Behind the Laughs: Community and Inequality in Comedy by Michael P. Jeffries (review)

Behind the Laughs: Community and Inequality in Comedy tells a story with a central premise: "We are leagues away from equity in comedy" (16-17). Michael Jeffries highlights inequities and barriers in the comedy industry, weaving together interviews with sixty-seven comedy workers—including comedians, club owners, managers, and bookers. Through these conversations, Jeffries explores what he sees as a pervasive tension in the world of comedy: many people in the business believe fervently in the value of hard work, persistence, and community in the face of social, cultural, and political inequalities within the business. Jeffries reveals an industry from which outsiders demand truth telling but that nevertheless remains tangled up in the power relations and structural, institutional forces of oppression that saturate society.

Jeffries organizes his interviews around four topics: comedy workers and their origin stories, community and social connection in the industry, values that undergird success in comedy, and the allure of fame and celebrity. Chapter 1 explores myths about and qualities of comedy performers as well as common entry points for careers in comedy. Chapter 2 highlights an intensely communal comedy world in which lines between the professional and the social frequently blur. Chapter 3 reveals the joys, frustrations, and nuances of success in comedy; it explores how comedy workers manage disappointment and the long odds of achieving stardom throughout their careers by defining their success in terms of values like hard work and resilience. Chapter 4 details celebrity culture, the allure of fame, and the ways contemporary digital culture and social media change comedy workers' pursuit of fame and celebrity status. Through each of these chapters, Jeffries underscores the extent to which the qualities that give rise to a vibrant, boisterous comedy community also remain tainted by social inequality and injustice. Social inequities related to race, gender, and social class affect the business of comedy and the interpersonal interactions among comedy workers to the same degree they do in other sociopolitical spheres. Jeffries's interviews reveal ways that gender, race, and class identity create and constrain opportunities in the industry. His critical exploration of difference and power in comedy culminates in chapter 5, where he accents how "race, class, and gender organize our lives, generate privilege, and limit choices" in the comedy industry just as in the rest of society (20).

The book features an expert blend of theory and conceptual definitions, thoughtfully selected stories and insights from his interviews, and sharp critical analysis that persuasively showcases how the comedy entertainment industry reflects and preserves social inequality. While Jeffries's primary focus in the comedy industry is on stand-up comedy and comedy club circuits, his research also considers improv theaters, comedy producers on social media, and comedy writers and producers in television and film. Every chapter begins with a brief primer on central concepts at the nexus of sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, and the study of social identity. For instance, Jeffries provides accessible overviews on social and cultural capital, the sociology of fame, and structural/institutional racism and sexism and intersectionality that orient readers unfamiliar with these conversations to the insights these theoretical lenses provide. These disciplinary perspectives also distinguish this book from other studies that are engaged in conversations about theories and philosophy of humor, the psychology of laughter, or analyses and interpretations of the comic. Instead Behind the Laughs importantly reminds readers that the study of comic artistry (particularly in the entertainment industry) must account for social power and structures that complicate and inform its production.

Jeffries's analysis of community illustrates his oscillation between discussing elements that make the comedy industry thrive and revealing the structural and institutional inequities that complicate these elements. On one hand, professional comedy workers thrive on rich social connections. They cultivate lasting bonds with fellow comedy professionals, who provide important mentorship and coaching, guidance on unspoken rules of the community, and access to audiences and venues. They must also craft relatable and relevant humor...