Keywords

Theatre, solo performance, feminism, technology, branding, promotion, playwrighting

Abstract

Comedy exists as a stronghold in American culture as a coping mechanism throughout history, but is often limited to the male headliner. From Charlie Chaplin to Jackie Gleason and Bill Cosby to Will Ferrell, men have kept us laughing from stages to screen throughout the last century. Thus, I inquire: who are the prominent women who rose to the top of this male-dominated industry and how did they create a brand for themselves that was distinguishable and celebrated? What is it about being a woman in the last century that made making a name in comedic entertainment more cumbersome, and has this feat of female branding changed at all with the evolution of entertainment and social trends? With this graduate thesis, I wish to explore the comparative timeline between socio-economic history, feminism, and the growth of entertainment trends. Considering this history, I will examine five major comediennes: Carol Burnett, Lily Tomlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Chelsea Handler, and Colleen Ballinger and their journeys to create prominent female entertainment brands. From this contributing research I will create and perform a one-woman show entitled An Evening with Aunt Nona. Through the exploration of personal branding and marketing of my solo voice, I seek to provide an inspirational framework for the creation and branding of future solo comediennes.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2015

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Snyder, Tara

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

Theatre

Degree Program

Theatre; Acting

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0005661

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0005661

Language

English

Release Date

May 2015

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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