Stand-Up Comedians

Springer, Sean

doi:10.1093/obo/9780199791286-0137

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Schumer and Wong's performances were Netflix specials and Taylor's performance was part of Netflix's Comedians of the World series. Reportedly, Wong's shows saw Netflix engage in an intense bidding war (Husband, 2018) and Growing saw Schumer named one of the highest paid comedians of 2019 (Shapiro, 2019). These large sums highlight the investment the online giant has in producing comic content.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performing pregnancy: Comic content, critique and ambivalence in pregnant stand-up comedy

Lockyer

Benedictis

2023

International Journal of Cultural Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Stand-up comedy has recently become a primary site where representations of pregnancy are increasingly prevalent. Yet little academic work focuses on pregnant stand-up comedians and their performances. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this article examines the cultural work of pregnant stand-up comedy. Thematic analysis of pregnant stand-up comedy by Amy Schumer, Ellie Taylor and Ali Wong identifies three significant features characterising the performances: (1) Comedic Corporeality, Vulgarity and Ambiguity; (2) Breaking Silences through the ‘Unruly Expectant Mother’; and (3) Critiquing Maternity Inequality through Pregnant Stand-Up? We examine how pregnant stand-up comedy interacts with and disrupts dominant cultural pregnancy representations, illustrating how pregnancy functions simultaneously as comic content and critique in the performances. Such comic content and critique are characterised by complexity as ambivalence is central to pregnant stand-up comedy. We argue it is precisely such ambivalence that provides productive means to understand the cultural and theoretical significances of pregnant stand-up comedy.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%