Comedy

In this hilarious, heartfelt memoir, the star of Mr. Show, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul opens up about the highs and lows of showbiz, his cult status as a comedy writer, and what it’s like to reinvent himself as an action film ass-kicker at fifty. Bob Odenkirk’s career is inexplicable. And yet he will try like hell to explicate it for you. Charting a “Homeric” decades-long “Odyssey” from his origins in the seedy comedy clubs of Chicago to a dramatic career full of award nominations and including a side-trip that is baffling to all who know him, into the action-man world, it’s almost like there are many Bob Odenkirks! But there is just one and one is plenty. Bob embraced a life in comedy after a chance meeting with Second City’s legendary Del Close. He somehow made his way to a job as a writer at SNL. While surviving that legendary gauntlet by the skin of his gnashing teeth, he stashed away the secrets of comedy writing—eventually employing them in the immortal “Motivati

What exactly is film comedy and what is the basis for its widespread appeal? Film Comedy uses formal, socio-historical and industrial perspectives to answer this question, exploring such themes as th

Comedy has always been one of the most high profile, glamorous and potentially lucrative markets for scriptwriters but it is also perceived as one of the hardest. In the fourth edition of this highly

The nature of comedy has interested many thinkers, from Plato to Freud, but film comedy has not received much theoretical attention in recent years. The essays in Comedy/Cinema/Theory use a range of c

Comedy is a global multibillion dollar industry and it is also one of the easiest ones to get into. Performing Live Comedy is for anyone who has ever thought about getting up onstage and being funny o

This illustrated reference surveys 225 military comedies made from the end of WWI to the present. Rather than film entries, the book offers detailed overviews of each subgenre of military comedy films

British comedy cinema has been a mainstay of domestic production since the beginning of the last Century and arguably the most popular and important genre in British film history. This edited volume w

British comedy cinema has been a mainstay of domestic production since the beginning of the last Century and arguably the most popular and important genre in British film history. This edited volume w

Dying is easy, comedy is hard. So keep your comedy blockbuster alive and well and buy this book. Comedy has always been the backbone of the film business. In an age of sequels and brand-name movies ba

Comedy is the classical world's most resilient and durable theatrical tradition. This volume offers a concise, accessible guide to the study of Greek and Roman comedy in light of current scholarship. It surveys the complex literary, theatrical, and cultural history of the classical genre from its beginnings to the death of Terence, with an overview of the work of each author and introductions to all the surviving plays of Aristophanes, Menander, Plautus and Terence, alongside discussions of lost works and of theories of comedy ancient and modern, with concise guides to the extensive modern bibliography.

What is comedy? Andrew Stott tackles this question through an investigation of comic forms, theories and techniques, tracing the historical definitions of comedy from Aristotle to Chris Morris's Brass

Applies the recent `return to history' in film studies to the genre of classical Hollywood comedy as well as broadening the definition of those works considered central in this field.

"This new edition of Comedy builds on themes presented in the first edition such as focusing on the significance of comic events through study of various theoretical methodologies, including deconstru

This new edition of Andrew Stott’s Comedy builds on themes presented in the first edition such as focusing on the significance of comic 'events' through study of various theoretical methodologies, inc

Romantic comedy is an enduringly popular genre which has maintained its appeal by constantly evolving, from the screwball comedy to the recent emergence of the bromance. Romantic Comedy examines the h

Romantic comedy is an enduringly popular genre which has maintained its appeal by constantly evolving, from the screwball comedy to the recent emergence of the bromance. Romantic Comedy examines the h

"a work on the art and craft of comedy as important in its own way as works by Stanislavski and Chekhov" – Oxford Theatre CompanionIn 1939, a young, inexperienced actor wrote to a famous actress of hi

Beginning comedy writers and performers may think funny can't be taught, but legendary comedy writer Gene Perret, winner of three Emmy Awards, tells otherwise in this guide to what makes a good joke w

“I see two husbands, or mine eyes deceive me.”—The Comedy of Errors?Eminent Shakespearean scholars Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen provide a fresh new edition of this raucous story of mistaken identi

The ideal single-volume introduction to the greatest masterpieces of ancient comedy From the fifth to the second century B.C., theatrical comedy flourished in Greece and Rome. This new anthology bring

Why does comedy matter? Is it celebratory or subversive? What makes it flourish, and which creative forces resist it? English Comedy addresses these and related questions by invoking a variety of works from Aristophanes to Walt Disney, while focusing on the traditions of comic writing in England. Poetry, the novel and (above all) drama are examined to assess the constrictions and liberations of genre, the negotiations or divergences between comic practice and theory, and the dynamics of theatrical language. Ranging from medieval and Renaissance drama through Romantic poetry to twentieth-century literature and philosophy, English Comedy makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the heritage of comic writing.

What exactly is film comedy and what is the basis for its widespread appeal? Film Comedy uses formal, socio-historical and industrial perspectives to answer this question, exploring such themes as th

Shakespearian Comedy

In 1934 four movies—It Happened One Night, Twentieth Century, The Thin Man, and The Gay Divorcee—ushered in the golden age of the Hollywood romantic ("screwball") comedy. Slangy, playful, and "powerfu

Provides a brief history of improvisational comedy, and offers exercises on techniques which require increasing levels of skill

Discover the riveting, hilarious true story of the birth of Comedy Central in what New York Times bestselling author, Dan Lyons, calls the “funniest behind-the-scenes memoir I’ve ever read, full of cr

A landmark of world literature, The Divine Comedy tells of the poet Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise in search of salvation. Before he is redeemed by his love for the heavenly Beat

"?Masterclass: Write Great Comedy will reveal to both beginners and experienced writers the distinctive features that mark out comedy from other forms of creative writing. Having identified these

While comedy writers are responsible for creating clever scripts, comedic animators have a much more complicated problem to solve:What makes a physical character funny? Comedy for Animators breaks dow

While comedy writers are responsible for creating clever scripts, comedic animators have a much more complicated problem to solve:What makes a physical character funny? Comedy for Animators breaks dow

Westfield’s men are in dire straights, and their playwright appears to be suffering from a lack of creative inspiration. Thankfully, the company is offered a new play, The Malevolent Comedy, which the

First published in 1938. This is a survey of Shakepeare's comedies which illustrates the playwright's increasing grasp on the art and idea of comedy. Themes, characters and plays covered include: Ro

Renzi (Buffalo State College, New York) offers what may seem to be a strange and mismatched comparison of two seemingly disparate film genres: screwball comedy and film noir. The author, in preparing

Baggy Pants Comedy takes readers inside the burlesque houses of Depression-era America to explore the role of comedy in a show remembered mostly for strip-tease. It examines how burlesque comics, stra

Famous for being a city of broad shoulders, Chicago has also developed an international reputation for split sides and slapped knees. Watch the Chicago style of comedy evolve from nineteenth-century v