Matthew McMahan is the Assistant Director of the Center for Comedic Arts at Emerson College, USA, where he teaches the history of comedy, comic prose, sketch, and improvisation comedy. He has also taught acting, directing, and theatre history at a variety of institutions, including Tufts University, Merrimack College, and Dean College. His research interests include the history and practice of commedia dell'arte, French comedy, and clowning. He is also fascinated by the dynamic of internationalism in comedy: how comedy travels and how it is adapted and translated across national borders. His research has been published in Theatre History Studies, The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, The New England Theatre Journal, and The Texas Theatre Journal.

• Chapter 1: Italian Cultural Capital on the French Stage.- Chapter 2: Prologues, Meta-Comedy, and Cross-Cultural Rapport.-  Chapter 3: Bilingualism and Translation in Comedy.- Chapter 4: Stereotypes , Self-Deprecation, and Refracted Satire.- Chapter 5: Improvisation, Emotion, and the Italian Brand.- Chapter 6: Parody as Transcultural Critique.

Matthew McMahan is the Assistant Director of the Center for Comedic Arts at Emerson College, USA, where he teaches the history of comedy, comic prose, sketch, and improvisation comedy. He has also taught acting, directing, and theatre history at a variety of institutions, including Tufts University, Merrimack College, and Dean College. His research interests include the history and practice of commedia dell'arte, French comedy, and clowning. He is also fascinated by the dynamic of internationalism in comedy: how comedy travels and how it is adapted and translated across national borders. His research has been published in Theatre History Studies, The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, The New England Theatre Journal, and The Texas Theatre Journal.

• Chapter 1: Italian Cultural Capital on the French Stage.- Chapter 2: Prologues, Meta-Comedy, and Cross-Cultural Rapport.-  Chapter 3: Bilingualism and Translation in Comedy.- Chapter 4: Stereotypes , Self-Deprecation, and Refracted Satire.- Chapter 5: Improvisation, Emotion, and the Italian Brand.- Chapter 6: Parody as Transcultural Critique.

Matthew McMahan is the Assistant Director of the Center for Comedic Arts at Emerson College, USA, where he teaches the history of comedy, comic prose, sketch, and improvisation comedy. He has also taught acting, directing, and theatre history at a variety of institutions, including Tufts University, Merrimack College, and Dean College. His research interests include the history and practice of commedia dell'arte, French comedy, and clowning. He is also fascinated by the dynamic of internationalism in comedy: how comedy travels and how it is adapted and translated across national borders. His research has been published in Theatre History Studies, The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, The New England Theatre Journal, and The Texas Theatre Journal.

• Chapter 1: Italian Cultural Capital on the French Stage.- Chapter 2: Prologues, Meta-Comedy, and Cross-Cultural Rapport.-  Chapter 3: Bilingualism and Translation in Comedy.- Chapter 4: Stereotypes , Self-Deprecation, and Refracted Satire.- Chapter 5: Improvisation, Emotion, and the Italian Brand.- Chapter 6: Parody as Transcultural Critique.