Comedy: New Critical Idiom (Paperback - 2013)

What is comedy? Andrew Stott traces changing definitions of the term from Aristotle to Chris Morris's Brass Eye via Oscar Wilde and Some Like it Hot. Providing readers with the ideal critical introduction to the irrepressible genre of comedy, this wide-ranging and thorough overview:
• Investigates comic forms, theories and techniques
• considers comic identity, including that of clowns, stereotypes and the stand-up comic
• introduces comedy's role in theories of deconstruction, psychoanalysis and gender
• features analytical case studies on a number of themes, from political satire to slapstick
• considers comic representations of the body and sexuality
• reviews theories of the cultural and psychological purposes of laughter
Introducing complex theoretical ideas in an accessible and lively way, this is the essential guide for those studying comedy in its many forms.

About the Author

Andrew Stott is Assistant Professor of English at the State University of New York, Buffalo.