Eric Weitz is Associate Professor of Drama at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. He is the author of The Cambridge Introduction to Comedy.

'This enlightening short overview reinstates the important concepts of comic enactment and comic character long absent from other scholarly accounts of humour. Weitz explores the intimate nexus between comedy and laughter with a fine combination of scholarship and practical theatre experience, challenging us to reflect on our own appreciation of the ludicrous and laughable.' - Jessica Milner Davis, University of Australia, Sydney 'Lively and intelligent, this book is a stimulating romp through a whole range of ideas relating to theatre and laughter.' - Oliver Double, University of Kent, UK

• Series editors' prefacePartners in social relationsLaughter and theatrePlay's the thingLaughter and its doubleKilling the frogEmbodied jokingSubsequent audiencesThe Heart of LightnessShadow laughterHumour as embodied practiceWord playSlapstickThe clown figureLaughter in the frameLaughter as behavioural memeLaughter as themeFunninessLaughter and contextLaughter as crowd controlLaughter as eventChanging the situationOne more thingFurther readingIndex.

Eric Weitz is Associate Professor of Drama at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. He is the author of The Cambridge Introduction to Comedy.

'This enlightening short overview reinstates the important concepts of comic enactment and comic character long absent from other scholarly accounts of humour. Weitz explores the intimate nexus between comedy and laughter with a fine combination of scholarship and practical theatre experience, challenging us to reflect on our own appreciation of the ludicrous and laughable.' - Jessica Milner Davis, University of Australia, Sydney 'Lively and intelligent, this book is a stimulating romp through a whole range of ideas relating to theatre and laughter.' - Oliver Double, University of Kent, UK

• Series editors' prefacePartners in social relationsLaughter and theatrePlay's the thingLaughter and its doubleKilling the frogEmbodied jokingSubsequent audiencesThe Heart of LightnessShadow laughterHumour as embodied practiceWord playSlapstickThe clown figureLaughter in the frameLaughter as behavioural memeLaughter as themeFunninessLaughter and contextLaughter as crowd controlLaughter as eventChanging the situationOne more thingFurther readingIndex.

Eric Weitz is Associate Professor of Drama at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. He is the author of The Cambridge Introduction to Comedy.

'This enlightening short overview reinstates the important concepts of comic enactment and comic character long absent from other scholarly accounts of humour. Weitz explores the intimate nexus between comedy and laughter with a fine combination of scholarship and practical theatre experience, challenging us to reflect on our own appreciation of the ludicrous and laughable.' - Jessica Milner Davis, University of Australia, Sydney 'Lively and intelligent, this book is a stimulating romp through a whole range of ideas relating to theatre and laughter.' - Oliver Double, University of Kent, UK

• Series editors' prefacePartners in social relationsLaughter and theatrePlay's the thingLaughter and its doubleKilling the frogEmbodied jokingSubsequent audiencesThe Heart of LightnessShadow laughterHumour as embodied practiceWord playSlapstickThe clown figureLaughter in the frameLaughter as behavioural memeLaughter as themeFunninessLaughter and contextLaughter as crowd controlLaughter as eventChanging the situationOne more thingFurther readingIndex.