AMST 395m: African American Humor and Culture

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1 of 8 AMST 395m: African American Humor and Culture Spring 2004 Lec 10234R M/W 8:30-9:50AM VHE 206 Professor: Lanita Jacobs-Huey Office: Grace Ford Salvatori Hall (GFS) 128 [Note: To get to my office, you must first enter the Anthropology Department at GFS 120] Phone: 213-740-1909 Email: jacobshu@usc.edu Office Hours: M/W 2-3PM; also by appointment. You can also contact me Monday-Friday via email. Course Website: TBA (To be announced) Required Texts: 1.

AMST 395 Reader (Abbreviated as RDR in Reading & Exam Schedule) 2. Du Bois, W.E.B. 1997 [1903].

The Souls of Black Folk, Edited with Introduction by David W. Blight and Robert Gooding-Williams. Boston: Bedford Books.

(Abbreviated as Du Bois in Reading & Exam Schedule) 3. Gregory, Dick. 1995 [1964].

Nigger: An Autobiography, with Robert Lipsyte. New York: Pocket Books. (Abbreviated as Gregory in Reading & Exam Schedule) 4.

Hurston, Zora Neale. 1990 [1935]. Mules and Men.

New York: HarperCollins. (Abbreviated as Hurston in Reading & Exam Schedule ) 5. Watkins, Mel.

1994. On the Real Side: Laughing, Lying, and Signifying - The Underground Tradition of African American Humor that Transformed American Culture, from Slavery to Richard Pryor. New York: Simon and Schuster.

(Abbreviated as Watkins 1994 in Reading & Exam Schedule) 6. Watkins, Mel (Ed.) 2002. ... more. less.

African American Humor: The Best Black Comedy from Slavery to Today. Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books. (Abbreviated as Watkins 2002 in Reading & Exam Schedule) Highly Recommended Texts: 1. Borns, Betsy. 1987. Comic Lives: Inside the World of American Stand-Up Comedy. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc. (Abbreviated as Borns in Reading and Exam Schedule) 2. Dance, Daryl Cumber. 1998. Honey, Hush!: An Anthology of African American Women 9s Humor. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. (Abbreviated as Dance in Reading & Exam Schedule) 3. Zinsser, William. 2001. On Writing Well. Sixth Edition. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. (Though optional, this text is highly recommended as a resource for your essay, and writing in general) NOTE: All course texts are on reserve in Leavey Library. Course Description: This course examines a long tradition of African American humor in theatre (e.g., cblackface d minstrelsy), TV/radio (e.g., Amos 8N 9 Andy ), literature/folklore, and, principally, Black or curban d standup comedy. We will explore how these diverse comedic forms offer insights into shifting notions of race/racial cauthenticity, d culture, language, and identity in and beyond Black America. Through an investigation of interdisciplinary theories of Black humor in folklore, linguistics, anthropology, and cultural/literary studies, we shall come to appreciate the themes/tropes, linguistic conventions, discourse styles, and performative genres that characterize the broad category of African American humor. Field visits to urban comedy clubs/shows and guest speakers will also afford our analysis of (i) comics and their audiences as co-producers of Black humor, (ii) the urban comedy clubs/show as a communal forum, and (iii) comics as members of a community of practice. Throughout the course, we will assess (iv) the politics of representing Black humor and laughter that have impacted African American humorists and their audiences in poignant ways throughout history. 