Index

abortion, 30–31

absurdities, 13–14, 18, 100, 101; absurdist humor, 128n10

Abu-Wardeh, Jamil, 51, 58

Adams, Reginald, 13

affects, 6, 56, 59; as contagion, 58–59; versus emotion, 49–50; negative, 60, 102; theory of, 49–50

Ahmed, Sara, 50

Alcaraz, Lalo, 68

Allen, Gracie, 24, 26

allopathic. See catharsis

alpha male, 73, 88, 91, 83

Andrews, Thomas, 95–96

anxiety, 45, 52, 63, 69, 106, 108, 117, 146; post-9/11, 13, 49, 63, 142

Ape Genius, 83–86

Arab Spring, 50, 59

Aristotle, 106, 109–10, 111–12

arrogance. See hubris

asshole, 9, 160n33. See also humor

Axis of Evil Comedy Tour, 12–13, 51, 52, 58, 61

Azmanova, Albena, 160n25

Bakhtin, Mikhail, 10–11, 16, 115

Ball, Lucille, 26

Bamboozled. See Lee, Spike

Barr, Roseanne, 12, 21, 24–26

Barreca, Gina, 27

Barrett, Lisa Felman, 159n18

Bee, Samantha, 12, 24, 118, 140, 142

Bekoff, Marc, 17, 86–88, 92, 133

Belfiore, Elizabeth, 112–13

Bentham, Jeremy, 75–76, 78

Bergson, Henri, 105

Berlant, Lauren, 157n4

Big Mama Jo, 135–36

Bilge, Simra, 3, 9, 41

biosocial, 24; desires, 118; field, 120; force, 102, 112. See also climate; network

birthers, 49, 52–54

blackface, 81

Black Lives Matter, 139, 140, 141

Black Panthers, 40, 65, 66

Bloom, Paul, 129

bond, 82, 96; bonding, 15, 86, 107, 134–35

Bono, 10, 140

bonobo, 84–85, 88, 91

border crises, 49, 68–69, 130

Bordo, Susan, 38–39

Bradshaw, Gay, 75, 89–90

brain: first, 14, 100–102; second, 6–7, 20, 100, 117, 124–25, 159n18

Brennan, Teresa, 50

Bruce, Lenny, 40

Brumberg, Joan Jacobs, 108

buffoon, 111–12, 153; buffoonery, 103

bullying, 7, 29

burlesque, 26, 103

Butler, Judith, 22, 37

capuchin monkeys, 71–72

Carlin, George, 1, 18

Carroll, Noel, 13, 100–101

Cartesian grid, 41

Cash, Johnny, 139–40

catharsis, 12–13, 40, 102, 109–12, 120, 153; allopathic, 112–14, 116; collective/communal, 104, 116–20, 153; healing, 12, 104, 153; homeopathic, 112–14, 116; subversion, 41–42, 45. See also laughter

chakra, 106

Chaplin, Charlie, 95, 105

Chappelle, Dave, 48, 140

chauvinist pig, 38–39, 40, 100–101

chimpanzee, 5, 83, 86–89, 173n6, 177n58

Cho, Margaret, 21, 26–27, 43

Christakis, Nicholas, 59

C.K., Louis, 33

Cleese, John, 55

climate: biosocial, 110; hostile/toxic, 19, 21, 23–24, 49, 54, 120, 165n37; social, 52, 56, 58, 61, 102, 137

Clinton, Hillary, 39, 44

Clinton, Kate, 27

clown, 11; clowning, 109

cognitive psychology, 100–101

cognitive science, 13

Cohen, Sacha Baron, 140

Colbert, Stephen, 1, 56–57, 65, 67, 71–72, 140

Collins, Patricia Hill, 3, 9, 40, 41, 42, 43

colonization: of the self/psyche, 102, 107; struggle against, 82, 93. See also decolonization

comedy: golden rule of, 9–10, 147; roasts, 121–23, 129–30; romantic, 133; stand-up, 26–27, 32–33, 51, 55–56, 61, 129, 149–53

