The Acquisition of Comedic Skills as a Component of Growth and Individuation: Post- Jungian and Psychoanalytic Perspectives. By Maria Kempinska A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies University of Essex March 2016 1 Summary This dissertation proposes the argument that the comedic performance triggers and utilises Jung’s symbolic and archetypal processes. Stand-up comedy reflects social and psychological change in our society, towards class, gender equality and re-distribution of wealth and re-configuring social structures. Jungian theories are particularly pertinent to this study because they capture the psychological implications in both the inter and intra-psyche of the individual and social transformation. They examine the impact of the mythological and alchemical aspects of stand up comedy on the comedian whilst focussing on the archetype and the Amfortas Wound. While Freudian and post-Freudian theories prove to be more appropriate for examining the details of the agencies activated within inter and intra-psyche of the comedian during the performance. Jungian and post-Jungian theory examines the social and mythological aspect of stand-up comedy. Stand-up comedy and in particular women as stand-up comedians become a litmus test for society’s problems and issues and the rebalancing thereof social inequality. In the archetypal realm the comedy club becomes the ‘vas’, a symbolic sacred transformational space, in which stand-up comedy has the potential to become a transformative process for both the comedian and audience. Stand-up comedy is a transformative process for both the comedian and the spectator, while the comedy club becomes a vas, a symbolic sacred transformational space. The stand up comedian’s internal struggle is recreated into a personal comedic story, of individual versus the collective, Thanatos and Eros, personal versus social, responsibility versus irresponsibility, power, race, gender and hierarchy. The audience reflects upon these 2 comedic stories and by doing so whether the comedian is successful or unsuccessful the comedian also reflects upon it hence transformation occurs. It is arguable that within this alchemical process the joke, on occasion, becomes the trickster. The trickster contains the ambivalent, contradictory, appropriately times message acting as a bullet for incisive revision or disruption of a commonly held social theme or belief. The trickster joke cuts through consciousness and is transformative and the most powerful becomes the Supra Joke. Plus the comedian is transmuted into a Supra Comedian who not only transforms himself but society also. The personal revelations of the comedian in the comedy club setting creates a self initiating, morphing and mutating imagery induced by the desire to create humour. Through this creative alchemical stand-up ritual individuation becomes viable. This process can be explained using a range of Jungian theories; namely Individuation, Enantiodromia, Alchemy, Temenos and the Self. The comedian’s issues are exposed to the audience, and the changes to his psyche are being encouraged by the verbal transaction of the comedic practise comparable to the therapist and his client. The comedians’ psychic development is being watched by a great number of people, and although the audience is not personally selected, they affect his development, and they monitor his or her progress by loving the comedian and thereby attaching themselves or, conversely, disowning and rejecting him. It is my contention that the audience is the symbolic mother and their response nurtures the attachment process and if successful encourages the comedian’s secure base as defined by Bowlby. 3 The stand-up comedian’s art consists of joke creation. The joke then becomes the tool of personal and social radical transformation. In the arena of stand-up my proposal is that the trickster is not the comedian, as is a commonly held view, but one perfectly united moment between the stand up himself and the joke, which he has created whose delivery and impact is swift, but the supra-joke. The comedian is in constant search to create the perfect joke in order to capture the audience. The joke breaks into our psyche and announces a profoundly altering viewpoint. It is in that moment that opposing (or at least unexpected) views, ideas and opinions collide, and laughter occurs. The Supra Ccomedians’ personal issues are often bound within the problems of society; hence the audience is influenced, at times enraged and often enlightened by this comedic exchange. Chris Rock acknowledges this moment where he aims to ‘incorporate more quiet moments into the show. To me, that’s the best part of the show, to bring them down and then pow, hit them with