Snazzy title ain't it? It says a lot about contemporary society that Louis C.K can spout outrageous lines like this and have a successful TV Show and Stand up tour. But what interests me other than twisted humor is the changes in American society that I believe have played a part in Louis C.K's emergence to mainstream popularity. Lenny Bruce received repeated arrests for obscenity while performing standup in 1960's, George Carlin even testified inSupreme Court Case against FCC after his "Seven Dirty Words" and "Filthy Words" routines were aired on Pacifica radio. Comedians and performers jeopardized their careers and faced public persecution for trying to express their selves in an unrestricted manner. This language and hostility may be used partly for shock and attention grabbing, but more so the language is used capture and emphasize the speaker’s frustration and bewilderment at the absurdity of life. The comedian's appeal is a paradox because the speaker is detached or dejected by society and by commenting on that, is thus relatable to the American Public.
The correlation of the "outsider" image of popular American Comedians is the theme of my research proposal. My goal is to find which historical, behavioral, or cultural factors play into American's tastes in comedy. The evidence produced from this study could aid in future studies about other mediums such as punk rock or street art that start from counter/sub culture roots to becoming popular icons of American Culture. So my research question is:
"Why has Stand-Up comedy's popular use of the "outsider" image been/become so appealing to the American public?"
My methodology would be literary and historical analysis of controversial comedians who have pushed the boundaries of obscenity as an act of dissidence. Since my argument is that Stand Up comedy is a powerful form of dissidence because the performers are not only allowed but expected to be uncensored, outrageous, and shameless, so virtually any comedian's work could be examined. But the comedians I've selected to examine lean towards certain anti-authoritative stances: religion, corporate marketing, and government, are males, have an extensive amount of material, and their careers occurred somewhere between the period of the 1960's - 1990's, since standup comedy today is saturated with shock comics. The comics I would like to analyze would be George Carlin, Bill Hicks, Lenny Bruce, and Richard Pryor. The problem would be that I am a fan of these performers and may hold a bias that would affect my objectivity. So I could also examine comedians that I don't like or were not successful- e.g. Michael "Kramer" Richards and the "N word" fiasco to counter it, but that's really trading one bias for another. To avoid making the study too broad, I will not go in depth about intersectionality or other social factors (gender, ethnicity, or class) to which would require me to address too many comedians. Books, course readings and journal articles I have attained will be used to define the general theory and structure of comedy and forming humor.
The correlation of the "outsider" image of popular American Comedians is the theme of my research proposal. My goal is to find which historical, behavioral, or cultural factors play into American's tastes in comedy. The evidence produced from this study could aid in future studies about other mediums such as punk rock or street art that start from counter/sub culture roots to becoming popular icons of American Culture. So my research question is:
My methodology would be literary and historical analysis of controversial comedians who have pushed the boundaries of obscenity as an act of dissidence. Since my argument is that Stand Up comedy is a powerful form of dissidence because the performers are not only allowed but expected to be uncensored, outrageous, and shameless, so virtually any comedian's work could be examined. But the comedians I've selected to examine lean towards certain anti-authoritative stances: religion, corporate marketing, and government, are males, have an extensive amount of material, and their careers occurred somewhere between the period of the 1960's - 1990's, since standup comedy today is saturated with shock comics. The comics I would like to analyze would be George Carlin, Bill Hicks, Lenny Bruce, and Richard Pryor. The problem would be that I am a fan of these performers and may hold a bias that would affect my objectivity. So I could also examine comedians that I don't like or were not successful- e.g. Michael "Kramer" Richards and the "N word" fiasco to counter it, but that's really trading one bias for another. To avoid making the study too broad, I will not go in depth about intersectionality or other social factors (gender, ethnicity, or class) to which would require me to address too many comedians. Books, course readings and journal articles I have attained will be used to define the general theory and structure of comedy and forming humor.