This is a history course with a laugh track. We will analyze the significant periods and players of the 20th and 21st centuries against their historic context and legacy, using humor as the platform. We will discuss how comedy was shaped by and responsive to American society, and how comedians, in turn, influenced and shaped American life. We will then focus on comedy auteurs (including Mel Brooks, Tyler Perry, and Amy Heckerling); comedy incubators; blockbuster comedies; standup comedy; sitcoms; and political comedy. We will study how America laughed in each generation, and how the change in American character and persona shaped how they laughed, and what (and whom) they laughed at.
Eddy Friedfeld is a film and entertainment journalist and historian. Friedfeld co-authored Caesar’s Hours with Sid Caesar and Directed with James Burrows, who also directed the film. Friedfeld worked with Mel Brooks on All About Me. He was senior consultant for the Emmy-nominated Make ’Em Laugh and a consulting producer on Funny You Never Knew. He has produced tributes to major entertainers including George Carlin, Paul Newman, Dick Van Dyke, and others. He teaches at Yale, New York University, and the Tisch School of the Arts.
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