“Humor must not professedly teach, and it must not professedly preach, but it must do both if it would live forever. – Mark Twain Although the art of performing stand-up comedy did not mature until late into the 20th century, its beginnings can, for instance, already be seen in Mark Twain’s comic lectures in the second half of the 19th century. The seminar will begin with a historical introduction into the origins of stand-up comedy in the Anglophone world. This will be followed by an overview of how performance art changed over the years as well as a deeper engagement with its contemporary forms. We will discuss not only the genre specific terminology and the performance environment but will also branch out into different theories of humor and laughter available today. Moreover, the limits and possibilities of these theories as well as humor itself will be covered. In addition, we are going to look behind the scenes in order to learn more about the stand-up comedians themselves. Among the questions guiding this seminar will be the following: What is stand-up comedy? Why is it funny? What is the role of the performer? Who is allowed to make which types of jokes? | |
| Literature |
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Russell Peters – Russell Peters: Call Me Russell (2010)
Trevor Noah – Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood (2016)
Stand-up Comedy (available on Netflix):
Russell Peters – Almost Famous (2016)
Trevor Noah – Afraid of the Dark (2017)
John Leguizamo – Latin History for Morons (2018)
Additional material will be provided at the beginning of the semester.
- Dozentin: Silvia Anastasijevic