Major new studies into nature and benefits of the art

A major academic project is to examine the nature of comedy and the benefits it brings.

The Serious About Comedy initiative is being spearheaded by the University of Birmingham and will probe issues including: comedy and cancel culture; comedy and national identity, race, region, class and gender; whether comedy can be learned and whether comedy can promote health and well-being.

Other projects will ask whether comedy should be taken as seriously as tragedy and other serious drama and consider whether Shakespeare can be seen through the lens of comedy to appear fresher to modern audiences.

It is a tie-in with the Birmingham Rep theatre which, under its artistic director Sean Foley, aims to turn itself into a major centre for comedy. The venue hosts a day of events to launch the project on, appropriately enough, April Fools’ Day.

The Serious About Comedy will feature performers such as Ken Cheng, Sophie Duker, Jo Enright, Athena Kugblenu, Shazia Mirza, Tim FitzHigham, Felicity Montagu and Jon Holmes, alongside academics working in the field. And it will culminate in a stand-up gig featuring the likes of  Lovdev Barpaga, Annette Fagon, Gráinne Maguire, Jo Enright, Josh Pugh and Mrs Barbara Nice.

Professor Ewan Fernie of the University of Birmingham said: ‘We’re delighted to be getting up to some seriously funny business with The Rep and we hope that Serious About Comedy will initiate a distinctive and promising new tradition of taking comedy seriously in the city, one which will refresh Birmingham’s sense of its own identity and culture from a funny but intellectually rewarding angle.  

Foley, who has a strong background in comedy including co-creating the Morecambe and Wise tribute The Play What I Wrote, added: ‘Serious About Comedy  continues The Rep’s commitment to being a major player in presenting comedy in all forms, such as developing new writing and emerging comedy talent while presenting the very latest hit comic productions as well as the ever-funny classics.

‘This brilliant new partnership with the University of Birmingham will allow for a new and ongoing forum where the comedy industry dances provocatively with academia and the public, in a shared pursuit of learning and laughs. But not necessarily in that order…’

The new academic projects are being funded by Research England  and promise a ‘wide-ranging enquiry into the meaning and workings of comedy’. Full details of the April 1 event are here.

Published: 22 Mar 2022