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"The New Humor in the Progressive Era defines this brand of humor and how it was practiced by comic vaudevillians from the 1880s to the early 1920s, vaudeville's golden era. Providing a comprehensive and wide range of comic vaudevillians, a special emphasis is placed on the comedy team and ethnic act of Joe Weber and Lew Fields; the family act of the Three Keatons; the school act of the Marx Brothers; the combination ethnic and family act of Kate and May Elinore, known as the Elinore Sisters; and the burlesque-inspired comedy of May Irwin, Eva Tanguay, and Marie Dressler. This diverse array of performers will be considered in relationship to Progressive-era reformers, cultural critics, and moral authorities, and their attempts to control, censure, and regulate popular comic entertainments on the vaudeville stage"--
List of contents
1. Americanization: Progressive Era Reformers, Cultural Critics, and Popular Comic Entertainments 2. Putting It Over in American Vaudeville 3. The New Humor: Ethnic Acts and Family Acts 4. The Marx Brothers Go To School 5. The New Woman and the Female Comedian as Social Insurgent Epilogue
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Finalist for the 2014 George Freedley Memorial Award
"The New Humor in the Progressive Era vividly illuminates a critical era in America's social and cultural history that might also shed light on our own. DesRochers writes in clear, accessible prose, and this book will be of interest to those interested in America's social and cultural history, as well as specialists in theatre history and popular entertainment." (Cheryl Black, The Journal of American Drama and Theatre, jadtjournal.org, Vol. 28 (2), June, 2016)
"DesRochers's work in The New Humor in the Progressive Era excites conversation and inquiry, and it invites us to reconsider vaudeville as an important site for studies of American identity. ... In this smart and informed analysis, Rick DesRochers turns a spotlight on the vaudeville stage and invites us to listen to the rebellious voices of its clowns and comics and to trace its lasting legacy in American culture." (Ann M. Ryan, Studies in American Humor, Spring, 2016)