7/19/2006 2 of 8 Grading: There will be a midterm and final exam covering assigned readings and/or films. Your score on the midterm will constitute 25% of your grade and your score on the final exam will constitute 40%. Each of the exams will include short-answer and essay questions and will be non-cumulative. In addition, 25% of your grade will be determined by an 8- 10 page essay (excluding bibliography of 5-7 sources) due at the beginning of lecture on Monday, March 23, 2004 . This essay should provide a critical review of a clive d standup comedy performance observed at a local, urban comedy club or show. You may invoke one or several course themes (e.g., comic-audience dynamics; standup comedy as personal memoir, cultural or political commentary; gendered humor; standup comedy as a window into race, cultural identity, language, etc.) in your paper. Your essay must adhere to the following format: double-spaced, 12 point-font, 1 d top, bottom, right, and left margins. (Additional guidelines, as well as sample comedy reviews, will be available on the course web page.) The remaining 10% of your grade will be determined by your class participation . As such, you are strongly encouraged to keep up with assigned readings/films so that you are adequately prepared to participate in class discussions. Extra credit opportunities will be offered in the form of a two-point cbonus question d on the midterm and final exam. The grading scale is as follows: Grading Scale: 94-100 = A 87-89 = B+ 77-79 = C+ 67-69 = D+ e 59 = F 90-93 = A- 84-86 = B 74-76 = C 64-66 = D 80-83 = B- 70-73 = C- 60-63 = D- An Official Note on Examinations: Make-up exams will only be given under extraordinary circumstances and will require documentation from a physician. The content and form of any make-up exam will be at my discretion. In any case, you should inform me via email or phone prior to missing an exam. If you feel you must reschedule an exam on account of having (a) two additional exams scheduled at the same time or (b) three exams in a 24-hour period, inform me at least two weeks prior to our scheduled mid-term. The final exam must be taken at the time noted below. Also, no late or emailed essays/comedy reviews will be accepted. Attendance: A grading percentage will not be given for class attendance. However, consistent and punctual attendance in lecture and discussion section(s) is strongly encouraged to increase your understanding of course materials. Your record of attendance may also be considered in the case of borderline grades. It is ultimately your responsibility to be aware of class lectures and assignments. Should sickness, family emergencies, or other events necessitate your absence from class, I recommend that you consult your peers for copies of their lecture notes. Academic Accommodations: Students requesting academic accommodations based on a disability should register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP when necessary documentation is filed. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible, preferably by or before fifth week. DSP is open Monday-Friday, 8:30AM-5PM. The office is in Student Union 301 and their phone number is 213-740-0776. Class Structure: Class meetings will consist of lecture and discussion, with a clear emphasis on the latter. As such, it is essential that you keep up with the weekly readings and that you hand in assignments on time. This class also entails a field visit to an urban comedy club or show. A list of recommended comedy venues in Los Angeles area will be provided in class; the instructor might also arrange for a class visit to a local, urban comedy club to take place during the seventh week of class. During several lectures (see Reading and Exam Schedule), African American and/or curban d comics will be invited to address class themes and field questions. Class Resources: This course is a Blackboard course. Consult the course 9s Blackboard web page for weekly discussion questions about assigned readings, as well as course media (e.g., photos, etc.) that relate to class discussions. You should consider the discussion questions to be an important resource as you prepare for exams. The course web page will also include class information (e.g., syllabus, sample