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Krefting's new book examines stand-up comedy

November 18, 2014
Beck Krefting's book

Beck Krefting, assistant professor of American Studies, is the author of a new book, All Joking Aside—American Humor and Its Discontents, published by Johns Hopkins University Press.

According to the publisher’s web site, Krefting’s examination of stand-up comedy “establishes a new genre of comedic production, ‘charged humor,’ and charts its pathways from production to consumption.�

Stand-up comics have used charged humor “to reveal social, political and economic stratifications,� according to the publisher. Krefting’s history of charged comedy over the past nearly 70 years highlights the work of a number of comics, including Dick Gregory, Robin Tyler, Moz Jobrani, and Hari Kondabolu.

In an interview with Tracy Wuster of the blog Humor in America, Krefting—herself a comic who has done stand-up and improve—tries to determine “What words would create the greatest comedic effect and in what order?â€� With ߣ¶ÌÊÓÆµ serving as host each year to the National College Comedy Festival, Krefting said she “gets to teach, mentor, and debate with students who are comedyphiles just like me.â€�

Click to read the Humor in America interview. Visit the publisher’s web site .