Comedy & Critique is a sociological inquiry which seeks to engage with the art-world of the stand-up comedian as well as providing an interpretation of comedic works. It demonstrates a correspondence between what is happening within stand-up comedy and what is going on in the society from which the comic material arises. The book demonstrates that stand-up comedians are engaged in a proto-sociological enterprise, a method of ‘doing’ sociology. Comedian’s material may be viewed as a comedic acting out of forms of sociological knowledge, an act which is self-driven and intra-personal. Stand-up c ... More

Comedy & Critique is a sociological inquiry which seeks to engage with the art-world of the stand-up comedian as well as providing an interpretation of comedic works. It demonstrates a correspondence between what is happening within stand-up comedy and what is going on in the society from which the comic material arises. The book demonstrates that stand-up comedians are engaged in a proto-sociological enterprise, a method of ‘doing’ sociology. Comedian’s material may be viewed as a comedic acting out of forms of sociological knowledge, an act which is self-driven and intra-personal. Stand-up comedians came to their proto-sociology as stand-up in Britain moved from the fringes of entertainment in working man’s clubs to Fringe theatre. Through this transition stand-up became a space where a ‘New Left’ politics of anti-racism, feminism and a queering of self and society was both lived and artfully positioned. By exploring the ‘art of stand-up’, as a modernist art-form and professionalised industry, the book argues that stand-up is the art of building and improvising social relations.