Sight Gags takes a look into the world of vision through the eyes of an artist-turned-optometrist. This collection of 92 cartoons shows that eyeballs are not just the windows to your soul, but are also directly connected to your funny bone (it's a complicated neurological pathway, but that's another book entirely). Optometrists, ophthalmologists, opticians, and anybody with eyes will enjoy the off-the-wall humor in this book whether it be at home or in a doctor's waiting room.

Thomas and Johnston, two animation artists who joined Walt Disney Studios in time to work on the legendary Snow White, record in this volume the origins and development of Disney's unique type of visual humor. Includes some original drawings. 500 full-color illustrations.

The nature of comedy has interested many thinkers, from Plato to Freud, but film comedy has not received much theoretical attention in recent years. The essays in Comedy/Cinema/Theory use a range of critical and theoretical approaches to explore this curious and fascinating subject. The result is a stimulating, informative book for anyone interested in film, humor, and the art of bringing the two together. Comedy remains a central human preoccupation, despite the vagaries in form that it has assumed over the centuries in different media. In his introduction, Horton surveys the history of the study of comedy, from Aristophanes to the present, and he also offers a perspective on other related comic forms: printed fiction, comic books, TV sitcoms, jokes and gags. Some essays in the collection focus on general issues concerning comedy and cinema. In lively (and often humorous) prose, such scholars as Lucy Fischer, Noel Carroll, Peter Lehman, and Brian Henderson employ feminist, post-Freudian, neo-Marxist, and Bakhtinian methodologies. The remaining essays bring theoretical considerations to bear on specific works and comic filmmakers. Peter Brunette, William Paul, Scott Bukatman, Dana Polan, Charles Eidsvik, Ruth Perlmutter, Stephen Mamber, and Andrew Horton provide different perspectives for analyzing The Three Stooges, Chaplin, Jerry Lewis, Woody Allen, Dusan Makavejev, and Alfred Hitchcock's sole comedy, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, as well as the peculiar genre of cynical humor from Eastern Europe. As editor Horton notes, an over-arching theory of film comedy does not emanate from these essays. Yet the diversity and originality of the contributions reflect vital and growing interest in the subject, and both students of film and general moviegoers will relish the results.

The nature of comedy has interested many thinkers, from Plato to Freud, but film comedy has not received much theoretical attention in recent years. The essays in Comedy/Cinema/Theory use a range of critical and theoretical approaches to explore this curious and fascinating subject. The result is a stimulating, informative book for anyone interested in film, humor, and the art of bringing the two together. Comedy remains a central human preoccupation, despite the vagaries in form that it has assumed over the centuries in different media. In his introduction, Horton surveys the history of the study of comedy, from Aristophanes to the present, and he also offers a perspective on other related comic forms: printed fiction, comic books, TV sitcoms, jokes and gags. Some essays in the collection focus on general issues concerning comedy and cinema. In lively (and often humorous) prose, such scholars as Lucy Fischer, Noel Carroll, Peter Lehman, and Brian Henderson employ feminist, post-Freudian, neo-Marxist, and Bakhtinian methodologies. The remaining essays bring theoretical considerations to bear on specific works and comic filmmakers. Peter Brunette, William Paul, Scott Bukatman, Dana Polan, Charles Eidsvik, Ruth Perlmutter, Stephen Mamber, and Andrew Horton provide different perspectives for analyzing The Three Stooges, Chaplin, Jerry Lewis, Woody Allen, Dusan Makavejev, and Alfred Hitchcock's sole comedy, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, as well as the peculiar genre of cynical humor from Eastern Europe. As editor Horton notes, an over-arching theory of film comedy does not emanate from these essays. Yet the diversity and originality of the contributions reflect vital and growing interest in the subject, and both students of film and general moviegoers will relish the results.

Applies the recent return to history' in film studies to the genre of classical Hollywood comedy as well as broadening the definition of those works considered central in this field.

From classical Hollywood film comedies to sitcoms, recent political satire, and the developing world of online comedy culture, comedy has been a mainstay of the American media landscape for decades. Recognizing that scholars and students need an authoritative collection of comedy studies that gathers both foundational and cutting-edge work, Nick Marx and Matt Sienkiewicz have assembled The Comedy Studies Reader. This anthology brings together classic articles, more recent works, and original essays that consider a variety of themes and approaches for studying comedic media—the carnivalesque, comedy mechanics and absurdity, psychoanalysis, irony, genre, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and nation and globalization. The authors range from iconic theorists, such as Mikhail Bakhtin, Sigmund Freud, and Linda Hutcheon, to the leading senior and emerging scholars of today. As a whole, the volume traces two parallel trends in the evolution of the field—first, comedy’s development into myriad subgenres, formats, and discourses, a tendency that has led many popular commentators to characterize the present as a “comedy zeitgeist”; and second, comedy studies’ new focus on the ways in which comedy increasingly circulates in “serious” discursive realms, including politics, economics, race, gender, and cultural power.

