Upright Citizens of the Digital Age: Podcasting and Popular Culture in an Alternative Comedy Scene
Issue Date
2010-08-12Author
Meserko, Vince
Publisher
University of Kansas
Format
73 pages
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
M.A.
Discipline
Communication Studies
Rights
This item is protected by copyright and unless otherwise specified the copyright of this thesis/dissertation is held by the author.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
In this thesis I look at how one of our newest communication mediums, the podcast, is being used by a group of Los Angeles-based comedians loosely assembled under the "alternative comedy" label. Through the lens of critical and medium theory, I identify two primary functions of the podcast for this community: 1) as a space for comedy performance involving character-based sketches and stream-of-consciousness conversation and 2) as a meditation on the nature of stand-up comedy that often confronts tensions between popular and folk culture. I argue that these two functions have become generic hallmarks of the alternative comedy podcasting community. As such, they provide important insight into how subcultures reinforce, reinterpret, and manage artistic value in new media environments. Further, the podcast offers an object lesson in the ways that creative artists have exercised a new sense of agency in controlling the direction of their careers.
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- Communication Studies Dissertations and Theses [275]
- Theses [3901]
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