cstandup comedy reviews d, essay guidelines, exam tips) and other information related to the course. G RADE B ASIS Midterm: 25% Essay/Comedy Review: 25% Final Exam: 40% Participation: 10% 3 of 8 ARE YOU CONFUSED ABOUT ASSIGNED READINGS? RECALL: [in RDR] = In AMST 395 Reader, Borns = Comic Lives , Dance = Honey, Hush! , Du Bois = Souls of Black Folk , Gregory = Nigger , Hurston = Mules & Men , Watkins 1994 = On Real Side , Watkins 2002 = African American Humor . READING & EXAM SCHEDULE Week 1: 1/12 1/14 C OURSE I NTRODUCTION , I NTERDISCIPLINARY A PPROACHES TO H UMOR AND L AUGHTER : What is humor? How is laugher produced? How has humor been studied? " Class Overview: Syllabus, Exam Policy, Essay Guidelines, etc. " Apte: Chapter 6: Humor and Language [in RDR] " Carrell: Joke Competence and Humor Competence " Purdue: Introduction; Joking as the cAb-use 9 of Language [in RDR] " Zinsser: Optional Text Week 2: 1/19 No Class 1/21 E ARLY A FRICAN A MERICAN H UMOR 3 E THNOGRAPHY /F OLKLORE /L ITERARY : How is everyday Black humor reflected in ethnographic/literary studies? What politics surrounded these comic representations of Black culture and identity? " Cross: Jokes and Black Consciousness: [ Optional; in RDR] " Gordon: Humor in African American Discourse [ Optional; in RDR] " Hughes: Jokes Negroes Tell on Themselves [in RDR] " Hurston: Mules and Men, Part I " Levine: Black Laughter [in RDR; Optional ] " Washington: Zora Neale Hurston: A Woman in Half Shadow [in RDR] " Watkins 2002: Introduction Week 3: 1/26 1/28 E ARLY A FRICAN A MERICAN H UMOR 3 T HEATRE , TV/R ADIO : When did cblackface d minstrelsy emerge and what opportunities were afforded to Black artists? How were African American cblackface d performances and, later, radio and TV shows like Amos 8N 9 Andy received by Black audiences? What did Black audiences perceive to be at stake in these comedic representations? " Coleman: Introduction [in RDR] " Ely: The Great Migration into America 9s Living Room [in RDR] " Krasner: Introduction 3 Black Theatre and American Society [in RDR; Optional ] " Smith: Chs. 18 & 22, Bert Williams: A Biography of the Pioneer Black Comedian [in RDR] " Watkins 1994: Ch. 3, Black Minstrelsy to Vaudeville & Black on Black [in RDR] " Watkins 1994: Ch. 7: Radio and Early Television [in RDR] " Film: Amos 8N 9 Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy Ethnic Notions (excerpts) Week 4: 2/2 2/4 B LACK / cU RBAN d S TANDUP C OMEDY 3 A NTHROPOLOGICAL A PPROACHES : How might an anthropologist study Black standup comedy and its practitioners (i.e., comedians, audiences)? " Borns: Audiences & Make Laughter, Not War [in RDR] " Duranti & Brennais: The Audience as Co-Author [in RDR] " Jacobs-Huey: The Natives are Gazing and Talking Back [in RDR] " Koziski: The Standup Comedian as Anthropologist [in RDR] " Mintz: Standup Comedy as Social and Cultural Medium " Watkins 1994: Prologue 3 Black Humor & What it is [In RDR] Week 5: 2/9 2/11 B LACK / cU RBAN d S TANDUP C OMEDY 3 L ANGUAGE , F ORM , C ONVENTIONS : What discourse styles and linguistic conventions characterize African American/ curban d standup comedy? How is culture reflected in comics 9 use of language during joke-telling? " Apte: Chapter 1: Joking Relationships [in RDR] " Coleman: Black Performance in the African Diaspora [in RDR] " Greenbaum: Stand-Up Comedy as Rhetorical Argument [in RDR] " Morgan: More than a Mood or an Attitude [in RDR] " Roy: The Function of Irony in Discourse [in RDR] " Rutter: The Stand-Up Introduction Sequence [in RDR] " Film/Video: Select Comedy Clips 4 of 8 ARE YOU CONFUSED ABOUT ASSIGNED READINGS? RECALL: [in RDR] = In AMST 395 Reader, Borns = Comic Lives , Dance = Honey, Hush! , Du Bois = Souls of Black Folk , Gregory = Nigger , Hurston = Mules & Men , Watkins 1994 = On Real Side , Watkins 2002 = African American Humor . Week 6: 2/16 No Class 2/18 Midterm Midterm