2 Concerning comedy 9 -- 3 Notions of nation 26 -- 4 Englishnesses 39 -- 5 Music hall: Contours and legacies 63 -- 6 Our gracious queens: English comedy's effeminate tradition 87 -- 7 Lads in love: Gender and togetherness in the male double act 111 -- 8 Thirty nibbles at the same cherry: Why the 'Carry Ons' carry on 128 -- 9 Bermuda my arse: Class, culture and 'The Royle Family' 144 -- 10 Anatomising England: Alan Bennett, Mike Leigh, Victoria Wood 159 -- 11 Togetherness through offensiveness: The importance of Roy 'Chubby' Brown 187 -- 12 Conclusion: A national sense of humour? 204
Summary
In 'A National Joke', Andy Medhurst investigates the Englishness of a century of English comedy. Using case studies of comic traditions and representations, the author shows how comedy plays a key role in the construction of cultural identity
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 210-225) and index