You've never used a video guide like this before. You loved Chariots of Fire and you want to see something like it. Where do you start? Look up Chariots of Fire in the index, and find it in Drama. There you'll see it listed under White Flannel Films: Welcome to the glory days of the British empire when the ruling class rode horses on large country estates, servants were in plentiful supply, and only an adulterous lover questioned the status quo. As in other costume dramas, the period details are celebrations of all that was brilliant and luxurious, with the camera sweeping over British, Indian, or African countryscapes and exquisite turn-of-the-century interiors. But all this lush upholstery doesn't cover up the intelligent, thoughtful stories -- usually based on Lawrence, Forster, and Waugh novels -- played by stellar British actors. In White Flannel Films there are concise, witty reviews of select movies like A Room with a View A Passage to India Heat and Dust The Shooting Party Out of Africa White Mischief and more There is also a unique ratings system that helps you distinguish the bombs from the sleepers. But the key is that all these films offer the same kind of viewing experience -- if you like one, chances are good you'll like the others, too. Seen That, Now What? is your own personal video genius, who knows everything about movies and exactly what you like to watch.

It’s a challenge every teacher faces… finding ways to get and keep the attention of their students; getting them to engage fully in the lessons. In today’s world of constant connection to media and entertainment through television and the Internet, it is harder than ever. Add to that the pressures of NCLB, Common Core State Standards, and the Danielson evaluation model putting full responsibility for student learning and growth on the teacher and we have reached a crisis. How can teachers compete with this constant stream of personalized entertainment? They must learn to think and teach as entertainers! This is not as revolutionary a concept as it may sound. The word “entertain” is defined as “to pleasantly hold attention.” So teachers already “entertain” their students. So no problem, right? Wrong. Teachers are now competing for the attention of their students. And the competition is fierce. They are up against professional entertainers who have spent years studying the art of entertainment without having to worry about teaching as well. Teachers are trained in their subjects, but not in the methods and techniques used by entertainment professionals. Teachers must learn to plan and to think as the professional entertainers do. Only then can they effectively compete. Only then can they Create Captivating Classes! Christopher Bontjes has more than 40 years of experience in designing shows and entertaining audiences of all ages from the stage. He also has more than 25 years of experience as a classroom teacher. Because his teaching specialty is music, he has had the opportunity to teach students ranging in age from Kindergarten through adult. In Create Captivating Classes: Why NCLB Should Mean No Child Left Bored, Bontjes shares the techniques used by entertainment professionals to keep audiences glued to their seats and begging for more. He then applies each technique to the classroom, showing teachers, step-by-step, how to use each idea in the classroom to keep students riveted to lessons and anxious to learn more. These ideas and techniques are effective with all students. They work regardless of age or socio-economic background. They work not because of who students are, but because of what students are – HUMAN! Every teacher has students they struggle to reach. Create Captivating Classes will add a myriad of new ideas to your educational “bag of tricks.” Order your copy today and learn to Create Captivating Classes!

The Encyclopedia of Humor: A Social History explores the concept of humor in history and modern society in the United States and internationally. This work’s scope encompasses the humor of children, adults, and even nonhuman primates throughout the ages, from crude jokes and simple slapstick to sophisticated word play and ironic parody and satire. As an academic social history, it includes the perspectives of a wide range of disciplines, including sociology, child development, social psychology, life style history, communication, and entertainment media. Readers will develop an understanding of the importance of humor as it has developed globally throughout history and appreciate its effects on child and adult development, especially in the areas of health, creativity, social development, and imagination. This two-volume set is available in both print and electronic formats. Features & Benefits: The General Editor also serves as Editor-in-Chief of HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research for The International Society for Humor Studies. The book’s 335 articles are organized in A-to-Z fashion in two volumes (approximately 1,000 pages). This work is enhanced by an introduction by the General Editor, a Foreword, a list of the articles and contributors, and a Reader’s Guide that groups related entries thematically. A Chronology of Humor, a Resource Guide, and a detailed Index are included. Each entry concludes with References/Further Readings and cross references to related entries. The Index, Reader’s Guide themes, and cross references between and among related entries combine to provide robust search-and-browse features in the electronic version. This two-volume, A-to-Z set provides a general, non-technical resource for students and researchers in such diverse fields as communication and media studies, sociology and anthropology, social and cognitive psychology, history, literature and linguistics, and popular culture and folklore.