on Wednesday, February 18 th ! Week 7: 2/23 2//25 R ACE , I DENTITY , AND A UTHENTICITY : How has blackness been defined in Black standup comedy? What constitutes one as racially cauthentic d or cinauthentic d in urban standup routines (e.g., language, class)? What notions of (racial) identity are apparent in the popular comedic trope of Black-White cultural differences? " Apte: Chapter 4: Humor, Ethnicity, and Intergroup Relations [in RDR] " Dance: cJust Like the White Man d [in RDR] " Harper: What 9s My Name [in RDR] " McWhorter: The New Black Double Consciousness [in RDR] " Film/Video: Black Is & Black Ain 9t Select Comedy Clips Week 8: 3/1 3/3 B LACK S TANDUP C OMEDY AS P OLITICAL C RITIQUE : How does Black standup comedy function as a form of political critique? How do black comics make sense of the September 11 th terrorist attacks? How do their jokes index questions of race, culture, and American identity post 9/11? " Du Bois: Introduction; On Our Spiritual Strivings " Ellis: A Model for Collecting and Interpreting World Trade Center Disaster Jokes; Making a Big Apple Crumble [in RDR; Optional ] " Gwaltney: Introduction; A Nation within a Nation [in RDR] " Jacobs-Huey: cThe Arab is the New Nigger d [in RDR] " Haggins: Laughing Mad [in RDR] " Neuman: Hear the One About the Traveling Taliban? [in RDR] " Williams & Williams: Chapter 5 [in RDR] " Film/Video: Select Comedy Clips Week 9 : 3/8 3/10 B LACK S TANDUP C OMEDY AS C ULTURAL C OMMENTARY 3 H AIR N ARRATIVES : What cultural observations/critiques are apparent in black standup comedy? Specifically, how do comedy routines about black hair and skin color reflect a broader politics of hair and identity in African America? " Gwaltney: The Many Shades of Black [in RDR] " Jacobs-Huey: Epistemological Deliberations [in RDR] " Mercer: Black Hair/Style Politics [in RDR] " Film/Video: Select Comedy Clips S PRING B REAK [No class] Week 10 : 3/23 3/25 G ENDERED H UMOR : How are issues of gender/sexuality represented of black standup comedy? How does gender constrain who and what can be funny? " Apte: Chapter 2: Sexual Inequality in Humor [in RDR] " Avins: Surely She Jests [in RDR] " Berger: And Since Then: Standup Comedy 1975-1985 [ skim; in RDR] " Dresner: Whoopi Goldberg and Lily Tomlin: Black and White Women 9s Humor [ opt.; in RDR] " Watkins 2002: Women and Men (307-310) " Williams: Mabley 9s Persona [in RDR] " Video Clips/Film: To be announced (TBA) " Guest Speaker(s) : TBA Comedy Essays/Reviews Due Monday, March 23 rd at beginning of Lecture! 5 of 8 ARE YOU CONFUSED ABOUT ASSIGNED READINGS? RECALL: [in RDR] = In AMST 395 Reader, Borns = Comic Lives , Dance = Honey, Hush! , Du Bois = Souls of Black Folk , Gregory = Nigger , Hurston = Mules & Men , Watkins 1994 = On Real Side , Watkins 2002 = African American Humor . Week 11: 3/29 3/31 B LACK S TANDUP C OMEDY AS P ERSONAL N ARRATIVE /M EMOIR : How do comics use the stage to make sense of their cultural identity, past experiences, and anticipated futures? To what extent are their experiences palatable, humorous, and universal? " Ajaye: Sinbad; George Wallace [in RDR] " Borns: Pith and Vinegar& Inside the Comic Mind [in RDR] " Gregory: Nigger ; Read entire Text " Watkins 1994: Pryor and Thereafter & On the real side " Guest Speaker(s): TBA Week 12: 4/5 4/7 B LACK S TANDUP : P OLITICS OF R EPRESENTATION : How do comics reconcile the art of standup comedy with the politics of representing Black culture, language, and identity before African American and/or mixed audiences? How is the controversial signifier cnigger d used in urban standup? How do debates concerning the use of cnigger d and cdirty/blue d comedy compare/contrast with earlier debates about Black humor and laughter? " Allen: Now That 9s a Joyful Noise [in RDR] " Coleman: Black Sitcom Portrayals: The Good, The Bad, and the Worse [ skim; in RDR] " Hammer: Must Blacks Be