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FMS 490 Standup Comedy As Social Discourse Dr. Bambi Haggins Lesson 1: Comedic Social Discourse:

FMS 490 Standup Comedy As Social Discourse Dr. Bambi Haggins Lesson 1: Comedic Social Discourse: What’s Standup Got To Do With It?. Lesson 01 Agenda. Course Business Standup Comedy: The Riskiest Art? Comedic Social Discourse: What’s Stand Up got to do with it ?

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FMS 490 Standup Comedy As Social Discourse Dr. Bambi Haggins Lesson 1: Comedic Social Discourse:

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  1. FMS 490 Standup Comedy As Social Discourse Dr. Bambi Haggins Lesson 1: Comedic Social Discourse: What’s Standup Got To Do With It?

  2. Lesson 01 Agenda • Course Business • Standup Comedy: The Riskiest Art? • Comedic Social Discourse: What’s Stand Up got to do with it? • Let’s Watch Some Standup! Pryor Bruce

  3. Section 1: Course Business

  4. Course Manifesto • Dying is easy, comedy is hard—it can also be considered obscene or profane by some. The stand up comedy (and/ the stand up based comedy produced) in the course may describe or depict sex, violence and other acts and ideologies that might be considered immoral or amoral by some standards. When examining standup comedy as social discourse, one should be prepared to engage texts that test social boundaries. Groucho

  5. Course Materials • All readings are available in pdf on course site. • All screenings are available either here on OR on Netflix (see syllabus)

  6. Course Expectations • Participation in all Course activities • Interaction with Peers & Professor • Completion of a critical & creative process which culminates in final project Carlin

  7. Course Objectives • Reading Comedy as Social Discourse • Persona • Performance • Content • Context Chelsea & Chuy

  8. Online Seminar (aka eBoard) • Participation • E-Board As Online Seminar • Thought Questions at the end of each lecture • Initial Post to Answer 1 of the Thought Questions (300 words min.) • At Least one response to the comments of other folks on the E-Board • Conversational Posting • Communication with Instructor

  9. Final Project • Students are required to design their final project in consultation with the Professor. • Discernible relationship to standup comedy or a particular comic • Three parts to each project: • Proposal, • Presentation, • Product

  10. Option 1: Research Paper • Research Question engages the relationship between standup comedy (or a comic) & a specific issue or area of representation including: class, culture, crossover, ethnicity, gender, industry, ideology, nation, race, region, sexuality or some other delineated topic of inquiry. • Prospectus includes: a) the research question and thesis statement; b) description & rationale for choice of visual texts; c) an annotated bibliography of at least 6 sources (4 of which must be critical) • Final Paper 10-12 pages, min 8 sources, uniform citation format • Final Paper • 10-12 page formal paper with uniform citations, critical and popular sources, etc.

  11. Option 2: Scripts • Treatment: a) For either the pilot of a sitcom or film; b) Along with the usual summary, please make clear who you are writing this comedy for and why you have chosen this particular comic or group of comics; c) Sell me on this idea!!! This is your chance to get your dream star or cast. • Final Project: a) The pilot for a situation comedy (btwn 25-35 pages) b) The first act of a feature length script (approx. 30 pages) c) Web series (4-5 Five minute episodes—approx. 30 pages

  12. Option 3: Digital Media • Proposal: Website/Podcasts/? a) Focusing on a specific comic, a sub genre of standup comedy, or… b) Focusing on some aspect of standup industry; c) Critical Observations regarding the chosen focus; • Final Project • Produce Series of Podcasts (a total of 30- 40 minutes); • A digitally-based creative project

  13. The Proposal • Proposals will be submitted to instructor (posted on eBoard); • Peer Review is required; should include suggestions, questions, etc. to be supplied via the eBoard; • Due on the eBoard until within a day after it was posted. Bob Sagat

  14. The Presentation • Presentation includes PowerPoint or Podcast for their final project in progress; • Must be shared with classmates(formats vary depending upon project). Rodney Dangerfield

  15. Peer Reviews • Required for both the proposal and the presentation. • Should include suggestions, questions, etc. and constructive criticism shared via the eBoard.   Smothers Brothers

  16. Section 2Standup Comedy The Riskiest Art

  17. Standup: The Riskiest Art • Stand-up is a comedic art form. • Usually, a comic performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. • Just the comic & a mic

  18. The Prizes • Laughter • Skewering social & political mores • Varying Levels of Stardom • Social/Cultural/Political Impact Ellen

  19. The Penalties • Heckling • Open Ridicule • Infamy • Silence • Ennui Michael Richards

  20. Section 3Comedic Social Discourse: What’s Standup Got to Do With It?

  21. Foucault & the Functions of Discourse • Michel Foucault (1926-1984), French philosopher and social theorist. • Discourse create a world. • Discourse generates knowledge & truth. • Discourse says something about the people who speak it. • Discourse is intimately involved with • socially embedded networks of power.

  22. Standup Comedy as Social Discourse • Comedy is made up of discursive processes of creation, negotiation, observation, reaction & revision: • Standup Comedy embodies multiple discourse and multiple ideologies.

  23. The Roles of the Comic • Negative Exemplar • Mediator • Articulator of culture • Socio-Political Commentator • Creator of Community Experience • Provocateur

  24. Is Being Controversial Always Good? • Case Study #1: Tracy Morgan • Anti Gay Rant • Public/Industry Response (Go to CNN Clip 1) • Amends & Apology (Go to CNN Clip 2)

  25. Is Being Controversial Good? • Case Study #2: Chelsea Handler • Anti-Serbia Comment • Responses? • Apology-NONE Go to “Chelsea Insults Serbia?

  26. Standup &Subjectivity • Comedy is extremely subjective. • Taste cultures, lived experiences, ideologies & articulations of identity inflect the creation & reception of comedic social discourse

  27. Section 4: Let’s Watch Standup! Insert Image Here Add Image Caption w/ Credits Here Please go to the screening section for the lesson and watch this PBS documentary. Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America “When I’m Bad, I’m Better: The Groundbreakers” Directed by Michael Kantor Written by Laurence Maslon & Michael Kantor (Airdate 21 Jan 2009 PBS)

  28. For Your Consideration: • We have discussed how comedy, in general, is subjective and that every media text has an ideological agenda of sorts. Consider the choice of the groundbreakers: discuss one comic you think should have been included and why. (Posted on the eBoard)

  29. For Your Consideration: • How do the comic personae of the comics in “The Groundbreakers” correspond the roles of the comic discussed in the lecture & in the Lentz article? (Posted on the eBoard)

  30. For Your Consideration: • Discuss the relationship between Foucault’s assertions regarding the functions of discourse and the functions of the comic. (Posted on the eBoard)

  31. Next Time: The Holy Trinity of Comedy (+2)

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