Learning Through Laughter

This book positions stand-up comedy as a strategy for women’s empowerment, using new materialist concepts to explore the affective and atmospheric dimensions of laughter, play and performance. In doing so, it engages with recent theoretical developments in comedy studies, offering a fresh perspective on how stand-up can generate new forms of contemporary feminist praxis. Drawing on the pedagogy developed through the Women’s Comedy Workshop—first established in Bradford, UK, and since expanded internationally—the book brings theoretical ideas to life through anecdotes, ethnographic reflections and descriptions of games and exercises. These creative accounts bridge the gap between theory and practice in the context of arts education. The monograph also considers the shift to online learning in recent years, examining how digital technologies have shaped comedy workshops and performances centred on women’s empowerment. Timely, accessible, and full of energy, this book will appeal to students and scholars working in the intersecting fields of feminist new materialisms, creative arts education and comedy studies.

Natalie Diddams is Assistant Professor in the Theatre and Performance Studies Department at the University of Warwick, UK.