"An important addition to the literature on Italian Commedia dell'Arte."--Choice This best-selling PAJ volume presents over 250 comedy routines used by commedia performers in Europe from 1550 to 1750. Includes an introduction, two complete commedia scenarios, and a glossary of commedia characters.

This book covers both the history and professional practice of commedia dell'arte companies from 1568 to the present day.

An encyclopedic dictionary of technical and theoretical terms, the book covers all aspects of a semiotic approach to the theatre, with cross-referenced alphabetical entries ranging from absurd to word scenery.

This rich collection of readings offers a wide-ranging and authoritative survey of clown practices, history and theory, from the origins of the word clown through to contemporary clowning. Covering clowns in theatre, circus, cinema, TV, street and elsewhere, the author's stimulating narrative challenges assumptions and turns orthodoxy on its head.

Designed for a course in "World Arts: Art, Theatre and Film", and will prove useful to programs at other colleges that have been designed along similar interdisciplinary lines. Contents: THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSION: Selections on Shamanism, Michael Kirby; Everyman, Anonymous; The Blind, Maurice Maeterlinck; THE PORTRAIT: "The Period of Study," Constantin Stanislavsky; Krapp's Last Tape, Samuel Beckett; LOVE FULLFILLED, LOVE THWARTED: A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry; Our Town, Thornton Wilder; ART IN THE SOCIAL CONTEXT: The Trojan Women, Euripides; Fabiola, Eduardo Machado; THE SENSE OF MOVEMENT: Lazzi; The Flying Doctor, Moliere; Futurist Plays; The Jet of Blood, Antonin Artaud; 18 Happenings in 6 Parts; VOCABULARY LISTS: Theatre; Film.

Whoever wrote "Make 'em laugh!" knew that it's easier said than done. But people love to laugh, and good comedy will always sell. With the help of this complete and entertaining guide, writers and would-be writers for film and television can look forward to writing comedy that goes far beyond stereotypic jokes and characters. In Laughing Out Loud, award-winning screenwriter and author Andrew Horton blends history, theory, and analysis of comedy with invaluable advice. Using examples from Chaplin to Seinfeld, Aristophanes to Woody Allen, Horton describes comedy as a perspective rather than merely as a genre and then goes on to identify the essential elements of comedy. His lively overview of comedy's history traces its two main branches—anarchistic comedy and romantic comedy—from ancient Greece through contemporary Hollywood, by way of commedia dell'arte, vaudeville, and silent movies. Television and international cinema are included in Horton's analysis, which leads into an up-close review of the comedy chemistry in a number of specific films and television shows. The rest of the book is a practical guide to writing feature comedy and episodic TV comedy, complete with schedules and exercises designed to unblock any writer's comic potential. The appendices offer tips on networking, marketing, and even producing comedies, and are followed by a list of recommended comedies and a bibliography. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 2000. Whoever wrote "Make 'em laugh!" knew that it's easier said than done. But people love to laugh, and good comedy will always sell. With the help of this complete and entertaining guide, writers and would-be writers for film and television can look forward