Videos

This event brought together academics and performers for a lively late afternoon of fun and discussion on alternative comedy and its past, present and future. Featuring Ray Campbell, Oliver Double, Brian Mulligan, Sophie Quirk and chaired by Sharon Lockyer (Director of the Centre for Comedy Studies Research)

The Centre for Comedy Studies Research (CCSR) is delighted to present a panel discussion exploring the knotty and complex relationships between comedy, politics and populism. Featuring: 00:03:20 Simon Weaver 00:15:30 Blue Lou 00:28:00 Sammy Basu 00:42:34 Don Biswas 00:49:16 Alison Wilde And chaired by Sharon Lockyer, Director of CCSR

The Centre for Comedy Studies Research (CCSR) presents... 'Comedy Matters: Performance, Power and Politics', in which a fantastic panel of experts examine the knotty and complex relationships between comedy, performance, power and politics. Featuring Dr Simon Weaver, Dr Kate Fox, Dr Sharon Lockyer and Dr Sara De Benedictis, chaired by Dr Sharanya Murali.

The Centre for Comedy Studies Research (CCSR) were proud to present an online panel discussion on 'Comedy on Campus: Censorship or Free Speech?'. This edited video features Dr Max Kinnings, Prof. Laura E. Little, Anvitha Paruchuri, Kate Smurthwaite and was hosted by Prof. William Leahy.

 

What does comedy reveal about our response to tumultuous times? Dr Simon Weaver, Dr Sharon Lockyer and Dr Tracey Platt discuss comedy as a mechanism for populism and anti-populism in the context of Brexit, and for managing fear and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this special collaboration with the Centre for Comedy Studies Research (CCSR), we ask – what role does comedy play in times of crisis?

 

 

What are the roles of comedy in shaping and contributing to research methodologies and research dissemination and impact strategies? Does comedy make research inclusive/exclusive?

Does comedy facilitate community engagement with academic research and its impact? How successful can researchers be with comedy and what are the limits of comedy in research? What skills do comedians bring into research? These questions, and more, are explored by a panel of experts at the Comedy and Research: An Oxymoron or Natural Bedfellows? panel seminar. Speakers include: Edward Thomas Bankes: a doctoral researcher at University College London. Alison Browne: a Lecturer in Geography at the University of Manchester. Kate Fox: a stand-up poet, comedian, writer and practice-based researcher. Max Kinnings: a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Brunel University London, novelist and screenwriter. Chaired by Sharon Lockyer, Director of the Centre for Comedy Studies Research (CCSR) and Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Communications, Brunel University London.

 

 

In Parliament Week 2017 the Centre for Comedy Studies Research (CCSR) and the Magna Carta Institute (MCI) presented Comedy, Populism and Donald Trump.

This panel discussion examined the roles of comedians and comic discourses in shaping responses to Donald Trump’s election campaign and first months in office; the potential of satire to fuel, reinforce or critique the populist appeal of Donald Trump; if political comedy on Donald Trump makes US politics more inclusive or exclusive; if political comedy on Donald Trump encourages engagement or disengagement with US politics; how humour and ridicule are used by Donald Trump to attack opponents.

Speakers are:

Sophie Quirk: Lecturer in Drama and Theatre at the University of Kent. Sophie she teaches popular and comic performance. She is the author of Why Stand-up Matters: How Comedians Manipulate and Influence (2015). The book explores the social and political influence of contemporary British stand-up comedy.

Andy Hamilton: Comedian, comedy screenwriter, television director and producer. He is a familiar face on BBC comedy panel shows and was one of the comedy creators of Ballot Monkeys (Channel 4) shown in the run-up to the 2015 General Election. He was the co-creator and co-writer of Power Monkeys (Channel 4), a political comedy series broadcast in the run-up to, and immediately after, the 2016 UK EU membership referendum and also satirised the then ongoing 2016 United States Presidential election campaign. He has also written for The Guardian on Donald Trump, Brexit, fake news and fantasists.

Jeffrey Karp: Professor in the Division of Politics and History at Brunel University London. Jeffery specialises in research on public opinion, elections and political behaviour. He has worked on eleven externally-funded projects and from 2008-2012 was the Director of the Centre for Elections, Media and Political Parties (CEMaP) at the University of Exeter.

Howard Jacobson: Novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is recognised for writing comic novels and has won the Man Booker Prize. He is known for his novels J and The Finkler Question. He writes for The Guardian and The Independent newspapers, and regularly appears on radio and television. He has recently written a satirical novel about Donald Trump’s presidency called Pussy: A Novel. Chaired by Justin Fisher: Head of Department of Social and Political Sciences, and Professor of Political Science, Brunel University London.

 

 

In this video, Jerry Palmer analyses the type of humour associated with the trench warfare of World War One, a type of humour sometimes called ‘black humour’.

The same phrase is used in French, and in German, it is called ‘gallows humour’. It is a well-known feature of writings about World War One, both at the time and subsequently. We see various examples, from all three languages.