communal rituals, 104, 116–17

compassion, 10, 80, 121, 174n26, 186n39; rational, 130–31, 135

consciousness, 5–6; false, 99, 141; mixed, 141

contagion, 52, 185n32. See also affects

Cooper, Anthony Ashley. See Lord Shaftsbury

Coplan, Amy, 131

Cosby, Bill, 60–61

Couric, Katie, 60–61

Crenshaw, Kimberlé, 40, 42

Critchley, Simon, 13, 101–2, 107

critical theory, 63–65

Crystal, Billy, 108–9

Cynics, 39–40, 142

Daily Show, 30–31, 33, 63

Damasio, Antonio, 136

Davis, Angela, 163n13

Day, Amber, 157n4

decolonization, 12, 48–49, 169n4

Deleuze, Gilles, 22, 37

Dennett, Daniel, 13

detachment, 129, 162n50. See also humor

de Waal, Frans, 56, 80, 88–89, 90–91

dirt/dirty, 21, 108, 110–12; woman, 114–15, 182n58

disgust, 37, 39, 110

dog, 17, 73, 86–88, 96

Douglas, Mary, 34–35, 114

Douglas, Susan, 21

Douglass, Frederick, 81–82

Dyson, Michael Eric, 53

Ehrenreich, Barbara, 38–39

elephant, 75, 83, 84–85, 86, 89–90, 173nn12–13, 176n41

Ellison, Ralph, 113

emotion, 80, 121, 129–31, 136–37; versus affect, 6, 49–51; anger, 11, 14, 18, 26–30, 33–36, 40, 42, 50, 54, 102–3, 110, 143–45, 147, 151–52, 181n45; fear, 6, 42, 48–59, 69, 106, 111–13, 120, 142; joy, 2, 18–19, 22–23, 26, 28, 34–35, 42, 50, 63, 87, 97, 105, 134, 152; negative, 45, 117, 120; outrage, 2, 14, 23, 24, 36, 58, 73, 75, 90–91, 110; positive, 134; pride, 17, 43, 102, 116, 120; women ruled by, 2, 110–11, 129; work, 97, 99–100, 109, 120

empathy, 20, 56, 79, 121–22, 129–30, 132–33, 142, 144; ethics of, 17; inclusive, 122–23; matching theory of, 131–32, 137; solidaric, 124–25, 130–31, 134–35, 147, 153; superlative, 132–33, 138; theory of mind and, 137–38. See also humor; laughter

endorphins, 106–7

energy, 6, 40, 45, 51, 117–18, 134, 141; negative, 19, 43, 51, 110; positive, 42–43, 106; psychic, 103–4, 105; transmission, 58–59; wave of, 50, 54–55, 58–59; wave theory of, 82–83

eros, 18, 83, 105, 133, 136; erotic, 22–23, 26, 28, 33–34, 42; ethic of, 40; politics of laughter, 22, 39, 43, 45, 81, 83

Esposito, Cameron, 33

false consciousness. See consciousness

felt connection, 95, 131–39

feminism, 12–14, 18–19, 21–39, 82–83, 94, 97, 101, 111–17, 119–20, 129–31; materialism and, 100

Fey, Tina, 3–4, 21, 28–29, 110–11, 140, 158n7

Finney, Gail, 163n1, 166n43

fool, 29. See also clown

Football Nights. See Schumer, Amy

Foucault, Michel, 22, 34, 37–38, 39–40, 60

Fowler, James, 59

Fraser, Nancy, 63

free speech, 7–9, 55, 151–52

Freud, Sigmund, 11–12, 13, 16, 101–2, 104–5, 118, 128, 134–35, 180n13

friendship, 2, 16, 76–77, 85, 88, 133, 147

Frye, Northrop, 105, 160n32

Gadsby, Hannah, 1, 2, 20, 129; Nanette, 150–53

gay pride, 43, 115

genealogy, 22–23, 33–34, 37–38, 40, 43–45

Georgia, 14, 90, 152–53

gorilla, 71, 87–88

Gould, Deborah, 99–100

Gournelos, Ted, 158n8

Greene, Viveca, 158n8

Gregg, Melissa, 169n6

Gregory, Dick, 186n42

Guerilla Girls, 21

gut, 3, 11–12, 13–14, 49–50, 92, 101, 103, 105–6, 118, 130–31, 141–42, 144, 147, 152–53, 183n72. See also brain: second

Haidt, Jonathan, 79–80, 136

Halley, Janet, 23, 34, 37, 45

Hampton, Fred, 40

Haraway, Donna, 81, 82, 95, 96

Hartman, Saidiya, 185n31

Harvard Yard Pee-In, 26

hate, 13, 48, 51, 59, 67, 137; crime, 49, 59–60, 62; speech, 3

healing. See catharsis

health, 58, 117–18, 128, 182n70, 183n72; health benefits, 104–10; cardiovascular, 107–8

