,” BLACK ETHNIC IMAGES
Hand Out: Minstrel-style graphics and set
up. Redd Foxx Encyclopedia of Humor.
*****
Opening
Sidebar: Dave Chappelle
Primary
Theme: Early 20th century off-shoots of minstrel comedy. Bert
Williams and the Ziegfeld Follies…Miller & Lyles…Gosden and Correll as Amos
‘n’ Andy.
Concepts
and Questions: What implicit “message” was there in Bert William’s comedy?…How
did Williams differ from Amos ‘n’ Andy?
Performance
Clips: Bert William’s “Nobody” and “It Ain’t No Business,” excerpt from comedy
of Miller and Lyles, Amos ‘n’ Andy “Parking the Car,” Film clip from Mo’ Funny.
Hand-Out:
Zolten article on Bert Williams from LaughTrack.
Hand-out with pic of Bert Williams and Amos ‘n’ Andy” along with lyrics
►►ASSIGNMENT: Write a 3-4 page paper in
which you explain the distinctions
between minstrel, vaudeville,
and burlesque comedy. DUE DATE: FEBRUARY 29
General Guidelines for all Papers: Put all
references within the text of the paper with author’s name, comma, then page
number, all enclosed within parentheses so that it looks like this. (Podunk,
112) At the end of the paper, provide a bibliographic list with full reference
information. Like so:
Podunk, Luther. Laughing All the Way to the
Bank, New York, NY: Pisces Publishing, 2003. p. 4385.
Blutarski, Bluto. “That Wasn’t Me,” in We
Know You’re the One Who Did It, Los Angeles, Ream Books, Inc, 1987. p. 82.
Regrettably, because
this is a writing intensive course, I’ll also be looking at your spelling and
punctuation, so please give it your best. NOTE: Titles of books, CDs, TV Shows,
and movies are either underlined or italicized (Bored of the Rings or Bored
of the Rings). Articles in print, song titles are in quotes.
IMPORTANT>>PAPERS
SHOULD BE SUBMITTED VIA E-MAIL, either as an attachment (Word Document) or
pasted into the text of the message.
WEEK THREE January 27-29 Vaudeville and Early American Stand-Up
Opening
Sidebar: Tiring Changing Bit from Check and Double Check (1932);
Automobile
Bit from Stormy Weather (1943)
Discussion:
How do these bits differ??
Primary
Theme: Vaudeville and Burlesque. What is
“Vaudeville” and when was its golden period?”…What is “Burlesque” and where
does it fit in?…
Concepts
and Questions: Were there carry-overs from minstrelsy to these later
entertainment forms?…Did ethnic comedy change at all, and, if so, in what
ways??
Performance
Clips: Vaudeville
Hand
Out: Visuals of vaudeville stars; program from Hippodrome
*****
Opening Sidebar: Parody of “This Is Your Life” from 1950s Sid
Caesar TV show, Your Show of Shows
Concepts and
Questions: What do “pacing” and “timing” have to do with what’s
funny?…How does
comedy of yesteryear differ from contemporary comedy and
why?
Performance clips: Vaudeville continued; Joe
Hayman “Cohen on the Telephone,” Cal Stewart “Uncle Josh,” Nat Wills “No News,”
Charlie Case “S-O-U-P,” Walter Kelly “Irish Jokes,” Burns & Allen “Missing
Brother,” Will Rogers “Wall Street Welfare,”
Smith and Dale “Dr. Kronkheit.”
►►ASSIGNMENT: Write a 3-4 page paper in which you describe the nature of comedy
on radio during the 1930s and 1940s. You can focus on one particular comedian or program or you can
do an overview. DUE DATE: MARCH 5.
Opening
Sidebar: Robert Benchley’s “Treasurer’s Report” (1928)
Primary
Theme: The turn from heavy-handed ethnic
to “character” and “concept” comedy…The shift from live to broadcast comedy.
Concepts
and Questions: How did WW II impact the content of American stand-up?…How
difficult is it to perform radio comedy???
Performance
Clips: The Hindenburg Crash (1937) vs. The Martian Invasion (1938);
Burns
& Allen; The Bickersons; Jack Benny; Fred Allen.
Hand
Outs: Famous Radio Stars/Short articles on Bob Hope, Robert Benchley, Fred
Allen.
*****
Opening
Sidebar: Victor Borge’s “Phonetic Punctuation.” Audio comedy.
Primary
Theme: The rise of “fast talk” and “absurd” comedy; Writing and performing
original comedy.
Performance
Clips: Highlights from early radio featuring Buster Keaton and Bob Hope; Abbott
& Costello; Martin & Lewis; “The English Major,” a routine from
Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion.
Hand
Outs: Script from Keillor show about Birds Outside Window
WEEK FIVE FEBRUARY 10-12 Roots of “Blue” Comedy
Opening
Sidebar: Student Performance of Keillor script.
Primary
Theme: Risqué comedy of the 1930s & 1940s.
Performance
Clips: Classics from the “Under-The-Counter” record days.
Hand
Outs: A collection of under-the-counter labels
*****
A Break from Routine: Norman Jewison documentary Funny Is Money
WEEK SIX
February 17-19 The Rise of
Post-War Neo-Ethnic Comedy
Opening
Sidebar: Ernie Kovacs “The Nairobi Trio”
Primary
Theme: Ethnic Comedy for Ethnics Part
One: The Chittlin’ Circuit
Concepts
and Questions: Why the need for ethnic comedy at all?…What was the “Chittlin’
Circuit?…How does neo-ethnic comedy differ from early ethnic comedy?