an explosive line’ (Ajaye, 2002:183). The stand-up performance is an intense therapy like emotional and intellectual exchange in which neither the comedian nor the audience are omniscient or entirely in control of the situation. Humour can be regarded as a process of reparation, resolution and re-integration of personal and social conflicts. Whilst the stand–up comedians’ focus is to make the audience laugh their ability to reveal themselves and to reframe their inner turmoil affects the audience. Furthermore, the process resonates through society. However, the impact of their material due to modern technology is far reaching. However, not all comedians directly affect society, but those that do can make profound changes and on occasion can be prophetic; they can be termed Supra-comedian. Adapting Jung’s definition of the medicine man in primitive society I propose that the Supra Comedian is ‘an immortal daemon that pierces the chaotic darkness of brute light of meaning’ (1959: 4 para 77). Their material can include changes that will occur in society or expose social and political activities or people, which at that time are dismissed by the media. They intuitively perceive the problems of society and mirror issues with humour and often they are successful comedians and may not be recognised in their lifetime as in the case of Bill Hicks. It is clear that stand-up comedy is a unique phenomenon of a time of global social transformation how it affects the individual is dependent upon the individual. It is a process without boundaries and can be the most powerful artist medium for change. 5 Contents Page Chapter 1 – Introduction 9 1.1 The Roots of Stand- up Comedy 10 1.2 Stand-up Comedy as a Genre 15 1.3 Definition of a Stand-up Comedian 18 2. Basic Premise of the Dissertation 21 1.2.1 Chapter Outline 21 1.2.2 Stand-up Comedy as a Form of Therapy 26 Chapter 2 – Critical Literature Review 30 2.1 General Psychological Literature on Humour 32 2.2 Jungian and Post-Jungian Theories 35 2.2.1 The Concept of Individuation 35 2.2.2 The Wound Metaphor 36 2.2.3 The Trickster Archetype 40 2.3 Psychoanalysis and the post-Freudians 41 2.3.1 Humour as a defence mechanism 41 2.3.2 The Oedipus complex 44 2.3.3 Freud’s Concept of Libido 46 2.3.4 Lacan and the Symbolic Order 47 2.3.5 Melanie Klein and the pre-Oedipal issues 49 2.3.6 Attachment Theories 54 Chapter 3 - Jungian and Post-Jungian Ideas in Relation to the Comedian 58 3.1 Individuation 60 3.2 The Amfortas Wound 63 3.3 The Ego and the Self 66 3.4 The Persona 68 3.5 Enantiodromia 72 3.6 Temenos 73 3.7 The Trickster 75 6 Chapter 4 - Stand-Up Comedy and the Freudian Legacy 80 4.1 Freud 81 4.1.1 The Oedipus complex 81 4.1.2 Freud’s Concept of libido 85 4.2 Lacan and the Symbolic Order 87 4.2.1 The Phallus 87 4.2.2 Phallus as the Signifier and the Symbolic Order 89 4.3 Melanie Klein and the Object Relations Theory 92 4.3.1 Audience Responsiveness: The Good Breast and the Bad Breast 92 4.3.2 Trauma and Phantasy 99 4.4 J Bowlby & H Kohut – Attachment and the Formation of the Self 100 4.4.1 J. Bowlby 100 4.4.2 H. Kohut 104 4.5 Mirroring, Attunement and Shame 110 4.5.1 Mirroring and Control 110 4.5.2 Transitional Objects in Stand-up Comedy 113 Chapter 5 - The Jungian Theory of Comedy 121 5.1 The Supra Joke 123 5.2 The Supra Comedian 131 5.3 Supra Jokes, Alchemy and the Transcendent Function 138 5.4 Alchemy 140 5.5 The Comedian as a Trickster and Alchemical Transformation 150 CHAPTER 6 - Creativity and the Comedian 159 6.1 Comedic Creativity from a Freudian View 159 6.2 A Positive View of Creativity in Comedy: C.G Jung, J. Hillman & O. Rank 173 CHAPTER 7 - Going on Stage: Inter-and-Intrapsychic Matrix of Stand-up 7 Comedy 189 7.1. Before 189 7.2 During 194 7.2.1 The Stand-up Comedian’s Potential to Individuate on Stage 194 7.2.2 Attachment and Seduction 200 7.3 After 207 7.3.1 Reflection 209 7.3.2 Repair 210 7.4 Stand Up Comedy as a Maturation Process 218 CHAPTER 8 - The Comedian and Depression 221 8.1 The Insecure Comedian 222 8.2 The Audience as a Psychological Filler: the Hunger for Love 226 8.3 Audience as an Abusive or Neglectful Parent 232 8.4 Early Childhood Experiences and Suicide 236 CHAPTER 9 - Gender, Culture and Comedy 239 9.1 Baubo – the Greek Goddess – the First Female Comedian 241 9.2 The Issue of Male Envy 257 9.3 Gay Women on the Circuit 260 9.4 The Comedic Animus 265 9.5 My Own Experience as a Comedian 274 Chapter 10 - Conclusion 279 10.1 Developing Stand-Up Comedy Therapy 282 8 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION How does the joke affect society? How does it affect the stand-up comedian? The premise of this thesis is that the comedian goes through transformational change on stage, and so does his or her audience.