Research Catalog

Cracking up : black feminist comedy in the twentieth and twenty-first century United States

Title
Cracking up : black feminist comedy in the twentieth and twenty-first century United States / Katelyn Hale Wood.
Author
Wood, Katelyn Hale, 1975-
Publication
Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, [2021]

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TextUse in library Sc E 22-15Schomburg Center - Research & Reference

Details

Description
x, 191 pages : illustrations; 24 cm.
Summary
"Cracking Up archives and analyzes Black feminist stand-up comedy in the United States over the past sixty years. Looking closely at the work of Jackie "Moms" Mabley, Mo'Nique, Wanda Sykes, Sasheer Zamata, Sam Jay, Phoebe Robinson, Jessica Williams, and Michelle Buteau, this book shows how Black feminist comedy and the laughter it ignites are vital components of feminist, queer, and anti-racist protest. Cracking Up frames theatre and live performance as an important platform from which to examine citizenship in the United States, articulate Black feminist political thought, and subvert structures of power. Author Katelyn Hale Wood interprets these artists not as tokens in their white/male dominated field, but as part of a continuous history of Black feminist performance and presence in the United States. Broadly, the book also champions comedic performance and theatre history as imperative contexts for advancing historical studies of race, gender, and sexuality. From the comedy routines popular on Black vaudeville circuits to stand-up on contemporary social media platforms, Cracking Up excavates an overlooked history of Black women who made the art of joke-telling a key part of radical performance and political engagement"--
Series Statement
Studies in theatre history and culture
Uniform Title
Studies in theatre history and culture.
Subject
  • African American women comedians > Biography
  • Stand-up comedy > Social aspects > United States
  • Stand-up comedy > Political aspects > United States
  • African American wit and humor > History and criticism
  • Feminism > United States
  • Sexual minority culture > United States
  • African American wit and humor
  • African American women comedians
  • Feminism
  • United States
Genre/Form
  • Biographies.
  • Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Note
  • Based on the author's dissertation (doctoral)--University of Texas, 2014.
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents
Laughter in the Archives: Jackie "Moms" Mabley -- I Love You Bitches Back: Spect-Actors and Affective Freedom in I Coulda Been Your Cellmate! -- The Black Queer Citizenship of Wanda Sykes -- Contemporary Truth-Tellers: A New Cohort of Black Feminist Comics -- Conclusion.
Call Number
Sc E 22-15
ISBN
  • 9781609387723
  • 1609387724
LCCN
2020042470
OCLC
1200036760
Author
Wood, Katelyn Hale, 1975- author.
Title
Cracking up : black feminist comedy in the twentieth and twenty-first century United States / Katelyn Hale Wood.
Publisher
Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, [2021]
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Series
Studies in theatre history and culture
Studies in theatre history and culture.
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Research Call Number
Sc E 22-15
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