This section contains essays and videos about writing and performing comedy and improvisation. A great introduction to the topic is Matthew McMahan’s essay “Laughing Matters: How Comedy Tells Us Who We Are.”
The Latest
Essay
Clowning Around and Leaving an Impact at ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
by Melissa Lin Sturges
11 December 2024
Essay
On Between Two Knees, or About Other Futures
by Sebastián Eddowes-Vargas
17 April 2024
Video
NO SUMMARY: Comedy as a Form of Solidarity and Resistance
A Conversation with Artists and Students of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College Chicago
The premise of the immensely popular solo show ha ha ha ha ha ha ha is simple: Julia Masli will seriously solve the audience’s problems through comedy. Melissa Lin Sturges discusses the production’s roots in Masli’s clowning background and the collectivist, interventionist energy the production engenders in its audience.
In Between Two Knees, the 1491s use comedy to destabilize rigid ideas of history. Sebastián Eddowes Vargas discusses the Perelman Performing Arts Center production, highlighting the narrative and political potency of laughing in the face of trauma.
A Conversation with Artists and Students of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College Chicago
Friday 14 April 2023
United States
In the first episode of our 2023 season, Golden Thread’s Sahar Assaf, executive artistic director, and Wafaa Bilal, artist-in-residence, will be joined by the classes of associate professor Simon Anderson, a British-born-and-educated cultural historian, and interdisciplinary Syrian artist Sami Hussain Ismat, at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College Chicago.
The Divine Comedy Theatre Festival in Kraków, Poland explored the theme of “Polish Taboo” across its thirty-two productions this year. Howard Shalwitz, who attended the festival as part of an American delegation of artists building connections between the United States and Poland, shares his experience attending the festival.
Daphnie Sicre discusses the way that Latinidad, Blackness, and queerness intersect in “Marimacha,” comedic coming out story about an AfroPanamanian family on their way to a wedding.
Trevor Boffone reviews Tus Tías’ The Invocation of Selena, a sketch comedy and cabaret-style show that begins by summoning Latine icon Selena and ends by eulogizing her.
In this week’s episode, hosts Bíborka and Zsófi focus on different abilities and handicapped people in the performing arts. Translating their guests’ responses into English, the co-hosts sit down with independent theatremaker, poet, and dramaturg Ádám Fekete; and the core members of the ArtMan Association, Dorka Farkas, Kata Kopeczny, and Ferenc Kálmán, who work with integrated dance and movement practices to produce amazing contemporary dance shows.
In this special episode, Marina and Nabra sit down with Lebanese actor, theatremakers, and peacebuilder Raffi Feghali to talk about the Buffer Fringe Festival. Buffer Fringe is an annual festival with a mission for peacebuilding and social justice, organized by Home for Cooperation and situated in the buffer zone in Cyprus. Buffer Fringe runs 7-9 October 2022, presenting three days of international, interdisciplinary, experimental performances under the theme of Pockets (beyond). Join us as we explore improv in Lebanon, experimental theatre in a geographically contentious area, and artistic curation for peacebuilding.
Theatremaker Maria Patrice Amon shares her experience watching La Carpa De La Frontera at Latinx Theatre Commons’ 2022 Comedy Carnaval and explains the significance of carpa theatre.
In this episode, co-hosts Zsófi and Bíborka talk about the practice and art of improvisation with three outstanding figures from the Hungarian contemporary dance and jazz scene: Zoltán Grecsó, a dancer, choreographer, and founder of Budapest’s improvised dance evening series Willany Leó; Viola Lévai, a dancer and teacher of contact improvisation; and Ernő Zoltán Rubik, a musician, composer, dancer, and an active member of the Hungarian free jazz and contact improvisation scene.
Trevor Boffone reflects on the 2022 Latinx Theatre Commons (LTC) Comedy Carnaval that convened at Su Teatro in Denver, Colorado, which was comprised of productions, readings, panels, and special sessions that showcased the depth and range of Latinx comedy in theatre.
Highlighting some of the best Latinx comedic talent in the country
Thursday 9 June to Saturday 11 June
Denver, Colorado
The 2022 Latinx Theatre Commons (LTC) Comedy Carnaval presented a broad range of Latinx comedy content and conversations. Programming will highlight artistic voices and content creators who practice comedic arts through theatre, stand-up, sketch, improv, podcasts, and webseries.
Amelia Acosta Powell describes the creation and intention behind Comedy Carnaval, an LTC event that invites Latine theatremakers to laugh in the face of oppression.
Gender Euphoria, the Podcast host Nicolas Shannon Savard sits down with actor, writer, and comedian D’Lo to talk about his career and how he uses comedy and storytelling as tools for connection, education, and compassion.
The Latinx Theatre Commons (LTC) announces the 2022 LTC Comedy Carnaval, June 9-11, 2022 in Denver, Colorado. The convening is hosted by Su Teatro Cultural & Performing Arts Center. …because the past two years have been so rough that we gotta ducking laugh 🦆
Michael Lueger is joined by director, performer, and educator Dr. Rachel Blackburn to discuss diversity and intersectionality within the stand-up comedy world and how comics are engaging with social issues and movements.
Part of BÉZNĂ Theatre's GLOD: Political Theatre as a Civil Right series
Monday 17 August 2020
International
Glod: Political Theatre as a Civil Right presented Peace by Piece by Nabil Sawalha livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 17 August 2020 at 10 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 1 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 6 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 8 p.m. EEST (Cluj, UTC +3).
Playwright Lauren Gunderson presented Writing Killer Short Plays with Steve Yockey livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 6 May 2020 at 1 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-7) / 3 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5) / 4 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 21:00 BST (London, UTC+1) / 22:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC+2).
Playwright Lauren Gunderson presented Comedy + Playwrightinglivestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 5 May 2020 at 12 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-7) / 2 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5) / 3 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 20:00 BST (London, UTC+1) / 21:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC+2).
Matthew McMahan talks to playwright Herbert Siguenza about branching out as a solo writer after years as a member of Culture Clash, writing bilingual comedy, and more.
The World Inside Out: Humor, Noise, and Performance
Sunday 9 June to Thursday 13 June 2019
Mexico City
The Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics at New York University presented events from their Encuentro 2019 livestreaming from Mexico City on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Sunday 9 June to Thursday 13 June 2019.
Professor Matthew McMahan talks about the importance of understanding comedy’s theatrical history: how it has evolved, what it says about a society, and why the genre shouldn’t be forgotten in the American theatre.
