Joke economics: the low profile of comedy in the economics of arts and culture

Alan Collins1
1Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Tóm tắt

AbstractDespite being a globally significant form of art and culture, the performance of comedy has seemingly maintained a very low profile in cultural economics. The case for greater research scrutiny of this art form is advanced alongside some possible reasons for the relatively low academic attention devoted to comedy. The scope for considering comedy in economic terms is also considered, and a range of research questions are raised to stimulate debate and further enquiry on the topic.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

Adler, M. (1985). Stardom and talent. American Economic Review, 75(1), 208–212.

Alexander, R. (1984). British comedy and humour: Social and cultural background. AAA: Arbeiten Aus Anglistik Und Amerikanistik, 9(1), 63–83.

Angrisani, L. (2017). Il riso fa buon sangue: clownterapia e salute. Economia Della Cultura, 2, 299–304.

Campbell, R. (2017). Post-punk and alternative cabaret: Avant-garde, counterculture and revolution. Punk & Post Punk, 6(3), 359–376.

Carr, J., & Greeves, L. (2006). The naked jape: Uncovering the hidden world of jokes. Michael Joseph.

Casadevall, G. (2007). Political satire in Germany: from the political Kabarett of the thirties to Comedy TV. Quaderns del CAC (Consell de l’Audiovisual de Catalunya) (No. 27 pp.79–86).

Colleary, S. (2015). Performance and identity in Irish stand-up comedy: The comic’i’. Palgrave Macmillan.

Csapo, E. (2010). The production and performance of comedy in antiquity. In G. Dobrov (Ed.), Brill’s companion to the study of Greek comedy (pp. 103–142). BRILL.

Eco, U. (1980). Il Nome della Rosa. Bompiani.

Fontaine, M., & Scafuro, A.C. (Eds.). (2013). The Oxford handbook of Greek and Roman comedy.

Forbes. (2019). The highest-earning stand-up comedians of 2019. (https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielshapiro/2019/08/16/the-highest-earning-stand-up-comedians-of-2019/) (date accessed 10 October 2019)

Friedman, S. (2014). Comedy and distinction: The cultural currency of a ‘Good’ sense of humour. Routledge.

Glenn, S. A. (1995). “A hero! is dot a business?” vaudeville comedy and American popular entertainment. Reviews in American History, 23(4), 650–657.

Greengross, G., Silvia, P. J., & Nusbaum, E. C. (2020). Sex differences in humor production ability: A meta-analysis. Journal of Research in Personality, 84, 103886.

Huxley, D., & David, J. (2012). No other excuse: Race, class, and gender in British Music Hall comedic performance 1914–1949. Comedy Studies, 3(1), 17–28.

Kline, L. W. (1907). The psychology of humor. American Journal of Psychology, 18(4), 421–441.

Lowe, N. J. (2008). Comedy (New Surveys in the Classics) (Series Number 37). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Martin, R. A., & Ford, T. (2018). The psychology of humor: An integrative approach. Academic Press.

Medhurst, A. (2007). A national joke: Popular comedy and English cultural identities. Routledge.

Meyer-Dinkgräfe, D. (2009). Boulevard comedy theatre in Germany. Cambridge Scholars Press.

Nielsen, J. I. (2008). There’s something about comedy. POV A Danish Journal of Film Studies, 26, 72–87.

Ritchie, C. (2010). Against comedy. Comedy Studies, 1(2), 159–168.

Ritchie, C., & Harris, J. (2007). No laughing matter? A short history of German comedy. Scenario: A Journal of Performative Teaching Learning, Research, Issue, 2, 68–83.

Rosen, S. (1981). The economics of superstars. American Economic Review, 71(5), 845–858.

Rusten, J. S. (2006). Who “invented” comedy? The ancient candidates for the origins of comedy and the visual evidence. American Journal of Philology, 127(1), 37–66.

Segel, H. B. (1977). Fin de siècle Cabaret. Performing Arts Journal, 2(1), 41–57.

Shouse, E. (2007). The role of affect in the performance of stand-up comedy: Theorizing the mind-body connection in humor studies. Journal of the Northwest Communication Association, 36, 34–49.

Silvertown, J. (2020). The comedy of error. Scribe Publications.

Sintas, J. L., & Álvarez, E. G. (2004). Omnivore versus univore consumption and its symbolic properties: Evidence from Spaniards’ performing arts attendance. Poetics, 32(6), 471–491.

Snowball, J. D., Jamal, M., & Willis, K. G. (2010). Cultural consumption patterns in South Africa: An investigation of the theory of cultural omnivores. Social Indicators Research, 97, 467–483.

Stott, A. (2004). Comedy (The new critical idiom). Abingdon, UK: Routledge Press.

Van der Wal, C. N., & Kok, R. N. (2019). Laughter-inducing therapies: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Social Science & Medicine, 232, 473–488.