Hearne, Vicki, 87

Hebdo, Charlie, 8, 55

Hefner, Hugh, 38

Hewitt, Nancy, 82–83

Hitchens, Christopher, 3–4, 7, 10, 13, 17

Hobbes, Thomas, 7

Hochschild, Arlie, 99, 179n2

holistic approach, 100, 116–18

Holland, Julie, 107

homeopathic. See catharsis

homophobia, 1

hope, 14, 50, 52, 89, 120, 138, 153

horse, 81, 92–93

Hribal, Jason, 93

hubris, 8–9, 85, 113–14, 116; versus arrogance, 8–9, 113; madness, 75

Hume, David, 76, 78

humiliation, 8–9, 13, 72, 113, 149, 151–52

humor: of the asshole, 28; carnival, 5, 10–12, 115, 150; of detachment, 4, 16, 127, 149; empathetic, 122–23, 133–36, 138, 142, 145–46; fatalistic theory of, 101–2; gallows, 4, 101–2; incongruity theory of, 5–6, 13–15, 100–102; leveling, 10–11; minstrel, 127, 149, 150; revenge, 62–63; sense of, 125–26, 127–30, 131; superiority theory of, 5–10, 35, 126, 165n43, 184n10

Huntington, Samuel, 64

Hurley, Matthew, 13

Husserl, Edmund, 137

Hutcheon, Linda, 126

hydraulic system, 103, 113, 119

hypocrisy, 11, 27, 63–65, 119, 141, 142

hysteria, 108; hysterical woman, 37–38; mass, 50

identities, 23, 34–36, 40–45, 52, 58, 61, 64, 68–69, 85, 102, 138, 152, 162n47, 165n43; fluid, 52, 56, 138, 141; social, 48, 129, 139, 151

immanent critique, 63–65

immune system, 107

incongruity. See humor

insult, 7–9, 17, 23–24, 39, 113–14, 123

intersectional, 9, 36, 115; intersectionality, 40–43; theory, 3–4, 36–37, 40–43

irony, 37–45, 67–68, 125, 162n50; ironist, 34, 42–43, 53, 66, 74; self, 23, 113, 128–29

Islamophobia, 1–2, 19, 28, 47–49, 51–57, 62, 68–69

Ismail, Ayma, 55

Jamison, Leslie, 131–33, 138

Jarvis, Heather, 115–16

Jim Crow, 93, 113, 127; New, 127, 140, 145, 171n39

Jobrani, Maz, 61

Jones, Janine, 171n39, 185n31

Kant, Immanuel, 13, 36, 59, 105–6, 161n46

Kennedy, Florynce, 26, 163n13

Key, Jim, 92–93

Key, William, 92–93

Khan, Sana, 118

Kingsolver, Barbara, 91–92

Koko, 71, 87–88

Kolbert, Elizabeth, 73–75

Kondabolu, Hari, 7, 49, 61–63, 159n21; Warn Your Relatives, 59–60

Krefting, Rebecca, 100–101, 159n21, 179n10, 186n42

Langer, Susanne, 105

Latif, Imam Khalid, 57

laughter, 6–9, 14–15, 19–20, 153; animal, 86–89, 91; belly, 3–4, 6, 27, 99–103, 105–9, 110, 118–19, 138, 145; cathartic, 12–13, 51–52; contagious, 52, 58, 69, 105; empathetic, 124–25; laughing barrel, 103, 108; physiology of, 12, 19–20, 102, 103–9. See also eros

