Revel with a Cause
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€47.99
A01=Stephen E. Kercher
al franken
Author_Stephen E. Kercher
bill maher
cartoons
Category=ATX
Category=NHK
censorship
cold war
comedians
comedy
conformity
conservatism
dissent
dr strangelove
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
exclusion
film
foreign policy
herbert block
history
humor
hypocrisy
improv
irony
irreverence
jon stewart
lenny bruce
liberalism
mad magazine
marginalization
mort sahl
nonfiction
parody
paul krassner
politics
popular culture
postwar
race
repression
robert osborn
satire
second city
social commentary
stan freberg
standup
television
the week that was
tv shows
vulgar
walt kelly
Product details
- ISBN 9780226431642
- Weight: 1021g
- Dimensions: 16 x 23mm
- Publication Date: 15 Sep 2006
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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We live in a time much like the postwar era. A time of arch political conservatism and vast social conformity. A time in which our nation's leaders question and challenge the patriotism of those who oppose their policies. But before there was Jon Stewart, Al Franken, or Bill Maher, there were Mort Sahl, Stan Freberg, and Lenny Bruce - liberal satirists who, through their wry and scabrous comedic routines, waged war against the political ironies, contradictions, and hypocrisies of their times. "Revel with a Cause" is their story. Stephen Kercher here provides the first comprehensive look at the satiric humor that flourished in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. Focusing on an impressive range of comedy - not just standup comedians of the day but also satirical publications like "MAD" magazine, improvisational theater groups such as Second City, the motion picture "Dr. Strangelove", and TV shows like "That Was the Week That Was" - Kercher reminds us that the postwar era saw varieties of comic expression that were more challenging and nonconformist than we commonly remember.
His history of these comedic luminaries shows that for a sizeable audience of educated, middle-class Americans who shared such liberal views, the period's satire was a crucial mode of cultural dissent. For such individuals, satire was a vehicle through which concerns over the suppression of civil liberties, Cold War foreign policies, blind social conformity, and our heated racial crisis could be productively addressed. A vibrant and probing look at some of the most influential comedy of mid-twentieth-century America, "Revel with a Cause" belongs on the short list of essential books for anyone interested in the relationship between American politics and popular culture.
Stephen E. Kercher is assistant professor of history at the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh.
