Painting of thirty-five expressive heads.

Thirty-Five Expressive Heads, by Louis-Léopold Boilly, c. 1825. Musee des Beaux-Arts, Tourcoing, France.

Comedy

Volume VII, Number 1 | winter 2014

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Preamble

The Solid Nonpareil

By Lewis H. Lapham

From Mesopotamia to Mark Twain, the question has remained the same for thousands of years—who’s laughing now?

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Black and white photograph of a clown laughing in front of a storefront.

Split Personalities

By Andrew McConnell Stott

Is it a condition of comic genius to be always wrestling with demons?

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Map showing comedic theater tropes from around the world.

Map

The Human Comedy

Theatrical fools and buffoons from around the world and across time.

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Miscellany

Dorothy Parker was once asked to use the word horticulture in a sentence. “You can lead a horticulture,” she replied, “but you can’t make her think.”

1456 | Paris

Last Testament

François Villon writes his will and burns a few bridges.More

1452 | Florence

Have You Heard the One About the Doltish Venetian?

Situational comedy from the Pope’s secretary.More

1860 | London

Roots of Laughter

Laughter is an uncontrolled discharge of energy that commands the entire body.More

Charts & Graphs

Six famous clowns in history: Publilius, Tarlton, Grimaldi, Rice, Grock, Bergen

Comic Relief

Clowns, jesters, and other performers.

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Dorothy Parker working at her typewriter.

Painting of Charles Lamb wearing a black suit against a red backdrop.

Black and white photograph of Mencken looking over his shoulder at the camera

David Simon sitting outside wearing an Irish driver cap

Ukrainian-born Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol.

Portrait of Chinese fiction writer Pu Songling.

Photograph of Charles Baudelaire

Color mosaic of earl Church father St. John Chrysostom.

Jesters do oft prove prophets.

—William Shakespeare, c. 1605

Color mosaic of earl Church father St. John Chrysostom.

Photograph of Charles Baudelaire

St. John Chrysostom & Charles Baudelaire

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