Standing Up, Speaking Out

Matthew R. Meier is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at West Chester University in West Chester, PA.Casey R. Schmitt is an Assistant Professor of Communication at Lakeland College in Howards Grove, WI.

• SECTION I: THE RHETORICAL POTENTIALS OF STAND UP1. Late Night Apologia: A Critical Analysis of David Letterman’s October 1st, 2009 On-Air Revelation-Confession – Casey R. Schmitt (collection co-editor)2. Rhetoric of Racial Ridicule in an Era of Racial Protest: Don Rickles, the "Equal Opportunity Offender" Strategy, and the Civil Rights Movement – Raúl Pérez3. What's the Deal with Liberals?: The Discursive Construction of Partisan Political Identities in Conservative Stand-Up Comedy - Ron Von Burg & Kai Heidemann4. The Comedic Prince: The Organic Intellectualism of Bill Hicks – Aaron Duncan & Jonathan Carter5. When Can Rape Be Funny?: The Limits of Dark Humor and the Rhetoric Daniel Tosh’s Rape Joke - Christopher Medjesky6. "Would You Want Your Sister to Marry One of Them?" Whiteness, Stand-Up and Lenny Bruce – Matthew R. Meier (collection co-editor) & Chad M. NelsonRESPONSE: Stephen Olbrys Gencarella, University of Massachusetts AmherstSECTION II: STAND-UP AS A SITE OF INTERVENTION AND SOCIAL CHANGE7. "No Damn Mammy, Moms!" Rhetorical Re-invention in the Stand-up Comedy of Jackie "Moms" Mabley – Abbey Morgan8. Teasing the Funny: Native American Stand-Up Comedy in the 21st Century – Amanda Morris9. "You Gotta Get Chinky with It!": Margaret Cho’s Rhetorical Use of Humor to Communicate Cultural Identity – Lacy Lowrey & Valerie Renegar10. If Laughs Could Kill: Eddie Izzard and the Queer Art of Comedy – Christopher Gilbert11. Humor as an Activist Style: Dick Gregory and the Civil Rights Movement – Jonathan P. Rossing12. Louis C.K.'s "Weird Ethic": Kairos and Rhetoric in the Network - Jim BrownRESPONSE: Alberto González, Bowling Green State UniversityCONCLUSION: [To be titled] – Joanne Gilbert, Alma CollegeINDEX