Two elements of the theory of humour provide a basis for Jerry’s analysis: incongruity, and the situation of utterance; the interaction between these two in discourse-based theories of humour is well known. Arguably, the black humour of the trenches stretches the perception of incongruity to the limits of commonplace recognition, largely because the context of utterance is beyond the scope of most people’s experience (then and now).

The analysis focuses primarily on the question of the comprehensibility of this humour once it is taken out of the context in which it was originally made. Jerry Palmer is the former Professor of Communications at London Metropolitan University and Visiting Professor of Sociology at City University. Originally trained in languages and literature, he is the author of 6 books on various aspects of the mass media and popular culture. Two of these are on comedy and humour: The Logic of the Absurd (British Film Institute, 1987) and Taking Humour Seriously (Routledge, 1994); he also contributed to the collection Beyond a Joke: The Limits of Humour, edited by Sharon Lockyer and Michael Pickering (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005). He is currently preparing a book on soldiers’ memoirs of World War One in Britain, France, and Germany, from which this talk is taken.

 

 

Comedy, Gender, and Offence examines the roles of comedians and comic discourses in shaping discussions of gender identity and offence in contemporary society; how gender identities shape responses to comedy that draws on gender; the range of responses to comedy that draws on gender; the relationship between comedy and the maintenance, disruption and deconstruction of gender relations with regard to gender groups; the ethical limits for comedians and comic discourses in relation to the comedy of gender; and the relationship between issues of freedom of speech and censorship and comedy that draws on gender.

These topics (and more) are discussed by a panel of speakers including:

Kate Fox (stand-up poet, comedian, writer and practice-based researcher at the University of Leeds)

Joan Greening (award-winning playwright and creator of ITV sitcoms The Cabbage Patch and Troubles and Strife)

Lynne Parker (Founder and Chief Executive of Funny Women, award-winning producer, performance coach and writer)

Simon Weaver (Lecturer in Media and Communications, Brunel University London)

Chaired by Meredith Jones (Reader in Sociology and Communications, Brunel University London)

 

 

‘Beyond a Joke’ 2016-17: Comedy, Class and Offence
• What are the roles of comedians and comic discourses in shaping discussions of class and offence in contemporary society? 

• How do our identities shape responses to comedy that draws on social class?

• What are the range of responses to comedy that draws on social class? What is the relationship between comedy, offensiveness and the maintenance, disruption and deconstruction of ‘social cohesion’ in contemporary plural democracies? 
• To what extent are there, or should there be, ethical limits for comedians and comic discourses in relation to class? 
These questions, and more, are explored by a panel of experts in this Comedy, Class and Offence panel seminar. Speakers were: Mark Boosey: has been running British Comedy Guide for over 10 years. Comedy.co.uk delivers news, features, programme guides, and more besides to over 500,000 visitors a month. 
BCG compiles guides to the 800+ hours of new comedy broadcast on TV and radio each year, as well as covering films, online comedy and the live comedy circuit. Leon Hunt: is a Senior Lecturer in Film and TV Studies at Brunel University London. His publications on British comedy include the books British Low Culture: From Safari Suits to Sexploitation, a BFI monograph on The League of Gentlemen and Cult British TV Comedy: From Reeves and Mortimer to Psychoville. Giselinde Kuipers: is Professor of Cultural Sociology and Head of the Department of Sociology at the University of Amsterdam. 
She is the author of Good Humor, Bad Taste: A Sociology of the Joke as well as numerous articles on humour, media, cultural globalization, transnational culture and beauty. James Meehan: is a multi award-winning comedian who has just returned from this year’s Edinburgh Fringe where his debut solo hour, Class Act, a stand-up comedy show on classism in the arts garnered critical praise. Chaired by John Roberts: Head of Department of Social Sciences, Media and Communications and Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Communications, Brunel University London.

 

 

To mark World Social Work Day the Division of Social Work at Brunel University London and the Centre for Comedy Studies Research presented Comedy and Care: The Funny Side of Social Work on 21 March 2017.

A panel of experts and practitioners explored media portrayals of social work, the role of comedy in shaping discussions of social work, and much more.

 

 

In this presentation Professor Delia Chiaro (University of Bologna) explores whether or not humour is culture specific and whether British people have a better sense of humour than anybody else. Professor Chiaro reports on a study that used examples of verbally expressed humour (VEH) from a number of ‘Made in Britain’ blockbusters to explore how Italian audiences perceive VEH when it is translated and how far translation might have an impact on individual humour responses. Spoiler Alert? Manipulating Comedy and TV Titles for Italian Audiences 

Dr Chiara Bucaria (University of Bologna at Forlì) discusses the importance of translated film and TV comedy titles as conveyors of cultural trends in the target language. In particular she looks at the strategies used in the adaptation of English titles for the Italian audience, which seem to suggest a conscious attempt by distributors at making Italian titles more explicit and genre-specific, often by disclosing significant elements of the plot of the film or TV show.