Buffoons? [in RDR] " Kennedy: Ch. 1, Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word [in RDR] " McWhorter: The Unbearable Lightness of the 8N 9 Word [in RDR] " Perret: Be Funny, Not Just Dirty [in RDR] " Watkins 1994 (news article): He Certainly Isn 9t the First [in RDR] " Williams & Williams: Ch. 10 [in RDR] " Guest Speaker(s): TBA Week 13 : 4/12 4/14 B ROADER R EPRESENTATIONS OF cU RBAN d S TANDUP C OMEDY : What familiar or distinct themes emerge in the standup routines of non-black (e.g., Latino, Asian, Middle Eastern, European American) curban d comics? " Basso: Joking Imitations of Anglo Americans 3 Interpretive Functions [in RDR] " Price: Laughing without Reservations [in RDR; Optional ] " Santa Ana: Insurgent Metaphors [in RDR] " Schutz: The Sociability of Ethnic Jokes " Tuan: cI 9m American with a Japanese Look d [in RDR] " Guest Speaker(s): TBA Week 14: 4/19 4/21 R ESOLVING B REACHES IN B LACK S TANDUP C OMEDY : How do comics resolve breaches during their standup routines? What discourse strategies do they employ to silence checklers d? What discourse skills are necessary when performing for Black versus White audiences? " Borns: Hecklers and Horrors [in RDR] " Audio: Excerpts of Audio-taped Interviews with African American Comics " Guest Speaker(s): TBA Week 15: 4/26 4/28 B LACK /U RBAN S TANDUP C OMEDY 3 N EGOTIATING R ESPONSIBILITY , C HOICE , AND A CCOUNTABILITY : How do African American or curban d comic celebrities negotiate the politics of their success? How do they reconcile communal notions of how they should crepresent d their culture with the often conflicting demands of the entertainment industry? " Braxton: Spare the Rod, Spoil the Jokes (The Bernie Mac Show) [in RDR] " Calvo: Will This One Click? (The George Lopez Show) [in RDR] " Cheng: [Margaret] Cho and Her Mother of Comic Invention [in RDR] " Walker: Wayne Brady Talks About & Critics Who Say He 9s Not Black Enough [in RDR] " Film/Video: Excerpts of I 9m The One I Want (Margaret Cho), Mad TV " Guest Speaker(s): TBA FINAL EXAM: Monday, May 10 th 11AM-1PM m. VHE 206 6 of 8 C OURSE B IBLIOGRAPHY (Textbooks in Bold) Ajaye, Franklyn. 2002. Sinbad and George Wallace. In Comic Insights: The Art of Stand-up Comedy (217-222; 224-242). Los Angeles: Silman-James Press. Allen, Marshall. 2002. Now That 9s A Joyful Noise. Los Angeles Times (March 2): B18. Apte, Mahadev L. 1985. Humor and Laughter: An Anthropological Approach. Ithaca/London: Cornell University Press. Avins, Mimi. 2002. Surely, She Jests. Los Angeles Times, (March 11): E1, E4.Berger, Phil. 2000. And Since Then: Standup Comedy, 1975-1985. In The Last Laugh: The World of Standup Comics (379-396). New York: Cooper Square Press. Basso, Keith H. 1999 [1979]. Joke Imitations of Anglo-Americans: Interpretive Functions. In Portraits of cThe Whiteman d: Linguistic Play and Cultural Symbols among the Western Apache (35-64). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Borns, Betsy. 1987. Comic Lives: Inside the World of American Stand-Up Comedy. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc. Braxton, Greg. 2001. Spare the Rod, Spoil the Jokes. Los Angeles Times, November 4 (Calendar): 5, 86-87. Calvo, Dana. 2002. Will This One Click? Los Angeles Times, March 26: F1, F10. Carrell, Amy. 1997. Joke competence and humor competence. HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research. 10(2): 173-185. Cheng, Scarlet. 2002. Cho and Her Mother of Comic Invention. Los Angeles Times, June 26: F1, F8. Coleman, Larry G. 1984. Black Comic Performance in the African Diaspora: A Comparison of the Comedy of Richard Pryor and Paul Keens-Douglas. Journal of Black Studies, 15(1): 67-78 [September]. Coleman, Robin R. Means. 2000. African American Viewers and the Black Situation Comedy: Situating Racial Humor (57-140). New York: Garland Publishing, Inc. Cross, Paulette. 