UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title "Pushing the Edge": Challenging Racism and Sexism in American Stand-up Comedy Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5sx4b4tc Author Antoine, Katja Elisabet Publication Date 2015 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles “Pushing the Edge”: Challenging Racism and Sexism in American Stand-up Comedy A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Katja Elisabet Antoine 2015 © Copyright by Katja Elisabet Antoine 2015 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION “Pushing the Edge”: Challenging Racism and Sexism in American Stand-up Comedy by Katja Elisabet Antoine Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology University of California, Los Angeles, 2015 Professor Karen Brodkin, Co-chair Professor Jessica R Cattelino, Co-chair In this dissertation I examine how stand-up comedians challenge racism and sexism in their performances. Stand-up comedy is among the least socially proscribed forms of public expression in contemporary US, and comedians often talk about “sensitive” topics (including race and gender) in direct and humorous ways. Some offer a social critique of hegemonic discourses; they “push the edge.” I argue that by looking at “edges” of hegemonic discourses of race and gender, and how comedians push them, we can deepen our understanding of how racism-white supremacy, sexism, and heteronormativity presently operate in the US, and how to challenge them. I focus on comedians who challenge racism and sexism through joke material and in their affective and performative work on stage. Key ways they do so include: performing slavery as ii anti-racist critique; targeting genocide and colonialism; challenging the “terrorist label” and racialized masculinities, and through female embodiment. I conducted 18 months of ethnographic research in Los Angeles (LA and New York are the largest US sites for stand-up), focusing on male and female comedians of color, but also producers and managers. I attended over 130 shows and saw more than 550 comics perform live (including 30 core participants, whom I also interviewed). In this text, I first show the discourses on race and gender that circulate in the comedy world and the US more broadly. With this, I also set up what comedians push against. I then introduce “the edge” and “pushing the edge” as concepts, using energy/affect, authenticity/sincerity, and performativity as analytical tools, before I show how comedians push the edges of race and gender discourses. I also discuss performances that “implode” and expose the core of hegemony. These comedians’ work becomes part of broader anti-racist discourses through social media, film, and television. Their work shows that we need to pay more attention to affect and performativity in how we assess what challenges to hegemonic discourses look like and their impact. Stand-up comedy, then, provides useful analytical tools for making the often-invisible aspects of everyday anti-racist and anti-sexist resistance visible, and for attuning us to the subtlety of hegemonic violence. iii The dissertation of Katja Elisabet Antoine is approved. Devon W. Carbado Marjorie Harness Goodwin Sondra Hale Karen Brodkin, Committee Co-chair Jessica R Cattelino, Committee Co-chair University of California, Los Angeles 2015 iv To the best of the human spirit v Table Of Contents Setting The Stage: An Introduction To The Study And Work Of Stand-Up Comedy 1 1) The Premise 6 2) The Academic Conversations I Draw on and Partake In 11 3) Comedians’ America and the Dream 27 4) On Tone and Language 32 5) The Setup / Funny Business 33 6) The Craft (Methods) 55 7) The Lineup 59 Chapter 1: Hegemonic Race And Gender Discourses 61 1) Part I: The Normal Order Of Things 62 a. The Hollywood Context 62 b. Normative Whiteness and Marked “Others” 64 c. Exotic, Foreign, and Dangerous 67 d. The Ubiquitous “Women Aren’t Funny” Discourse 72 e. Women should not act like men OR like women 76 2) Part II: The Daily Work Of Maintaining (And Resisting) Race And Gender Hegemonies 81 a. Policing Women’s Performativity 81 b. Devaluing Race 86 c. Reinforcing Heteronormativity 90 i. Male Heteronormativity and Gay Bashing 90 ii. Sexist Announcements 93 iii. Sexist Crowd Work 93 iv. Sexist Jokes 94 v. “Bitches” 96 vi. Sexist Introductions of Female Comics 97 vii. Not All Men 100 3) The Reality of Sexual Harassment and Violence 101 4) Conclusion 103 Chapter 2: The Edge” And Its Pushing 104 1) A Night At The Club 109 2) The Analytical Components Of The Edge And Its Pushing 125 a. Energy/Affect as Constitutive of the Space that Holds the Edge 126 b. Negotiating Race and Gender Authenticity/Sincerity 137 c. Performativity and Discursive Agency 141 d. “Pushing the Edge” as a Concept 147 3) Conclusion 154 Chapter 3: Pushing The Edges Of Race And Gender Discourses 155 1) Performing Slavery As Anti-Racist Critique 157 2) Memories Of Genocide And Colonialisms 178 vi 3) “Humanizing” Middle Easterners 191 4) Challenging Racialized Masculinities 203 5) Women’s “Disturbing” Presence 214 