1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910767541103321

Autore

Quirk Sophie

Titolo

The Politics of British Stand-up Comedy : The New Alternative / / by Sophie Quirk

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Palgrave Pivot, , 2018

ISBN

3-030-01105-4

Edizione

[1st ed. 2018.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (IX, 131 p. 3 illus. in color.)

Collana

Palgrave Studies in Comedy

Disciplina

792.23

792.760941

Soggetti

Comedy

Popular Culture

Motion picture acting

Comedy Studies

Screen Performance

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

1. Introduction -- 2. “Where Are All the Right-Wing Comedians?” -- 3. Political Challenges of the Millennial Era -- 4. Experimentation: Class, Controversy and an Artistic Lifeline -- 5. Conclusion: Widening the Theoretical Basis for Assessing Stand-Up Politics.

Sommario/riassunto

This Palgrave Pivot questions how a new generation of alternative stand-up comedians and the political world continue to shape and influence each other. The Alternative Comedy Movement of the late 1970s and 1980s can be described as a time of unruly experimentation and left-wing radicalism. This book examines how alternative comedians continue to celebrate these characteristics in the twenty-first century, while also moving into a distinct phase of artistic development as the political context of the 1970s and 1980s loses its immediacy. Sophie Quirk draws on original interviews with comedians including Tom Allen, Josie Long, John-Luke Roberts and Tony Law to chart how alternative comedians are shaped by, and in turn respond to, contemporary political challenges from neoliberalism to Brexit, class controversy to commercialism. She argues that many of our



assumptions about comedy’s politics must be challenged and updated. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the working methods and values of today’s alternative comedians.