AMST 225 Final Exam Review

Bambi Haggins defines "laughing mad" as a concept that Black comedians...
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Bambi Haggins defines "laughing mad" as a concept that Black comedians...
use to channel rage into a comedic form that makes it appropriate to laugh at all.
Herbert Kohl suggests that an individual may surrender their dignity and echo the ideas of individuals or institutions that oppress them in situations where...
it is necessary to fit in and "assimilate" simply to survive, even if one's personal integrity is at stake.
Ford's and Ferguson's prejudice norm theory can only be true if...
the individual already has prejudice and discriminatory tendencies.
Which of the following is NOT true about joke cycles?
Knowing the historical contexts in which a series of jokes emerge is not essential to interpreting why the joke-cycle comes into being.
According to Susan Seizer, how can the use of obscene language be a beneficial addition to a road comic's performance?
- Obscene language can be used to conjure vulgar images and ideas and help address taboo subjects.
- Obscene language can emphasize certain perspectives, set a tone, and give a comedian's set a rhythm and pace.
In her essay on jokes, Mary Douglas writes that some jokes produce "no real alternative, only an exhilarating sense of freedom from form in general." This most closely aligns with what type of joke?
Naive joke
Who does Dr. Robinson say helped shape what modern day comedy looks like today (referencing authenticity)?
Eddie Brill
According to Herbert Kohl's "I Won't Learn From You," which of the following would NOT be a possible consequence of actively "not-learning"?
You open yourself up to new ideas when they come your way.
Comedians like Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock are known to use this technique in implementing different voices to insult people.
Phonological distance
Freud suggests that jokes contain two separate pieces, the _______ and the _______.
Envelope; substance
According to Freud, a way o distinguish between the "naïve" and "tendentious" joke is by...paying attention to the listener's response to the joke.According to relief theories of humor, what is the primary social purpose jokes serve?They temporarily free us to transgress mental and social censors, and to speak of taboo subjects with minimal repercussions."Blonde jokes" belong to a series that stereotype women with blonde hair as stupid and/or sexually promiscuous. A typical joke in this cycle is:Q: Why did the blonde stare at the frozen orange juice? A: Because it said "concentrate."What is the term that describes the place of the following joke in the cycle? Q: Why do men like blonde jokes? A: Because they can understand them.Meta-jokeDoes Katelyn Hale believe that audience composition and identity impacts perception and delivery of jokes in their essay "Listening Backwards"?All of the below: - Yes, Hale believes that shared identities between performers and audience members can create an 'in-group' and 'out-group' that changes joke perception - Yes, Hale believes that identities shape the jokes comedians chooses to deliver to a particular audienceWhich of these choices BEST describes the concept of "Laughing Mad" as used by African American comedians?African American comedians channeling anger at unjust systems into their comedyWhich of these statements best characterizes Eddie Brill?All of the below: - Brill was a comedy 'gatekeeper' for late-night shows - Brill sought what he perceived to be 'authentic' comics--where onstage and offstage personas of comedians seem identical - Brill tended to perceive women comedians as 'inauthentic' or merely 'aping' male comedians, which exacerbated the exclusion of women comedians from late night shows - Brill's desire for 'authenticity' shaped the comedy industry in persistent ways, cementing the careers of comedians such as Bill Burr and Louis C.K.Which of these statements best characterizes a comedic 'hack'?All of the below: - A comedian who borrows or rewrites the funny ideas of other comedians - A comedian who focuses on obvious or cliched subjects - The imitation of another comedian's personality or onstage persona - Dependence on 'taboos' -- obscene language, sexual or toilet humor - Imitation of another comedian's style of deliveryWhich of these examples illustrate female comedians' response of sexism in the comedy industry?All of the below: - Developing desexualized personas (Moms Mabley's dressing up as an old woman in a big, flowered housedress and cap, for example) - Employing self-effacing humor (for instance, Phyllis Diller and Joan Rivers "apologizing" for the space they take onstage)Which of the following is a correct example of double consciousness in comedy?A comedian who navigates or foregrounds the tensions between their sense of self and the stereotypes that society imposes upon themA study was conducted during a comedy show. In the show, the comedian made several disparaging jokes that spanned across several taboo topics. After the show was finished, every audience member responded to a survey. The results revealed that most audience members now felt more comfortable with expressions of sexism and racism. (These same audience members had previously tested for high levels of hostile sexism and racism.) What theory does this study support?Prejudice-norm theoryIf a comedian's political joke can be characterized as "heart" satire, their goal may be to:All of the below: - Use the absurdity of their jokes to question the current political systems and policies - Attempt to rally people to create cultural, social, or political changeJoke cycles reference a familiar cultural form to deal with social anxieties at the time. As they go through generations of change they develop. Which generation plays on the ideal of the joke and turns expectations to complicate the target?The Meta-JokeKohl's essay "I Won't Learn From You" describes his personal experience with not learning Yiddish despite his family's attempts to teach him. What other situations can be identified as "not-learning"?Accepting failing grades in order to passively preserve cultural and personal integrity in an academic environmentComedian Mo'Nique filmed a special when doing a performance at a women's correctional facility. Given that Mo'Nique is not herself incarcerated and her jokes frequently draw attention to the difference in status and contrast with her audiences', which theory of humor is the best suited to analyze her jokes?Superiority HumorIn Sigmund Freud's Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious he describes some jokes to be considered "smut." These are jokes that can essentially be a verbal assault and express sexual aggression. What kind of violation is a joke like this?A socially sanctioned practice for violating of social normsJohn Huizinga and Henry Bateson both propose theories of comedic play, with Huizinga's focusing on the sociocultural aspect of play and Bateson focusing on the biological aspect. In what ways do the theories differ when thinking about the worlds created by each theory?Huizinga's theory states that play allows for a personal imaginary world to be created and Bateson's theory includes that play is practice for the real worldIan Brodie alluded to a sense of familiarity between audiences watching a comedy performance live and audiences who listen to records of these performances. He offers multiple explanations for this phenomenon. Which of the following is NOT one of his reasons?From infancy, humans learn to connect with other humans by watching them "perform" comedy and "joke around" in comforting spaces like the home. Audiences watching comedy performances reconnect with these early experiences.In his article "Stand-Up State of the Nation," Daniel Blazek provides a brief history of comedy albums. According to Blazek, which of the following is TRUE?None of the below: - Modern stand-up was birthed in the last 1950s and early 1960s by comedy pioneers Bill Cosby and Dick Gregory - The 1970s were known as the "comedy boom" decade - Comedy recordings flourished in the 1980s with the growing popularity of cable television and the VCR - The 1990s spurred a vast expansion of live comedy clubs - The comedy album because more popular in the 2000s due to an explosion of new media, including direct Internet sales, satellite radio, podcasts, and social mediaWhat is "authenticity" when it comes to stand-up comedy?A style of performanceWhich of the following is NOT a viewpoint present in Henri Bergson's theory of Incongruity?Laughter can destroy "identity matrices" along with the boundaries between oneself and others, essentially evening the playing fieldWhich of the following represents Performance or Performative Incongruity?The tone of voice of the comedian seems incompatible with the material of the comedyWhich of the following steps in the joke cycle always requires an understanding of previous versions of the joke?Meta-JokesIn Raul Perez's "Insult Humor - Best Practices," the idea of Authentic Inauthenticity is mentioned. How would a comedian employ this?By giving cues to the audience that indicate, "I am not a ____ even though I'm saying ______ things right now"