Second Nature: Comic Performance and Philosophy

This critical intervention in the study of the comic seeks to investigate how the comic act is also an expressive and performative philosophical act that precedes philosophical conceptualisation. The book puts Bergson, philosophy and the body at the centre of its investigation, and uses these elements to explore five different aspects of the field, from the history and philosophy of comedy, to film, psychoanalysis and the comic performance of the future. Through this, the volume develops a theoretical and practice-based framework and is a valuable resource for students, scholars and practitioners alike in the fields of philosophy, performance studies and comedy studies, among others.

List of Contributors: Caterina Angela Agus, Fred Dalmasso. Lisabeth During, Xavier Escribano, Giovanni Fusetti, Davide Giovanzana, Josephine Gray, Maria J. Ortega Manez, Meg Munford, Jean-Michel Rabate, Carolyn Shapiro, Lisa Trahair