The Cambridge Introduction to Comedy Eric Weitz '…Laughter' may be considered one of the most extravagant physical effects one person can have on another without touching them…’ From the Introduction to this book • How do we identify something as ‘comedy? • How does reading a comic text is differ from reading other kinds of texts? • How does comedy relate to social, cultural and political issues? From Aristotle to the commedia dell'arte, from Wilde to Albee - this Introduction uses these and many other examples from the vast history and range of the comedy genre to investigate comedy's patterns, characteristics and mechanisms. Focusing on dramatic texts, the book also refers to literature, film and television throughout, exploring how comedy affects and inhabits other worlds and genres.