Past Mirth, Present Laughter?

29/04/2023

Thank you to our generous supporters and funders for making possible! We really couldn’t have done it without you and we’re proud to be bringing this cross-disciplinary, inter-university conversation to the very heart of Cambridge with your help.

FREE TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/past-mirth-present-laughter-forms-of-comedy-1300-1900-conference-tickets-572850851317?aff=ebdshpsearchautocomplete&keep_tld=1

28/04/2023

The Timetable for the Cambridge Postgraduate (Comedy) conference on the 4th of May!!

We're delighted to present a smattering of papers which range across multiple periods and genres, and which also present a wide range of investigative disciplines.

Visual and material culture mingles with close textual analysis, and problems of performance sit cheek by jowl with those of translation. And Powerpoints! There shall be plenty of those, too.

But lo, look there, what panel chairs we have! Lyne, Parker, Buchanan, all of them to be our exquisite panel chairs on these fantastic panels.

And, of course, there will be Professor Tiffany Stern - of the University of Birmingham and the Shakespeare Institute - to deliver a keynote lecture! On clowning, no less! Plus Lunch!

Look forward to: clowning, rhyming, parody, pantomime, personation, snails, stools, and - most crucially of all - bathos.

Do come along, if ye darrreee.

FREE tickets that are DEPLETING to be found below, as well as a link to our website:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/past-mirth-present-laughter-forms-of-comedy-1300-1900-conference-tickets-572850851317

Website: https://camcomedyconferenc.wixsite.com/camcomedyconference

26/04/2023

We are very proud to announce our Keynote Speaker Tiffany Stern!!!😊😊

Never was there ever a second in the early stages of planning this conference where we thought we would have the author of 'Shakespeare in Parts' - as well as many other award-winning books - as the keynote speaker, but here we are!👏👏

Since Tiffany's work engages with ephemera and the more neglected nooks and crannies of performance such as puppetry and fairgrounds, it is perfect for the problematisation of 'high' and 'low' art and culture which this conference seeks to achieve. 🎉🎉

If this doesn't get you excited - or, dare I even say it, raging with purest zeal - then what will, by gad? Remember to get your tickets - which are both limited and free - at the link both above and below. ❤️❤️

P.S. Please do give feedback on the emoji usage. It's currently in its trial phase, and may need work.

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Eventbrite Ticket Booking: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/past-mirth-present-laughter-forms-of-comedy-1300-1900-conference-tickets-572850851317?lang=en-us&locale=en_US&status=30&view=listing

Website: https://camcomedyconferenc.wixsite.com/camcomedyconference

23/04/2023

We are excited to announce ROBERT CRIGHTON from Beyond Shakespeare as our special guest who will be performing a special comic play from the Middle Ages for us!

Robert Crighton is a multi-award winning playwright and performer, storyteller and theatre maker. Based in the wilds of Suffolk, he explores strange old worlds and old civilisations as general sorter-outer of things for Beyond Shakespeare. As Artistic Director for the Beyond Shakespeare Company, he produces full cast audio adaptations for the podcast, and live events for the theatre (and occasionally the street). Accounts of how and when Robert founded Beyond Shakespeare vary. Depending upon whom you ask, it either began in 2013, 2017, or occasionally next week.

29/03/2023

DEADLINE EXTENSION! we are extending the deadline for paper abstracts to April 9th!

Some more time for you all to get writing and (please please!) send in a little 300 word abstract on something comedic to [email protected] !!

The date for the conference itself remains unchanged on May 4th, so why not get a ticket to attend through our website?

07/03/2023

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/past-mirth-present-laughter-forms-of-comedy-1300-1900-conference-tickets-572850851317
Link to register to attend the conference!

Past Mirth, Present Laughter? is a postgrad-led conference reassessing comedy’s literary history and the future of its scholarship.

07/03/2023

Our call for papers! Get scribbling and send in your abstracts of up to 300 words to [email protected] by April 3rd!

07/03/2023

Our poster!

07/03/2023

https://camcomedyconferenc.wixsite.com/camcomedyconference

Head to our website for more information!

Past Mirth, Present Laughter? is an invitation to contributors to bring the comic works of the past back into the critical spotlight of the present-day academy. ‘[One] issue that humor scholars constantly face is the idea that tragedy or “serious” things are [...] more important than is humor,...