Alfred von Martin Book order

Since slavery, African and African American humor has baffled, intrigued, angered, and entertained the masses. Rolling is a collection centering Blackness in comedy, especially on television, and observing that it is often relegated to biopics, slave narratives, and the comedic. But like W. E. B. DuBois's ideas about double consciousness and Racquel Gates's extension of his theories, we know that Blackness resonates for Black viewers in ways often entirely different than for white viewers. Contributors to this volume cover a range of cases representing African American humor across film, television, digital media, and stand-up as Black comic personas try to work within, outside, and around culture, tilling for content. Essays engage with the complex industrial interplay of Blackness, white audiences, and comedy; satire and humor on media platforms; and the production of Blackness within comedy through personal stories and interviews of Black production crew and writers for television comedy. Rolling truly illuminates the inner workings of Blackness and comedy in media discourse.

Drawing from 20 interviews with credited episode writers, key show-runners, and Black gay men, The Generic Closet situates Black-cast sitcoms as a unique genre that uses Black gay characters in service of the series' heterosexual main cast and deconstructs the concept of a monolithic Black audience.

The book focuses on the scarcity and rising costs of early 20th-century literature, emphasizing the importance of preserving these classic works. It highlights a commitment to republishing these texts in affordable, high-quality editions, while maintaining the original content and artwork, ensuring that timeless literature remains accessible to contemporary readers.