Women Comedians in the Digital Age: Media Work and Critical Reputations After Trump

This book explores the impact of digital work on women comedians in the US, highlighting how they use digital media to perform jokes, engage with fans, remake their reputations, and become political activists. It examines the popularity of their content, career outcomes, and critical reception, and offers insights into their strategies.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 208 pages
Publication date: 30 December 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This comprehensive book delves into the realm of digital work by women comedians in the United States, offering a thorough examination of their innovative use of digital media to deliver jokes, engage with fans, reinvent their reputations, and become political activists. Despite the undeniable challenges posed by the digital landscape, this book argues that digital work is revolutionizing comedy, empowering women to create new and exciting comic forms and navigate the complex political climate sparked by former President Donald J. Trump.

The book is organized into chapters, each dedicated to exploring a specific digital platform. These chapters include informative case studies on prominent women comedians who have successfully harnessed these platforms, such as Sarah Silverman, Amy Schumer, Leslie Jones, Mindy Kaling, Colleen Ballinger, Lilly Singh, Ms. Pat, Whitney Cummings, Issa Rae, and many others. By examining the popularity of their digital content, the career outcomes they have achieved in television and film, and the fluctuations in their critical reputations across various media outlets, the book provides valuable insights into the strategies employed by these comedians.

In addition to its analysis of digital work, the book also explores the complexities of the critical reception of women comedians in the digital age. It examines the ways in which their participatory audiences online have influenced their reputations and the challenges they face in maintaining a positive public image. This insightful and timely work will appeal to scholars and students engaged in research and teaching in the fields of media studies, digital communication, gender studies, and performance. It offers a valuable contribution to our understanding of the evolving landscape of comedy and the impact of digital media on the creative and professional lives of women comedians.

Weight: 403g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032215020