Thursdays 1-3 PM
March 27 through May 15, 2003
D.O.C. House
In American Comedy we will go back in time to look at the "greats" of an early era (the 1910's and 20's) - Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd. Along the way we will meet some of the key people who contributed to silent film comedy, e.g., the producer-directors Mack Sennett and Hal Roach, and the comedians of all sizes, genders, and ages, such as Harry Langdon, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Charlie Chase, Hank Mann, the Little Rascals (Our Gang), Mabel Normand, Marion Davies, and Marie Dressler, to name a few.
The format will include talks by the study leader to supplement the material in the text; readings in one required text about the comedians and their lives and work, and shorter copied materials; films (mainly silents) featuring Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd, and other comedians; participants' reports on comedians other than the "big three," and finally as time permits, class discussion about the films and readings.
We hope we will have some laughs, but we need to be aware that we are looking at comedy as our parents and grandparents witnessed it, not as we have experienced it on radio, film, and television. We will see those aspects of comedy with which we are less familiar, particularly pantomime, and follow the "plots," such as they are, by reading the titles in between. We will examine and, we hope, enjoy what it was that made each of the three "greats" popular and successful.
This course is not just a "show." It is an exploration of an important aspect of our culture-comedy as it was portrayed in silent and early sound film.
Participants should expect to read, to watch and critique films, to do some research and present reports, and to discuss what we have seen, read, and heard.
Class is limited to 12 participants.
Charles R. Chamberlain has always had a love and appreciation of comedy and a respect for those who perform it well. Charles is guided by the anecdote about the much admired veteran stage actor who is on his deathbed and calls his old friends nearer. Wishing to alleviate their suffering, he whispers, "Dying is easy; comedy is difficult."
Charles has been an English and reading teacher for a good part of his professional life at a variety of levels including college and university. This will explain why he conducts class as an interested, and interesting, teacher rather than as a stand-up comedian. He has also been an actor in community and summer theater (preferring comedies, of course) and a performer for civic groups. He has a particular interest in the origins and development of comedy in our country, especially in the first three decades of the 20th century.
