Acknowledgments Volume Introduction: Comedy as Theory, Industry, and Academic Discipline, Nick Marx and Matt Sienkiewicz 1. The Carnivalesque Introduction: The Naked GunA: Rabelais and His World, Mikhail BakhtinB: "The Frames of Comic 'Freedom,'" Umberto EcoC: "Sacred Catastrophe, Profane Laughter: Family Guy's Comedy in the Ritual of National Trauma," Philip Scepanski 2. Comedy Mechanics & Absurdity Introduction: Man Seeking WomanA: Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic, Henri BergsonB: The Logic of the Absurd, Jerry PalmerC: "Pie and Chase: Gag, Spectacle and Narrative in Slapstick Comedy," Donald CraftonD: "The New Logic of the Absurd: The Eric André Show," Evan Elkins 3. Psychoanalyzing Comedy Introduction: ArcherA: Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious, Sigmund FreudB: "Humor," Sigmund FreudC: "Lacan's Harpo," Paul FlaigD: "Revenge of the Nerds: Failure, Laughter, and Liberation on The Big Bang Theory," Andrew J. Owens 4. Irony Introduction: Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner 2006A: Irony's Edge, Linda HutcheonB: "Speaking Too Soon: SNL, 9/11, and the Remaking of American Irony," Matt SienkiewiczC: "Welcome to the Clickhole: The Economics of Internet Parody and Critique," Amber Day 5. Genre Introduction: 22 Jump StreetA: Popular Film and Television Comedy, Steve Neale and Frank KrutnikB: "Comedy Verité? The Observational Documentary Meets the Televisual Sitcom," Ethan ThompsonC: "Inventing the Situation Comedy: Jack Benny, the 'Fall Guy,' and the Making of a Genre," Kathryn Fuller-Seeley 6. Race & Ethnicity Introduction: Key and PeeleA: Watching Race, Herman GrayB: "The Culture Behind Closed Doors: Issues of Gender and Race in the Writers' Room," Felicia D. HendersonC: "Naturalizing Racial Differences Through Comedy: Asian, Black, and White Views on Racial Stereotypes in Rush Hour 2," Ji Hoon Park, Nadine G. Gabbadon, and Ariel R. CherninD: "'Indians on TV (and Netflix)': The Comedic Trajectory of Aziz Ansari," Bhoomi K. Thakore and Bilal Hussain 7. Gender & Sexuality Introduction: Inside Amy SchumerA: The Unruly Woman, Kathleen Rowe KarlynB: Pretty/Funny, Linda MizejewskiC: "Generic Closets: Sitcoms, Audiences and Black Male Gayness," Alfred L. Martin Jr. 8. Nation & Globalization Introduction: Klovn and Curb Your Enthusiasm, Peter Kragh Jensen and Matt SienkiewiczA: A National Joke, Andy MedhurstB: "Transnational TV Comedy Audiences," Inger-Lise Kalviknes BoreC: "Transgressing Boundaries as the Hybrid Global: Parody and Postcoloniality on Indian Television," Sangeet KumarD: "Comedy and the Nation in The Trip," Brett Mills Index