Customer Reviews

Stand-up Comedy in Theory, or, Abjection in America (New Americanists)

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Beyond John Limon's well-constructed prose, he has a great understanding of his subject matter. I found his thesis for this book of essays fascinating--a cultural connection of Jewish heterosexual males comics of the 1960s (though I believe Bruce experimented sexually), and the pushing of the comedic form as it has influenced the evolution of comedy/satire of today.

His essays on Lenny Bruce and Nichols and May are some of the best writing on these comic/social satirists in print, and great reason to buy this book. His analysis of Elaine May's subtle character work I found extremely insightful, and proved her impact in this male dominated world of humor in the 50s and 60s; she has influenced many through the years, yet is rarely applauded in recent years for she her brilliance and contribution.

I am blown away by the depth of the author's analysis and the deep reading he has done of American Stand-Up Comedy as American cultural history. Of all the books analyzing comedy, and there are some very good ones, this one takes it the farthest.
The language used is highly academic and consistently difficult to read. But the hypotheses and conclusions derived are no less short of brilliant. It is worth reading and re-reading to pull the wisdom from whence Stand Up Comedy has crossed, oftentimes trampled, Mass Culture.
It is a short yet very dense collection of 6 essays, each examining a critical and formative piece of Stand-Up 'Americaine.' The content may be better served by watering down the academic language. Yet for someone willing to truly understand why Stand Up is so amazing and stimulating and culturally profound and necessary, this book is unequaled. It will expand your vocabulary in the process.
My hat goes off to this author. Jay Tomatoes

There are no words to describe how fantastically astute this book is. John Limon is diabolically intelligent.

This book appears to be directed at the PhD, scholarly crowd. Though somewhat overeducated myself, I found its prose, sentence structure and content difficult to decipher without reading various passages multiple times. I gave up.

Though Mr. Limon is undoubtedly a brilliant author, if you're a comic, a comedic writer or an improviser looking for practical advice, you will be disappointed.