Audience Research

<p><i>Laughter, Power, and the Unconscious</i> offers paradigm-breaking insights into the psychological and sociopolitical dimensions of humour and comedy. Based on an innovative audience experiment at Shakespeare''s Globe, the authors develop a revolutionary theory of humour as manic defence, challenging Freud''s classic formulations while engaging with contemporary humour theories.</p><p>The text explores three key domains: firstly, it establishes and evaluates the theory in comparison to Freud''s work in <i>Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious</i>, while positioning it within major humour frameworks; secondly, it demonstrates the theory''s application to Renaissance comedy, examining characters like Malvolio from <i>Twelfth Night</i> alongside stock figures of cuckolds and madmen in both English theatrical traditions and <i>commedia dell''arte</i>; finally, it investigates the theory''s broader sociopolitical relevance by analysing war-related humour and racist jokes while addressing comedy''s dual capacity to both challenge and reinforce existing power structures.</p><p>This volume will appeal to the scholars and students of theatre and performance studies, psychology, literary theory and cultural studies interested in the sociopolitical implications of humour.</p>