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.”

1913 | Los Angeles

Charlie Chaplin Invents Himself

The tramp picks up his bowler hat and cane for the first time. More

c. 1592 | Padua

Wordplay

William Shakespeare gives a lesson in taming a shrew. More

1838 | Springfield, IL

Abraham Lincoln Loses the Girl

Before he was president, Abraham Lincoln went on a terrible blind date. More

Charts & Graphs

List of fake newspaper headlines from "The onion"

This Just In

Fake newspaper headlines from The Onion.

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Photograph of English professor and author Andrew McConnell Stott.

black and white photograph of Sara Silverman performing at the Upright Citizens Brigad

Black and white photo of Harry S. Truman holding a newspaper with the headline "Dewey defeats Truman"

Black and white photograph of a young Mark Twain with dark hair.

Robert Benchley

Classical engraving of Aristophanes with a long beard.

Photograph of American author Ben Tarnoff.

Black and white photo of Lenny Bruce being frisked by an officer

A difference of taste in jokes is a great strain on the affections.

—George Eliot, 1876

Painting of Thomas Hobbes

color photograph of Victor Frankl with his hand on his chin looking pensive

Thomas Hobbes & Viktor Frankl

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