Comic Business situates Aristophanic comedy in the context of competitive (re)performance culture in 5th- and 4th-century Greece. It seeks to illuminate how the dazzling busyness of Aristophanic comedy is the creation of a carefully manipulating craftsman trying to outdo his rivals in the fierce competition of the dramatic festivals. Theoretically informed by theatre semiotics and frame-based models of conceptualizing the theatrical event, it analyses in a number of case studies how theatrical resources of all kinds are utilized in order to generate theatrical meaning as well as capture and sustain audience interest.
After he firewalked in Polynesia, the world wasn't the same for Alexander Hergensheimer, now called Alec Graham. As natural accidents occurred without cease, Alex knew Armageddon and the Day of Judgement were near. Somehow he had to bring his beloved heathen, Margrethe, to a state of grace, and, while he was at it, save the rest of the world
The Rough Guide to Comedy Movies uncovers cinema's funniest and most varied genre, from silent slapstick, to 90s gross-out and the dark indie humour of today. The canon of fifty greatest funnies runs from The Gold Rush and Duck Soup to Airplane and Shaun of the Dead, plus double-acts, drag-acts and ensembles from Laurel & Hardy and the Marx Bros, to the Pythons and the Coen Brothers. Seeking out the films that have amused people the most - or simply amused the most people - the Rough Guide gives you the ultimate lowdown on laughter in the movies from Wes Anderson's Rushmore to Withnail and I, and from John Belushi to Billy Wilder.
As a fourteen-year-old who just moved to a new town, with no friends and a louse for an older brother, Doug Swieteck has all the stats stacked against him. So begins a coming-of-age masterwork full of equal parts comedy and tragedy from Newbery Honor winner Gary D. Schmidt.
The Ricky Gervais Guide to... NATURAL HISTORY[Unabridged] Ricky Gervais, Steve Merchant & Karl Pilkington Narrator: Ricky Gervais, Steve Merchant & Karl Pilkington This is the second in a new series of definitive discourses exploring the diversity of human enterprise.