Cracking up Black feminist comedy in the twentieth and twenty-first century United States

In studying the protest wit and humor of a neglected coterie of funny people, Wood (theater history) sets up her own scholarly routine with a quote from pioneer maverick Jackie "Moms" Mabley: "I just tell folks the truth. If they don't want the truth, then don't come to Moms." Responding to "legacies of racialized grief," Wood assembles a coalition of highly skilled, politically charged Black feminist comedians who have ruptured and subverted their lived experiences to perform what they see as truth, asking, as Horace once did, "What forbids me from telling the truth with a laugh?" She offers a political strategy of laughter to break down and open up other voices with unruly delight. Through her case studies, e.g., the hilarious Wanda Sykes and the strutting Mo'Nique, she conflates feminist, Black, and queer persona and enunciates a marginalized identity that aims to challenge, "critique, and dismantle white heteropatriarchy." What brightens this ideologically charged work is the inclusion of performance routines from these grand comics that reveal the hearts, minds, pain, and hilarity of their subjects. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty. --Terry Lindvall, Virginia Wesleyan University

Wood (theater history, Univ. of Virginia) celebrates the vision of Black feminist stand-up comics in her compelling study of the roles these women play--"storyteller, truth-teller, protest leader, and critical historiographer." Wood uses the phrase "cracking up" to describe both the laughter generated by these comedians' performances, and the way they dismantled boundaries and myths in their quest for change and understanding. One of the first Black women stand-up comics was Jackie "Moms" Mabley, a lesbian who created a grandmotherly persona; she's presented here as the gold standard, an icon whose legacy is slowly being erased. An account of Mo'Nique's 2007 comedy special, filmed at Ohio Reformatory for Women, speaks to the importance of audience reaction and the concept of "laughter as freedom." Wood also unpacks Wanda Sykes's comedic persona; rather than making herself a character in her own act, Sykes is predominantly a trenchant observer and critic of racial and sexual oppression. Woods then discusses up-and-coming comics, many of whom aren't focused on finding common ground with potentially unsupportive white audiences; instead, they play directly to Black women and their allies. VERDICT Wood expertly examines Black feminist comics who blend humor with resistance and rebellion in this important work. It deserves a place in all performing arts and women's history sections.--Lisa Henry, Kirkwood P.L., MO