1. Okay, I tried to resist but can't help it. A few quick thoughts on Joan Rivers & 1950s "sick" or "new wave" comedy.
-
-
Replying to @HeerJeet
2. Because Rivers has been around seemingly forever we forget her specific roots. She emerged as a comedian in 1950s & 1960s, part of a wave
1 reply 3 retweets 3 likes -
Replying to @HeerJeet
3. The "sick" or New Wave comedians of era (Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, Phyllis Diller) were defined against earlier vaudeville aesthetic.
1 reply 3 retweets 4 likes -
Replying to @HeerJeet
4. With vaudeville, the humor was in the joke, the gag. With "sick" comedians humor was in the persona, the onstage neurotic enacting unease
2 replies 4 retweets 7 likes -
Replying to @HeerJeet
5. "Sick" comedians only make sense in context of conformist 1950s America, where admitting unhappiness & anger was subversive.
3 replies 6 retweets 13 likes -
Replying to @HeerJeet
6. The pivotal figure was of course Lenny Bruce. Like everyone else in her cohort, Rivers was blown away by Bruce & took courage from him.
3 replies 3 retweets 5 likes -
Replying to @HeerJeet
7. Rivers's audacious meanness was surely a reaction to certain "good girl" ideals of feminine behavior.
2 replies 11 retweets 13 likes
@tressiemcphd Yeah, that makes complete sense.
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.