To Wit: Skin and Bones of Comedy

Examines comedic forms--from political comedy to slapstick to farce--and the talents of great comics from Buster Keaton to the Monty Python troupe

In this melange, a noted British critic and scriptwriter ( Sunday Bloody Sunday ) comments imaginatively and appreciatively on satire, comedy and comedians in the theater, on film and in literature. Chapters focus on the great mutes (Chaplin, Langdon, Linder and Lloyd), invocations of protocol by Bunuel and Tati, the anxiety and range of John Cleese, the "thumb prickings" of Renoir, Kubrick, Brecht and Whoopi Goldberg. But one chapter sashays from Genet, Ionesco, Pirandello, Pinter, Congreve, Stroheim, Feydeau, Kingsley Amis, Ruth Draper, Wilde, Shaw and Behan to Elaine May, Judy Holliday and Nigel Dennis; another, from W. C. Fields and Truffaut to Eddie Murphy, Tracy and Hepburn, and John Barrymore; still another, from Woody Allen, I. F. Stone, Fellini and Shakespeare to Wertmuller and the Beatles. Gilliatt's enthusiasms are infectious, but her references to personal associations with comedians seem gratuitous, and her coverage is spotty. Why no Ayckbourn or Stoppard, for example?
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In her anecdotal examination of the comedic nature, Gilliatt has provided the reader with an insightful and entertaining study. She analyzes the great comics from Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin to Woody Allen and John Cleese. Comedy's relationship with both film and literature is explored and developed for the reader, with special attention given to defining the various types of humor. An appropriate purchase for both public and academic libraries, this collection of essays is essential for collections supporting research in film and literature.
- Mary Molinaro, Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.