Lee, Spike, 127, 146

Leng, Kirsten, 163n13

life force, 34, 45, 50, 105, 118

Lintott, Sheila, 156n6, 156n14, 184n10

lion, 54, 85, 93, 178n89

Lorde, Audre, 18, 22, 23, 33–34, 40–43, 45, 50, 81, 105, 165n42

Lord Shaftsbury, 11–12, 103, 105

MacKinnon, Catherine A., 28

Maher, Bill, 55

Malcolm X, 53, 61–62, 66

Mandvi, Aasif, 64–65

Marable, Manning, 66

Martin, Rod A., 179n9

mass incarceration, 3, 121–22, 139–40

McCumber, John, 111–12

meme, 140–41

memory, 85, 107, 176n41, 185n73

menstruation, 26, 28–29, 35, 110–13, 117

mental visualization, 120

Merleau-Ponty, Maurice, 137

#MeToo, 110, 141

Meyer, Seth, 53–54

Mill, J. S., 36, 59, 78

Mills, C. Wright, 138

mimicry, 103

minstrel, 128, 136. See also humor

Mintz, Lawrence E., 165n43

Miranda, Lin-Manuel, 68

misogyny, 1–3, 118–20, 150–51

Modern Times. See Chaplin, Charlie

Moms Mabley, 1, 18, 24

Monty Python, 55

mood, 6, 13, 50, 52–56, 58, 91, 100, 141, 142–43

Morreall, John, 15–16, 102–3

Morrison, Toni, 48, 169n5

mother, 24–25, 28–29, 31, 43; motherhood, 22–23, 27, 39

mule, 95, 97

Muslim Funny Fest, 1, 12–13, 55, 118

Nabor, Nadine, 48–49, 169n4

Nanette. See Gadsby, Hannah

Nanjiani, Kumail, 62–63

Nazi. See neo-Nazi

neoliberalism, 38, 61–62, 64–65, 72–73, 78, 89, 97, 132

neo-Nazi, 123–24, 131, 135, 141, 164n21

network, 5–6, 13, 80–81, 118; biosocial, 6, 10, 12, 14, 50, 79; of power, 22, 37–38; social, 58; theory, 58–60

Nicholson, Linda, 63

Nietzsche, Friedrich, 4, 22

9/11, 3, 13, 47–48, 50–52, 56, 69, 125, 147

Noah, Trevor, 1, 140

Noorbakhsh, Zahra, 28

normalization, 36–38, 42, 60–61

norms, 22–23, 25, 27, 36–37, 40–43, 59, 79–80, 102, 114, 152, 162n47; social, 18, 34, 36, 40, 45, 61, 88–89, 97, 116–17, 130, 167n47, 177n58

Notaro, Tig, 20, 149–50, 153

Notorious C.H.O. See Cho, Margaret

Nussbaum, Martha, 79–80, 112, 174n26, 186n39

N-word, 113

Obama, Barack, 30, 49, 52–56

Obeidallah, Dean, 12–13, 19, 47–48, 51–52, 55, 68

Oliver, John, 140

Onion, the, 99

orangutan, 14

orgasm, 107–9, 120

Orlean, Susan, 96

Orleck, Annelise, 94

Pääbo, Svante, 73–75

Panksepp, Jaak, 87

parrhesia, 8, 39–40, 142

parrot, 15

Patterson, Francine, 87

Pearson, Susan, 76–77

Pennebaker, James, 104

phenomenological, 137

physiology. See laughter

pig. See chauvinist pig

Plato, 7, 22, 109, 187n9

play, 2, 5, 73, 83, 86–89, 135, 162n50; fair, 8–9, 19, 73, 147; fighting, 122–23; social, 5–17, 88, 133–34

Playboy bunny, 38–39

playing the dozens, 135–65

Poehler, Amy, 110–11

pony, 92

Poole, Joyce, 86

postmoral ethics, 36

Prashad, Vijay, 65–66, 95

Provine, Robert, 86–88

Pryor, Richard, 1, 18, 40, 53, 66

purges, 106–7, 117

purification. See purges

pussy, 39, 182n58; detachable, 28, 31–32, 102

pyramid of oppression, 33, 109

qi, 106

queer, 23; camp, 100; erotics, 45; humor, 40–45; pleasure, 40

race, 1–3, 12–13, 19, 40–45, 49, 92–93; racial profiling, 44–45; racism, 45, 58–63, 65–68, 81–82, 113. See also Islamophobia

Radical Cheerleaders, 26

rape, 1, 30–32, 76, 152; culture, 30–33, 114–20; joke, 3, 9, 32–33, 104, 161n46

rats, 73, 107

raven, 89

reciprocity, 16–17, 88, 147

refugee, 49

Reiner, Rob, 108

release theory, 5–6, 11–12

relief: comic relief, 4–5, 11–12, 101–8, 111, 113

renewal, 117–18, 120

revenge, 29, 54, 66. See also humor

Rivas, Mim Eichler, 93

roast. See comedy

Rock, Chris, 140

Rodriguez, Arturo, 67

Roediger, David, 48, 94

Rose, Amber, 12, 99, 114–16, 119–20

Ross, Jeff, 121–23, 130, 138, 139–40, 142; Jeff Ross Roasts Cops, 121–23, 142–47; Jeff Ross Roasts Criminals, 121–24, 135–36