6) Conclusion 221 Chapter 4: Heckling And Imploding Performances 223 1) The Role of Hecklers 224 2) At the Core of White Supremacy 230 3) Performing US Imperialism (with a Twist of Misogyny) 237 4) “Rape Jokes are Always Hilarious” 243 The End Of The Show 249 The Tag 258 Bibliography 259 vii Acknowledgments First, I thank the stand-up comedians who shared their time and thoughts with me during my fieldwork, as well as all those who taught me about the art and craft of stand-up comedy through their performances. I’m particularly indebted to the thirty core participants: Aarona Browning, Aida Rodriguez, Ali Wong, Alonzo Bodden, Amir K, Baron Vaughn, Byron Bowers, Candice Thompson, Chris James, DC Ervin, Ed Greer, Gina Yashere, Jesus Trejo, Kevin Avery, Kibibi Dillon, KT Tatara, Leo Flowers, Marcella Arguello, Margaret Cho, Maronzio Vance, Maunda, Maz Jobrani, Monrok, Neal Brennan, Sammy Obeid, Shang, Thai Rivera, Tony Baker, W. Kamau Bell, and Yassir Lester. I give special thanks to Baron Vaughn for reading parts of this manuscript in draft form and giving valuable comments. In addition, I’m grateful for the insights I gained from the performances of Aparna Nancherla, Chris Spencer, Keith W. Robinson, Leslie Jones, Shane Miller, Solomon Georgio, and Wanda Sykes. I owe a special thanks to Jeff Singer for giving me access to his knowledge and contacts, and to Ed Galvez for teaching the “Introduction to Stand-up Comedy” course I took. I’d also like to thank the show producers, bookers, and club owners who took time out of their busy schedules to meet with me. Because they are fewer in number, I choose not to name them here in order to avoid unintended exposure in the text that follows. I am, however, deeply grateful to each of them. At UCLA, I thank my fantastic committee. My two co-chairs, Jessica Cattelino and Karen Brodkin, are true champions. Their brilliant guidance and tremendous support made this dissertation happen. Without them, I’d still be chomping at drafts… It has been a great honor and viii pleasure for me to learn from them. I’ve also greatly benefited from inspiring discussions and encouraging feedback from my other committee members, Devon Carbado, Marjorie Goodwin, and Sondra Hale. I’m deeply grateful to them all. In addition, I’d like to thank Albert Laguna, Dorinne Kondo, Jason Throop, and John Jackson Jr. for meaningful conversations that contributed to this project in various ways. I extend a special thanks to one of my mentors, the late Victor Wolfenstein. I wish you were here to celebrate! I’m grateful to the Department of Anthropology at UCLA, and especially to Ann Walters, Kate Royce, and Tracy Humbert. They’ve made graduate life so much better, and I will miss them greatly! The writing process got on the right track thanks to my wonderful writing group. I deeply cherish the time I spent with Anna Corwin, Ellen Sharp, and Keziah Conrad, while we were all struggling with different stages of our work. We have now all slain the beast! I’m also thankful for the friendship and support of Amy Malek, Anuja Bose, Misa Dayson, and Muriel Vernon. My family and friends outside of the academy deserve a medal for their patience and for supporting me in more ways than I can name. I’m grateful to my mother and father, brother, sisters, brother-in-law, nephews, aunt, uncle, and cousins. Special thanks to Yusef Doucet for his brilliance and for stimulating and heartfelt conversations; to Babette Rothschild for her wisdom, encouragement, and enthusiasm for my project; to Eric Johnson for his smart advice and for believing in me; and to Leslie Corzine for her astute intuition, inimitable creativity, and dear friendship over the past fifteen years. Lastly, I was fortunate to receive a Dissertation Year Fellowship from UCLA’s Graduate Division so that I could finish this manuscript in a timely manner. I’m deeply grateful for the award and ecstatically happy to have completed my goal. ix Curriculum Vitae Katja E. Antoine EDUCATION University of California, Los Angeles Dec. 3, 2010 Advanced to Candidacy for the Ph.D. in Anthropology 2007-2009 M.A., Anthropology, GPA: 3.95 M.A. Thesis: “E(race)ures: Strategies for Maintaining a White Swedish Hegemony” 2005-2007 B.A., summa cum laude, College Honors, Departmental Honors, Major: Anthropology; Minor: Afro-American Studies, GPA: 4.0 Thesis: “’What Are You?’ Creating a ‘Mixed-Race’ Identity” FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS 2014-2015 Dissertation Year Fellowship, University of California, Los Angeles 2013-2014 Paulson Award, University of California, Los Angeles 2012-2013 Paulson Award, University of California, Los Angeles 2011-2012 Paulson Award, University of California, Los Angeles 2010-2011 Paulson Award, University of California, Los Angeles 2010 Graduate Summer Research Fellowship, University of California, Los Angeles 2009-2010 Paulson Award, University of California, Los Angeles 2008 University of California Diversity Initiative for Graduate Study in the Social Sciences Fellows Award, University of California, Los Angeles 2007-2011 Eugene V.