1973 [1969]. Jokes and Black Consciousness: A Collection with Interviews. In A. Dundes Mother Wit from the Laughing Barrel: Readings in the Interpretation of Afro-American Folklore (649-669). University Press of Mississippi. Dance, Daryl Cumber. 1998. Honey, Hush!: An Anthology of African American Women 9s Humor. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. Dresner, Zita Z. 1991. Whoopi Goldberg and Lily Tomlin: Black and White Women 9s Humor. In J. Sochen (Ed.) Women 9s Comic Visions (179-192). Detroit: Wayne State University Press. Du Bois, W.E.B. 1997 [1903]. The Souls of Black Folk, Edited with Introduction by David W. Blight and Robert Gooding-Williams. Boston: Bedford Books. Duranti, Alessandro and Donald Brennais. 1986. The Audience as Co-Author. Text, Vol. 6, No. 3: 239-347. Ellis, Bill. 2001. A Model for Collecting and Interpreting World Trade Center Disaster Jokes. New Directions in Folklore, October, Issue 5. Ellis, Bill. 2002. Making a Big Apple Crumble: The Role of Humor in Constructing a Global Response to Disaster. Special Monograph Issue, New Directions in Folklore June (6), Electronic Document, http://www.temple.edu/isllc/newfolk/journal.html. Ely, Melvin Patrick. 1991. The Great Migration into America 9s Living Room. In The Adventures of Amos 8n 9 Andy: A Social History of an American Phenomenon. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. Gordon, Dexter B. 1998. Humor in African American Discourse: Speaking of Oppression. Journal of Black Studies, 29(2): 254-276 [November]. Gregory, Dick. 1995 [1964]. Nigger: An Autobiography (with Robert Lipsyte). New York: The New Press. 7 of 8 Greenbaum, Andrea. 1999. Stand-Up Comedy as Rhetorical Argument: An Investigation of Comic Culture, Humor 12(1): 33-46. Gwaltney, John Langston. 1993. Drylongso: A Self Portrait of Black America. New York: The New Press. Haggins, Bambi. 2003. Laughing Mad: The Black Comedian 9s Place in American Comedy of the Post-Civil Rights Era. In Frank Krutnik (Ed.) Hollywood Comedians: The Film Reader (171-186). London: Routledge. Hammer, Joshua. 1992. Must Blacks Be Buffoons? Newsweek (October 26): 70-71. Harper, Phillip Brian. 1996. What 9s My Name: Designation, Identification, and Cultural cAuthenticity. d In Are We Not Men?: Masculine Anxiety and the Problem of African American Identity (54-73). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hughes, Langston. 1973 [1951]. Jokes Negroes Tell on Themselves. In A. Dundes (Ed.) Mother Wit from the Laughing Barrel: Readings in the Interpretation of Afro-American Folklore (637-641). University Press of Mississippi. Hurston, Zora Neale. 1990 [1935]. Mules and Men. New York: HarperCollins. Jacobs-Huey, Lanita. 2003. Black/ dUrban d Standup Comedy: A Performance by Brandon Bowlin. Theatre Journal 55(3): 539-541 (October). Jacobs-Huey, Lanita. 2002. The Natives are Gazing and Talking Back: Reviewing the Problematics of Positionality, Voice, and Accountability among cNative d Anthropologists. American Anthropologist 104(3): 791-804. Jacobs-Huey, Lanita. 2001. Epistemological Deliberations: Constructing and Contesting Knowledge in Women 9s Cross-Cultural Hair Testimonies. In Nancy Tuana and Sandi Morgen (Eds.) EnGendering Rationalities (335-359). Albany: SUNY Press. Jacobs-Huey, Lanita. n.d. cThe Arab is the New Nigger d: African American Comics Discuss Race, Identity, and Nation after September 11th. Unpublished Manuscript. Kennedy, Randall. 2002. Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word. New York: Pantheon Books. Koziski, Stephanie. 1984. The Standup Comedian as Anthropologist. Journal of Popular Culture 18(Fall): 57-76. Krasner, David. 1997. Introduction: Black Theatre and American Society. In Resistance, Parody, and Double Consciousness in African American Theatre, 1895-1910 (1-14). New York: St. Martin 9s Press. Levine, Lawrence W. 1977. Black Laughter. In Black Culture and Black Consciousness (298-366)f. London: Oxford University Press. Mercer, Kobena. 