Multimedia Resources
National Comedy Center Anywhere
The National Comedy Center has produced a collection of online content including interviews, documentary shorts, recordings of panels, and more, all related to the art of comedy. The platform offers videos broken down into categories; of particular note for those seeking resources related to social issues are the “Laughing Matters” collection, which includes videos about how comedians have processed personal trauma, political unrest, and more through their comedy, as well as the “National Comedy Center Dialogues” collection, which includes conversations with comedians about their artistic process. While the museum has made a generous portion of this content freely available to the public, for access to the site’s full content, users must pay for an upgraded experience.
Good One: A Podcast About Jokes
During each episode of this weekly podcast, host and renowned comedy critic, Jesse David Fox, interviews a comedian about a specific joke in their stand-up act. At the top of each episode, the joke is played for the podcast audience before Fox and the guest comedian discuss the artistic process of developing the joke. These interviews serve as invaluable primary sources for researchers seeking to learn how the lived experiences of comedians, as well as the cultural context in which their work is placed, inform their material and how they relate to their audiences. Researchers with an interest in communication and linguistics will appreciate the granularity with which Fox approaches conversations, often engaging guests in conversations about specific individual word choices within a joke.
Noteworthy episodes include:
Hasan Minhaj’s “We Cannot Stay Silent About George Floyd”
Margaret Cho’s Asian Chicken Salad
James Acaster’s Great British Bake Off
Mike Birbiglia's Working It Out Podcast
On his weekly podcast, comedian, writer, and actor Mike Birbiglia interviews comedians about jokes, acts, or projects currently in development. Their conversations focus on the creative process, and give the listener a glimpse into how the spark of an idea transforms into a finished product. Birbiglia’s guest include a wide array of comedians from diverse backgrounds and who produce a variety of types of comedy, but it focuses primarily on stand-up comedians. Users can stream the podcast on Apple or Spotify; additionally, many episodes of the podcast are filmed and available to stream on YouTube.
Noteworthy episodes include:
5. Hannah Gadsby: Solo Shows and Spectrum Gazelles with a Master of the Craft
8. Hasan Minhaj: Sometimes Living Through History… Sucks
17. Pete Holmes: What Podcast Would Jesus Listen To?
36. Gary Gulman: The Joke Nerd Summit You’ve Been Waiting For
57. Stephen Colbert: Laughter as an Act of Love
92. Vir Das: Getting Cancelled Except for Real
Too Soon: Comedy After 9/11 (Documentary)
This documentary analyzes the role of stand-up comedy in the aftermath of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. The film features interviews with comedians and other media figures discussing what the comedy landscape was like in the days following the attack, and how they navigated their returns to comedy while grieving this national tragedy. The film features clips of films, late night television shows, and stand-up comedy specials, offering highlights of the treatment this event has received in comedy over time. The film was released in 2021, so offers a look at how 9/11 evolved as a subject in comedy over a twenty year period. The film is available to view on YouTube.