CAT 2: Not Just For Laughs:  
Exploring Rhetoric Around Contemporary Stand-Up Comedy

Hiroki-Araki-Kawaguchi

Syllabus:

Amy Schumer. Chris Rock. Louis CK. Wanda Sykes. Dave Chappelle. Sarah Silverman. Aziz Ansari. Some of our most prominent artists are those embroiled in controversy and debate. What makes comedy so provocative? So dangerous? Why has my blood pressure gone through the roof merely writing this? We hope you brave students will help us unpack the answers...

The goal of this course is for you to sharpen your critical lenses and construct thesis-based arguments around the big questions in comedy.
Performer/comedian/TED fellow Chris Bliss says, “The best comedy circumvents our ingrained perspectives...[comedy] takes the base metal of our conventional wisdom and transforms it through ridicule into a different way of seeing and ultimately being in the world.”
So who are the comedians who are working to transform our prejudice? What do you think makes a comedian relevant? How are they doing this?

How can someone be funny and critical about racism without advertising racism? How can someone be funny about violence without undermining the consequence of violence?

Are there some subjects that some comedians should stay away from? Why? Why not?

Why do the teachers for our course sweat so much while discussing this? Is it because comedy gets people fired? You will have to attend to find this out...

You are also going to be asked to evaluate the critical reasoning of artists, journalists, theorists, and other comedians. Then you will write your backside off all quarter. We are talking two major essays, revisions, journals, and short writing assignments in your sections. And then the course will culminate in a podcasting project you will collaboratively design (à la Another Round, The Read, The Nerdist, WTF with Marc Maron as models).

The concerns of the best stand-up comedians will also be our concerns—racism, sexism, violence, colonialism, homophobia, class disparity, disability, and more. But don’t feel you already have to be a scholar of these subjects to take this course. It is more important that you keep an open mind, read hard, and be ready to struggle together.

PLEASE READ: Students who are offended by or triggered by comedy that takes racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, disability, or violence as its subject should consider their own comfortability and sensitivity before enrolling in this course.

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