Comedy in Crises

Laughing in an Emergency is an edited volume that takes the forms of in-depth essays, artist statements, and interviews with renowned international artists, the book focuses on three key research strands underscoring the role of humour in contemporary art: humour and temporality/memory, humour and gender/biography/identity, and humour as a weapon. Drawing together research by artists, theorists, curators, and historians, Laughing in an Emergency provides a novel contribution to the emerging comedy studies field by investigating both the motivation and reception of humour in contemporary art practice from a broad spectrum of political, cultural and geographical contexts. The ultimate aim of the text is to contribute further understanding of what Nicholas Holm describes as the 'political aesthetics' of humour - the view that the aesthetic of humorous texts can do 'political work', by interceding in the negotiation, distribution and understanding of power. With contributions that range from a focus on the role humour in art and its relationship collective trauma, to activism, structural violence, and state memorial practices across diverse sites including Brazil, the USA, China, Palestine and Australia, this edited volume strives to lay new research foundations for this vital, yet underexplored region of cultural politics.