Ruiz, Vicki, 94

Ryan, Meg, 108–9

Saturday Night Live, 62–63, 110–11

Saxton, Alexander, 94

Schaal, Kristen, 30–31

Schumer, Amy, 20; Football Nights, 118–19

self: autonomous, 50; care, 102, 113; relational, 12, 118; righteousness, 34, 100, 110; transcendence, 125, 127–29, 130, 138

sense of humor. See humor

sexuality, 22–23, 38–39, 116

sex workers, 115

shame, 12, 100–101, 109–10, 113–17; distribution of, 109

Sheehi, Stephen, 48

Silk, Joan, 86

Silverman, Sarah, 100

Sinclair, Upton, 95

Singer, Peter, 78, 83

slut, 43, 101–2, 110, 113–14, 152, 182n58; SlutWalk, 12, 102, 113, 115–17, 119–20

Smith, Adam, 76, 78, 126

social media, 3–4, 118, 140–41, 183n1

Socrates, 73–74

solidarity, 16–17, 20, 42, 52, 56, 63, 65–66, 68–69, 89, 122–23, 141; cross-species, 80–82, 92–93, 95–96; visionary, 66. See also empathy

Spencer, Herbert, 11–12, 103–4

Spivak, Chakravorty Gayatri, 82

St. Clair, Jeffrey, 93

Steele, Claude, 45

Stein, Edith, 137

Steinbock, Anthony J., 182n66

Steinem, Gloria, 24–26, 35, 39

Stern, Daniel, 50, 104–5

Stewart, Jon, 33, 56–57, 64, 140

stoic, 13, 16, 18, 101–3, 105, 120, 128, 162n47, 184n10

Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 127

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, 40

subaltern, 4, 72–73, 82–83, 94–97

Suchak, Malini, 88–89

superorganism, 58

Sykes, Wanda, 1, 10, 18, 21, 26, 31–32, 41–45, 102, 118, 129, 140

sympathy, 75–81, 129–31, 135, 184n10; revolution, 126–29, 184n10

theory of mind. See under empathy

tickling, 15, 87, 107

Tomasello, Michael, 84–85

Tomkins, Silvan, 116–17

Tosh, Daniel, 32–33

toxic, 1, 19, 23, 40, 42, 45, 49, 119, 134, 151–52; political climate, 56, 120; toxin, 59, 106–7, 109–11, 113

tragedy, 20, 111–12, 142, 149–53

tranquility, 120

trans-inclusive, 115

trauma, 75, 84–85, 104, 132, 137–38

trickster, 12, 28, 32, 66, 89, 93

Trump, Donald, 10, 28, 39, 49, 53–55, 146–47; administration, 66

Truscott, Adrienne, 118

truth teller, 1–2, 20, 39–41, 125, 147, 152–53. See also parrhesia

Twain, Mark, 149

tweet, 140–41

United Farm Workers of America (UFW), 67

utilitarianism, 75, 77–78

venting, 5, 11–12, 51, 101–2, 103–4, 106, 153

vibe, 6, 19, 49

vision, 6–7, 35–36, 40, 94, 112, 167n50

visionary. See solidarity

vitality, 11–12, 107; affect, 50, 104–5; élan vital, 105–6

vulnerability, 77–81, 134

Warn Your Relatives. See Kondabolu, Hari

West, Lindy, 14, 33

When Harry Met Sally, 108–9

White House Correspondents’ Dinner, 43–45, 53–54

Wickberg, Daniel, 125–29

Wiig, Kristen, 110–11

Wilde, Oscar, 4

Williams, Robin, 71

Wilson, Casey, 110–11

Wilson, Elizabeth, 1

Wiseman, Rosalind, 29

wit, 22, 26, 51, 61, 92, 125, 134, 136, 142, 146; cerebral, 2–4, 100, 120, 126, 184n10

W.I.T.C.H., 26

Wong, Ali, 12, 21, 129; Baby Cobra, 26–27

Yiddish cultures, 135

Youssef, Bassem, 50–51, 58, 59

Youssef, Ramy, 55–56

Zahavi, Dan, 137

Zayid, Maysoon, 21, 55