1994. Black Hair/Style Politics. In Welcome to the Jungle: New Positions in Black Cultural Studies (97-138). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. McWhorter, John. 2003. The New Black Double Consciousness. In Authentically Black: Essays for the Black Silent Majority (1-35). New York: Gotham Books. McWhorter, John. 2003. The Unbearable Lightness of the 8N 9 Word. In Authentically Black: Essays for the Black Silent Majority (163- 175). New York: Gotham Books. Mintz, Lawrence E. 1985. Standup Comedy as Social and Cultural Medium. American Quarterly, 37(1): 71-80. Morgan, Marcyliena. 1998. More Than A Mood or An Attitude: Discourse & Verbal Genres in African American Culture. In Salikoko Mufwene, John Rickford, Guy Bailey, John Baugh (Eds.) African American English: Structure, History and Use (251-181). London: Routledge. Neuman, Johanna. 2001. Hear the One About the Traveling Taliban. Los Angeles Times (December 17). Perret, Gene. 1993. Be Funny, Not Just Dirty. In Successful Stand-Up Comedy: Advice from a Comedy Writer (117-126). New York: Samuel French. Price, Darby Li Po. 1998. Laughing without Reservation: Indian Standup Comedians. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 22(4): 255-271. 8 of 8 Purdie, Susan. 1993. Introduction and Joking as Discourse. In Comedy: The Mastery of Discourse (3-33). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Purdie, Susan. 1993. Joking as the 8Ab-use 9 of Language. In Comedy: The Mastery of Discourse (34-57). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Roy, Alice Myers. 1981. The function of irony in discourse. Text 1(4): 407-423. Rutter, Jason. 2000. The Stand-Up Introduction Sequence: Comparing Comedy Comperes. Journal of Pragmatics, 32(4): 463-483 [March]. Santa Ana, Otto. 2002. Insurgent Metaphors: Contesting the Conventional Representations of Latinos. In Brown Tide Rising: Metaphors of Latinos in Contemporary American Public Discourse (295-319). Austin: University of Texas Press. Schutz, Charles E. 1989. The sociability of ethnic jokes. Humor 2(2): 165-177. Smith, Eric Ledell. 1992. Bert Williams: A Biography of the Pioneer Black Comedian (145-155 and 183-192). Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, Inc. Tuan, Mia. 1999. cI 9m an American with a Japanese Look d: Emerging Identities and Practices (127-151). In Forever Foreigners or Honorary Whites: The Asian Ethnic Experience Today. London: Rutgers University Press. Walker, Nicole. 2002. Wayne Brady TV Star Talks about How Acting Saved His Life, Why Fatherhood Changed His Views About Women, Critics Who Say He 9s Not Black Enough. Jet Magazine (February 10): 56-59. Washington, Mary Helen. 1979. Introduction, Zora Neale Hurston: A Woman in Half Shadow. In A. Walker (Ed.) I Love Myself When I am Laughing &And Then Again When I Am Looking Mean and Impressive (7-25). New York: The Feminist Press. Watkins, Mel (Ed.) 2002. African American Humor: The Best Black Comedy from Slavery to Today. Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books. Watkins, Mel. 1994. On the Real Side: Laughing, Lying, and Signifying - The Underground Tradition of African American Humor that Transformed American Culture, from Slavery to Richard Pryor. New York: Simon and Schuster. Watkins, Mel. 1994. He Certainly Isn 9t the First. Los Angeles Times, Calendar 3,44 (April 3) Williams, Elsie A. 1995. Mabley 9s Persona. In The Humor of Jackie Moms Mabley: An African American Comedic Tradition (69-117). New York: Garland Publishing, Inc. Williams, John A. and Dennis A. Williams. 1993. If I Stop, I 9ll Die: The Comedy and Tragedy of Richard Pryor. New York: Thunder 9s Mouth Press. Zinsser, William. 2001. On Writing Well. Sixth Edition. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

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