In this Book
- Laughing Mad: The Black Comic Persona in Post-Soul America
- Book
- 2007
- Published by: Rutgers University Press
summary
Prior to the civil rights movement, comedians performed for audiences that were clearly delineated by race. Black comedians performed for black audiences and white comedians performed for whites. Yet during the past forty-five years, black comics have become progressively more central to mainstream culture. In Laughing Mad , Bambi Haggins looks at how this transition occurred in a variety of media and shows how this integration has paved the way for black comedians and their audiences to affect each other. Historically, African American performers have been able to use comedy as a pedagogic tool, interjecting astute observations about race relations while the audience is laughing. And yet, Haggins makes the convincing argument that the potential of African American comedy remains fundamentally unfulfilled as the performance of blackness continues to be made culturally digestible for mass consumption.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Acknowledgments
- pp. ix-x
- Introduction: Enter Laughing
- pp. 1-13
- Epilogue: Laughing Sad, Laughing Mad
- pp. 237-243
- About the Author
- p. 275
Additional Information
ISBN
9780813542652
Related ISBN(s)
9780813539843
MARC Record
OCLC
173650915
Pages
288
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No