Performance
Clips: Butterbeans and Susie; Buck & Bubbles; Dusty Fletcher; Pigmeat
Markham; Mom Mabley, Slappy White, Redd Foxx, Rudy Ray Moore; Black Comics
►►ASSIGNMENT: Write a 3-4 page paper on
the distinctions between these kinds of contemporary comedy: “Self-Deprecating,” “Sick,” “Observational,”
“Political,” “Sketch.” Due Date: March 5
*****
Opening
Sidebar: Stand-Up from the Ed Sullivan Show
Primary
Theme: Ethnic Comedy for Ethnics Part
Two: The Borsht Belt
Concepts
and Questions: What was the “Borsht Belt?
Performance Clips: Sam Levinson; Myron
Cohen; Buddy Hackett; Yiddish comics;
WEEK SEVEN
February 24-26 Comedy of
Confrontation and Communication
Opening
Sidebar: To Be Announced
Primary
Theme: Jewish and African American comics bring their humor into the changing
times of the late 1950s and 1960s.
Concepts
and Questions: Can comedy be both entertainment and social commentary?…What is
the implicit message about ethnicity in the Jewish comedy of this period??…The
African American comedy?…What is the shift from “caricature” to “character?”
Performance
Clips: Excerpts from Mo’ Funny on Dick Gregory; Comedy bit samples from
Dick Gregory; Godfrey Cambridge.
*****
Primary Theme: Lenny Bruce
Concepts and Questions: What
changes did Lenny Bruce bring to American Stand-
Up?…Why is he so highly regarded today?
Performance Clips: Lenny Bruce Documentary film
WEEK SEVEN
March 2-4 Comedy in the
Wake of Bruce
Primary
Theme: Political Comedy Then
Concepts
and Questions: What is “political” comedy?…What is it about political comedy
that has the power to impact public opinion?
Performance
Clips: Will Rogers, Mort Sahl Documentary, The First Family
*****
Primary Theme: Political
Comedy Now
Performance Clips: John Stewart
Bill Maher
March 9-11 SPRING BREAK
To Be Continued…
March 16
Tuesday
Comedy as Communication about Culture: Jewish Comics in the 1960s. Shift from caricature to character.
Finish of documentary on Jewish
stand-up comics
March 18
Thursday
The Comedy of Lenny Bruce
Lenny’s contemporaries and his effect
on their comedy:
African
American Comics, Nipsey Russell and Godfrey Cambridge.
Joke tellers, holdovers from the prior
period, Las Vegas…
Henny Youngman/Eddie “The Old Philosopher”
Lawrence/Buddy
Hackett
New Order Comics:
Allan
Sherman (folk song parody with ethnic flavor); Andy Griffith (Americana caricature); Jonathon Winters (caricature continued but with an
element of out-of-control madness) [We’ll look at a “sketch” with Caesar Romero
and Winter’s character, Maude Frickert, world’s oldest stewardess; Avery Schreiber and Jack Burns (Satire and parody) “The Faith Healer” with touch of ethnicity
and social commentary.
Assignment
Due: 3-5 pages on comedy approaches:
“Self-Deprecating,” “Aggression,” “Satire & Parody,” “Sick,”
“Observational,” “Political,” “Sketch.”
March 25 Thursday
Comedy
in the early 1960s continued: Irreverent, rebellious, critical, introspective.
Observational:
Shelly
Berman “Department
Store”; Bob Newhart “Tobacco”
Hip:
Lord
Buckley as “The Nazz”
From
the Ed Sullivan Show):
Alan
King, Jean Carroll, Henny Youngman, Totie Fields, Phyllis Diller
Women in Comedy:
Joan
Rivers, Toti Fields, Phyllis Diller
The Neo-Ethnics:
Jackie
Mason (on Nothing. Sheer
wit and word play), Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks
Video:
Mike Nichols & Elaine May
Introspective/Psychological: Woody
Allen
March 30 Tuesday
Political comedy.
Handout: Zolten article on the state of political
comedy, circa 1990s.
Video: Sampling of current political comedy:
Bill
Maher, Saturday Night Live, Conan O’Brien, Jon Stewart
Discussion: What makes for effective political comedy?
Evolution
of political comedy from early newspaper cartoons to Will Rogers to the Capitol
Steps to The Onion….
The King of 1960s political humor: MORT SAHL
April 1 Thursday
Comedy in the middle to late 1960s: the
influence of Lenny Bruce continues:
George Carlin
Videos: Carlin
on Sullivan Show, Carlin’s “Hippy Dippy Weather Man,” Carlin bio with interview.
April 6 Tuesday
Media Comedians:
Bob and Ray on radio; Ernie
Kovacs on TV; Stan Freberg on record
April 8 Thursday
Late 1960s continued/ A Study in comedy
contrasts:
BILL COSBY & RICHARD PRYOR
Bill Cosby “NOAH” routine, audio samples,
characters like Fat Albert, etc.
Video on Richard Pryor, a
comedy bio
April 13
Tuesday
Richard Pryor continued.
LIVE
video performance, audio clips of “Justice”
“Mudbone” and “Bicentennial
Nigger”
In
the wake of Richard Pryor/ African American comedians, 1980s-now:
Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, and Kings of Comedy
April 20 Tuesday
The
British Invasion:
Monty Python, Peter Cook
& Dudley Moore
The Psychedelic Comics:
Cheech & Chong,
Firesign Theater
April 22
Thursday
Major Players of Recent Decades and the
Return of Ethnicity:
Andy
Kauffman, Jerry Seinfeld, Lily Tomlin, Whoopi Goldberg/ Asian, Latino, etc, etc.
April 27
Tuesday-April 29 Thursday
Final Projects: You Be The
Comedian!