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Did you hear the one about the comedian who was canceled?
Comedians are no strangers to controversy or crossing the line. But some things do change. Humorists the world over are no longer simply denounced in grouchy op-eds. Now comedians are being hounded by criminal investigations and civil suits, or forced off the airwaves. They are menaced by vigilantes and religious fundamentalists. Some have been forced into exile, imprisoned, or even murdered. In the age of social media and global digital distribution, the audience is everyone, ensuring that criticism can be as vicious as it is unavoidable.
With a flair for storytelling, Jacques Berlinerblau explores the high stakes of the low blow in this darkly witty examination of American comedians such as Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Shane Gillis, and Sarah Silverman as well as humorists in France, Denmark, Zimbabwe, and Egypt.
Comedians are no strangers to controversy or crossing the line. But some things do change. Humorists the world over are no longer simply denounced in grouchy op-eds. Now comedians are being hounded by criminal investigations and civil suits, or forced off the airwaves. They are menaced by vigilantes and religious fundamentalists. Some have been forced into exile, imprisoned, or even murdered. In the age of social media and global digital distribution, the audience is everyone, ensuring that criticism can be as vicious as it is unavoidable.
With a flair for storytelling, Jacques Berlinerblau explores the high stakes of the low blow in this darkly witty examination of American comedians such as Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Shane Gillis, and Sarah Silverman as well as humorists in France, Denmark, Zimbabwe, and Egypt.
Price: $24.95
Pages: 256
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Publication Date:
24 March 2026
Trim Size: 8.50 X 5.50 in
ISBN: 9780520403031
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
"A thought-provoking portrait of the consequences of contemporary offensive humor."
Jacques Berlinerblau, Rabbi Harold White Professor of Jewish Civilization at Georgetown University, is author of The Philip Roth We Don’t Know: Sex, Race, and Autobiography and How to Be Secular. His writing appears in The Washington Post, MSNBC, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and elsewhere.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Slap to the Consensus
Part One. Comedic Controversies in the United States: Artists Get "Canceled" but the Consensus Holds (for the Most Part)
1. Dave Chappelle: Audience Participation
2. Sarah Silverman: Un-canceled, Self-canceled, Un-cancelable
3. Is "Cancellation" Gendered? Kathy Griffin and Shane Gillis
Part Two. Comedic Controversies in Other Liberal Democracies: The Consensus Under Siege
4. The Ab/uses of an Audience: Vir Das
5. Charlie Hebdo: The Terrorist's Veto
6. Dieudonné M'bala M'bala: Postcolonial Provocateur, Consensus Destroyer
Part Three. No Consensus: Jokes in Non-Democratic Spaces
7. "I'm Just a Satirist": Politainment and Bassem Youssef
8. Premeditated Provocation and Zimbabwe's Pseudo Consensus
9. The Interview: Comedic War Games
Conclusion: Troll Your Own
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Slap to the Consensus
Part One. Comedic Controversies in the United States: Artists Get "Canceled" but the Consensus Holds (for the Most Part)
1. Dave Chappelle: Audience Participation
2. Sarah Silverman: Un-canceled, Self-canceled, Un-cancelable
3. Is "Cancellation" Gendered? Kathy Griffin and Shane Gillis
Part Two. Comedic Controversies in Other Liberal Democracies: The Consensus Under Siege
4. The Ab/uses of an Audience: Vir Das
5. Charlie Hebdo: The Terrorist's Veto
6. Dieudonné M'bala M'bala: Postcolonial Provocateur, Consensus Destroyer
Part Three. No Consensus: Jokes in Non-Democratic Spaces
7. "I'm Just a Satirist": Politainment and Bassem Youssef
8. Premeditated Provocation and Zimbabwe's Pseudo Consensus
9. The Interview: Comedic War Games
Conclusion: Troll Your Own
Notes
Index