Taking a Stand

Contributions by Jared N. Champion Miriam M. Chirico Thomas Clark David R. Dewberry Christopher J. Gilbert David Gillota Kathryn Kein Rob King Rebecca Krefting Peter C. Kunze Linda Mizejewski Aviva Orenstein Raúl Pérez Philip Scepanski Susan Seizer Monique Taylor Ila Tyagi and Timothy J. Viator <p/> Stand-up comedians have a long history of walking a careful line between serious and playful engagement with social issues: Lenny Bruce questioned the symbolic valence of racial slurs Dick Gregory took time away from the stage to speak alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and--more recently--Tig Notaro challenged popular notions of damaged or abject bodies. Stand-up comedians deploy humor to open up difficult topics for broader examination which only underscores the social and cultural importance of their work. <p/> <i>Taking a Stand: Contemporary US Stand-Up Comedians as Public Intellectuals </i>draws together essays that contribute to the analysis of the stand-up comedian as public intellectual since the 1980s. The chapters explore stand-up comedians as contributors to and shapers of public discourse via their live performances podcasts social media presence and political activism. <p/> Each chapter highlights a stand-up comedian and their ongoing discussion of a cultural issue or expression of a political ideology/standpoint: Lisa Lampanelli's use of problematic postracial humor Aziz Ansari's merging of sociology and technology or Maria Bamford's emphasis on mental health to name just a few. <i>Taking a Stand</i> offers a starting point for understanding the work stand-up comedians do as well as its reach beyond the stage. Comedians influence discourse perspectives even public policy on myriad issues and this book sets out to take those jokes seriously.