(p/b) why is that so funny? // a practical exploration of physical comedy

Why Is That So Funny? starts with a discussion of the various types of laughter that can be provoked by performance. It then presents graduated sequences of over a hundred games and exercises devised to demonstrate and investigate the whole range of comic possibilities open to a performer and to test every assertion made.Topics explored include Complicity, Finding and Declaring the Game, States of Tension, Rhythm, Comic Timing, Clowning, Parody, Satire, Pastiche, Caricature, Burlesque and Buffoon. The result is invaluable for performers, directors, students and teachers: an intensely practical and thoroughly stimulating investigation of how comedy works in physical terms. (From the publisher) "His book is a welcome relief from the flood of performance studies theories, being firmly based on a lifetime of practice... an inspiration for anyone who treads the boards, whether they think of themselves as "comedic" or not" (Total Theatre Magazine) "You can hear the excited, curious and passionate teacher perched on the edge of his seat giggling, exhorting and provoking the actors to play" (Toby Jones, from his Foreword)