This volume deals directly with trauma, stigma, and mental health through the lens of comic shticks. In interviews with various standup comedians, Viña deftly probes the pain and suffering of people who use comedy as a means of coping, healing, and dealing with personal crises. He looks at the stigmatization of social problems and social deviance, delving into how some comedy aims at embracing embarrassment or testing social boundaries as part of a risible routine. This work suggests that comedy can enhance stigma reduction. Though not arguing that comedy is a panacea, Viña holds out for its ability to foster empathy. Unfortunately, almost everything becomes a visible or an invisible stigma, from rape to childbearing to homosexual rejection to cancer. Any potentially shameful status seems to invite obscenities as a means of breaking taboos and transcending disgrace. Yet, Viña's sociological approach provides a compelling narrative tenor, collecting and telling poignant stories that form the backdrop of anguished, awkward, and heartbreaking performances, drawing, as Charlie Chaplin would summon, a laugh and a tear. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

Choice Reviews

Comedy is often the edge of social change. Sean M. Viña's new book explores this frontier with a focus on how comedy can heal, but it doesn't heal equally. It's qualitative sociology at its finest and an outstanding contribution to how we understand the art of stand up and the way it changes the performers and audience.

Fabio Rojas, Indiana University

Comedy has always aimed at the very heart of society’s most powerful but often brushed-aside inequities. But through the voices of those who have faced contemporary prejudice and discrimination, Viña reveals how comedians with stigmatized experiences cast a sharp eye on the social norms that continue to rob individuals of their true value. For anyone who thinks that stigma has dissipated, listening and feeling the discomfort of difference is essential.

Bernice A. Pescosolido, Indiana University