 

 

In this seminar Professor Otto Santa Ana (University of California Los Angeles, USA) discusses his model of laughter and humour that sees both as based in rhetoric, not language. One of the aims of the model is to analyse political humour, from examples such as the 2005 Danish Prophet Muhammed cartoons to Jay Leno’s anti-immigrant jokes. Otto argues that the rhetorical contrivances that we use in humour today have their source in a few cognitive processes that made animal play possible. He claims hominoids have always built social interaction using these cognitive processes. This model is a description of the actual execution of social power in communication. The model appeals to an undertaking of empirical and simulation studies of political humour.

 

 

What role does comedy play in framing election processes, campaigns, parties and politicians? Can political comedy encourage democratic dis/engagement? How far does political comedy influence party campaign strategies? What is the relationship between comedy and the maintenance, disruption or deconstruction of public trust in democratic societies? These questions, and more, are explored by a panel of experts in this Comedy and Politics: Putting the ‘Mock’ into Democracy panel seminar as part of Parliament Week 2016.

Speakers are:

• Professor Jane Arthurs - expert in television studies, celebrity and gender and convenor of the Social Media Research Group at Middlesex University.
• Dr Oliver Double - expert in stand-up comedy, variety theatre and popular performance, Deputy Head of the School of Arts the University of Kent and a stand-up comedian.
• Professor Justin Fisher – expert in British and comparative politics, Director of the Magna Carta Institute, Professor of Political Science and Head of Politics, History and the Brunel Law School Department.
• Dr Rebecca Higgie - CCSR postdoctoral researcher examining whether politicians gain cultural currency by ‘playing’ with comedians, showing a sense of humour or satirising themselves.
• Bruce Dessau – comedy reviewer, author and editor of the Beyond The Joke website.

 

 

In this Comedy, Health and Disability seminar Simon Minty discusses his work and experiences as a disability activist and comedy producer. He entertainingly discusses the creation of the comedy troupe, Abnormally Funny People, and examines the relationship between disability and comedy today. 

 

 

Laughter Beyond the Bell Curve: The Last Leg and Trollied – 4th March 2015 by Margaret Montgomerie

Dr Simon Weaver introduces this Comedy, Health and Disability Seminar that is presented by Margaret Montgomerie (De Montfort University, UK).

Margaret investigates the ways in which disabled comedians function within popular television shows, focusing in particular on Channel 4’s The Last Leg and Sky 1’s Trollied. Margaret explores a range of questions including: do the formats of the programmes, the comedy chat show and the sitcom, automatically suspend normalcy for the purposes of entertainment, creating a temporary space where values and assumptions are turned upside down? And do these programmes have any relationship to the material produced by disabled comedians outside of the mainstream media? 

 

 

A short promotional film produced for Brunel's Centre for Comedy Studies Research. Filmed as part of 'Sisters Productions' 21 November 2014 Brunel University London.

A short promotional film produced for Brunel's Centre for Comedy Studies Research. Filmed as part of 'Sisters Productions'

 

 

21 November 2014 Brunel University, London

Festival: 15 —23 November 2014

#BeingHuman14

Led by School of Advanced Study, University of London - in partnership with Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the British Academy.

 

 

 

 

Comedy and Mental Health Symposium – 8th October 2014

This symposium explored comedy and its relationship to mental health, with speakers discussing the psychology of the stand-up comedian, the use of stand-up comedy in reducing mental health stigma in the military and uses of comedy with mental health service users. Speakers included:

• ‌Professor Gordon Claridge (University of Oxford)
• ‌Tim Sayers (Arts in Health co-ordinator at Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT)
• ‌John Ryan (stand-up comedian and comedy researcher)

 

 

Society and Satire: Contemporary Case-Studies from Three Cultures, Australia, Japan and China - 11 June 2014

In this seminar that is introduced by Dr Sharon Lockyer (CCSR Director), Dr Jessica Milner Davis (Honorary Associate, University of Sydney) examines three case studies from Australia, Japan and China to explore the cultural rules that seem to govern what, where, when, how and with whom humour can properly (and improperly) be used in contemporary societies.

 

 

Toward a Model of the Negotiation of Humorous Intention -- 11th June 2014.

In this seminar, introduced by Dr Sharon Lockyer (CCSR Director), Professor Salvatore Attardo and Associate Professor Lucy Pickering (Texas A&M University-Commerce, Applied Linguistics Laboratory) present their current empirical research on the prosody and kinesics of humour communication. 

 

 

Humour Use in Healthcare Interactions: A Risk Worth Taking - 15th January 2014 by May McCreaddie

In this video Dr May McCreaddie (University of Stirling) examines the role humour in health care settings through analysis of spontaneous humour in nurse-patient interactions and among nurse-peer and patient-peer groups. The opportunities, limitations and impact of using potentially ‘problematic’ and ‘non-problematic’ humour in patient care are also explored.

 

 

Centre for Comedy Studies Research (CCSR) Comedy Matters Research Seminar Series 2013-14. Sending Laughter Around the World - 27th November 2013 

In this seminar Dr Louise Peacock (University of Hull) examines the therapeutic nature of clowning, play and laughter on those who experience clown performances in difficult and potentially dangerous settings.