Institute for Travesty,

Comedy, and Humor Studies

 

A Place for Serious Lovers of Comedy and Humor

 

Shakespeare's Comedies

Vitalist Film Comedies

Classic Film Comedies

Sombre Comedy

Senior Comedy

 The Essence of Comedy

Comedy's Analog in Tragedy

Exploring Shakespearean Tragedy

List of Works Discussed

Collections of Essays

Memorial Notes

Humor Quotient  Newsletter

Humor and Art

Humor and Mathematics

The Humor Corner

Humor and Aging

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New!  "The Seven-Day Week"

A “first installment” on a study of the cultural background to the formative centuries for comedy and tragedy, 400 B.C. to 20 A.D. 

 And NOW. . .further chapters on  competing classical cultures, including "Monotheism," "Slavery," "The Second Temple," "The Synagogue," "Animism," and "Psychological Outgrowth of Animism."

 

Trending on ITCHS: Exploring Comedic Subgenres

Humor Structure Interplay in Steel Magnolias

Stagecoach, John Ford, and Redemption Comedy

Beckett's Changing Faith

Enduring Favorites

Humor Corner:  Incongruity

Cheshire Smile:  Comedic Structure in Henry IV, Part I

December Comedy:  The Irrepressibly Complex Falstaff

Full-length critical works published on this site include

Comedic Tenor, Comic Vehicle: Humor in American Film Comedy

Comedy in a New Mood

December Comedy: Studies in Senior Comedy and Other Essays

Cheshire Smile:  Humor Texture and Personality in Shakespeare's Comedies

Four Seasons:  Variations in American Vitalist Film Comedy

Comedy in Space, Time, and the Imagination

Exploring Shakespearean Tragedy

 

Plays and Films Discussed

Plays

Jean Anouilh, The Waltz of the Toreadors, New Mood, Chap. 3, pp 8-14

Aristophanes, The Birds

Samuel Beckett, Endgame

Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress

Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard

Anton Chekhov, Uncle Vanya, in New Mood, Chap. 3, p 3

William Congreve, The Way of the World, in New Mood, Chap. 1, p 7, 24

Friedrich Duerrenmatt: The Visit

Everyman

Jean Giraudoux, The Madwoman of Chaillot, in New Mood, Chap. 1, p 32

Jean Giraudoux, The Madwoman of Chaillot, in New Mood, Chap. 3, p 7

Lorraine Hansburry, Raisin in the Sun, in New Mood, Chap 1, p 31

Henrik Ibsen, Master Builder

Henrik Ibsen, Peer Gynt

Henrik Ibsen, Pillars of Society

Henrik Ibsen, Rosmersholm

Henrik Ibsen, The Wild Duck, in New Mood, Chap. 1, p 40

Eugène Ionesco,  Rhinoceros, in New Mood, Chap. 2, p 31.

Ben Jonson, Volpone, New Mood, Chap. 1, p 11

Federico Garcia Lorca, Blood Wedding, in New Mood, Chap. 2, pp 2-5

Arthur Miller, After the Fall, in New Mood, Chap 1, p 36

Molière, L’Avare

Molière, Les Précieuses Ridicules

Molière, Tartuffe

Eugene O’Neill, The Iceman Cometh

Plautus, Menaechmi, in New Mood, Chap. 1, p 19

William Saroyan, The Time of Your Life

William Shakespeare, Comedies: 

 As You Like It:  As Modern Criticism Likes It

As You Like It:  Reconsidered as Formal Comedy

As You Like It:   As Enhanced by Humor

Comedy of Errors:   Comedy or Farce?

Henry IV, Part 1:  Comedic Structure

Henry IV, Part 1:  Falstaff

Henry V:  Heroic Comedy and Considerations of Scale

Midsummer Night’s Dream:  Comedy or Comickedy?

Much Ado About Nothing Sombre Comedy

William Shakespeare, Tragedies:

Hamlet: Exploring Shakespearean Tragedy

Hamlet: ISST Abstract, Chap. 6

Julius Caesar: ISST Abstract

King Lear Exploring Shakespearean Tragedy

Macbeth:   Exploring Shakespearean Tragedy

Othello:  Exploring Shakespearean Tragedy

Troilus and Cressida:  ISST Abstract, Chap.3

John Millington Synge, Riders to the Sea, in New Mood, Chap. 2 pp 2-4

Thorton Wilder, The Skin of Our Teeth  

 

Films

Aladdin: Advocate Humor Personality

The Big Chill: Entropic Humor

The Blues Brothers: Bridgebuilder Humor Personality

Breakfast at Tiffany’s: Sombre Comedy, Definition, in New Mood, Chap.1, page 35

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: Crusader Humor Personality

Driving Miss Daisy: Winter Vitalist Comedy

Driving Miss Daisy: Senior Comedy and Comedic Innovation

Driving Miss Daisy: Senior Vitalist Humor

Father of the Bride: Consoler Humor Personality 

Fiddler on the Roof:  Winter Vitalist Comedy

The Graduate:  Somber Comedy, Definition, in New Mood, Chap. 1, page 35

Forrest Gump: Twelve Forms of Irony 

Forrest Gump Finding the Dominant Humor Form

Grumpy Old Men:  Erich Segal and Aristophanes

Grumpy Old Men:  Senior Comedy and Comedic Innovation

Hondo: John Ford/John Wayne’s Romantic Comedy

A League of Their Own:  Reconciliation Comedy

Life with Father:  Fall Vitalist Comedy

A Mighty Wind:  Getting the Right Genre

The Music Man: Intellectual Humor Personality

My Big Fat Greek Wedding: Reconciler Humor Personality

My Fair Lady:  Summer Vitalist Comedy

My Fair Lady: Vitalist Techniques in Practice

On Golden Pond: Senior Comedy and Comedic Innovation

On Golden Pond: Senior Vitalist Humor

On Golden Pond:  Summer Vitalist Comedy

Rain Man:  Box Office Dark Comedy

Rain Man:  The Recent Rapid Development of Comedy

Rocky: Fall Vitalist Comedy

Roman Holiday: Summer Vitalist Comedy

The Sound of Music: Spring Vitalist Comedy

Stagecoach John Ford, and Redemption Comedy

 Steel Magnolias Humor Structure Interplay  

Steel Magnolias: Vitalist Techniques in Practice

The Student Prince: Spring Vitalist Comedy

The Whales of August: Humor and Comedic Restoration of Balance