For the research paper, you will choose one comic and argue that he/she is the most important standup comic in American history. The comic in question need not be the funniest, necessarily, but one who has successfully influenced American culture and the way in which audiences approach, digest, and evaluate humor. All quotes must be cited parenthetically according to MLA-style documentation. The introduction will begin by including a brief biography of the comic in question. All information must be cited according to MLA documentation, and may not come from encyclopedias. To include: How did the comedian begin his/her stand-up career (where, when, with whom)? What is the comedian's primary subject matter and how would you characterize his/her style? Who are his/her influences and whom does he/she influence? Why is this person among the most influential or notable comedians? It must also locate the chosen comedian within the context of the American standup tradition. Students should use course readings to help them accomplish this. Most importantly, the introduction must include a strong thesis that persuasively and clearly argues why this comedian is the most important standup comic in American history. The introduction is not necessarily a single paragraph. 2. Standup Analysis In this section, you must choose 2-3 specific bits to analyze for artistic, political, or social significance. What makes these jokes funny? Innovative? To what extent does the comedian rely on persona? What influence do jokes like these have on the comic tradition and perhaps on American culture? How do these bits connect with other comedians we have studied this semester? 3. Connections to Course Readings, Concepts, and Standups Here you will make sophisticated connections to course readings, concepts, and standups Readings: to what traditions does the comic belong? How do you see the historical roots outlined in the readings revealed in this comic's performance? How do these connections prove that the comic in question is the most important comic is American history? To be successful here, you must identify a variety (at least three) of readings from class and analyze the ways in which they connect to your comic. Concepts: This may overlap with readings, but it may not. Here you may include discussions from class or Prezis ("This is Not a Pipe," etc.) to address the questions above, specifically to prove that the comic in question is the most important comic in American history. Standups: What other influential comic/s does this comic mirror? How do these connections prove that the comic in question is the most important comic is American history? 4. Critical Reception Here is where much of your research is located. Here you must include at least three outside sources that come from a) long-form magazines, b) academic essays, or c) shorter form cultural criticisms that come from a legitimate news source. Your purpose will be.

1. For the research paper, you will choose one comic and argue
that he/she is the most important standup comic in American
history. The comic in question need not be the funniest,
necessarily, but one who has successfully influenced American
culture and the way in which audiences approach, digest, and
evaluate humor.
All quotes must be cited parenthetically according to MLA-style
documentation.
The introduction will begin by including a brief biography of
the comic in question. All information must be cited according
to MLA documentation, and may not come from encyclopedias.
To include:
How did the comedian begin his/her stand-up career (where,
when, with whom)?
What is the comedian's primary subject matter and how would
you characterize his/her style?
Who are his/her influences and whom does he/she influence?
Why is this person among the most influential or notable
comedians?
It must also locate the chosen comedian within the context of
the American standup tradition. Students should use course
readings to help them accomplish this. Most importantly, the
introduction must include a strong thesis that persuasively and
clearly argues why this comedian is the most important standup
comic in American history. The introduction is not necessarily
a single paragraph.
2. Standup Analysis
In this section, you must choose 2-3 specific bits to analyze for

2. artistic, political, or social significance. What makes these
jokes funny? Innovative? To what extent does the comedian
rely on persona? What influence do jokes like these have on the
comic tradition and perhaps on American culture? How do
these bits connect with other comedians we have studied this
semester?
3. Connections to Course Readings, Concepts, and Standups
Here you will make sophisticated connections to course
readings, concepts, and standups
Readings: to what traditions does the comic belong? How do
you see the historical roots outlined in the readings revealed in
this comic's performance? How do these connections prove that
the comic in question is the most important comic is American
history? To be successful here, you must identify a variety (at
least three) of readings from class and analyze the ways in
which they connect to your comic.
Concepts: This may overlap with readings, but it may not.
Here you may include discussions from class or Prezis ("This is
Not a Pipe," etc.) to address the questions above, specifically to
prove that the comic in question is the most important comic in
American history.
Standups: What other influential comic/s does this comic
mirror? How do these connections prove that the comic in
question is the most important comic is American history?
4. Critical Reception
Here is where much of your research is located. Here you must
include at least three outside sources that come from a) long-
form magazines, b) academic essays, or c) shorter form cultural
criticisms that come from a legitimate news source.
Your purpose will be to use these sources to support your

3. argument that this comic is the most important comic is
American history.
5. Conclusion
You will write a brief conclusion that makes a final argument in
support of your comic.
6. Works Cited
Your paper must include a complete and accurate Works Cited
Page
1. Lenny Bruce was born Leonard Alfred Schneider to
a Jewish family in Mineola, New York, grew up in
nearby Bellmore, and attended Wellington C. Mepham High
School. Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian,
social critic, and satirist. His parents divorced before he turned
10, and Lenny lived with various relatives over the next decade.
His British-born father, Myron (Mickey) Schneider, was a shoe
clerk and Lenny saw him very infrequently. Bruce's
mother, Sally Marr (legal name Sadie Schneider, was a stage
performer and had an enormous influence on Bruce's career.
2. He was renowned for his open, free-style and critical form of
comedy which integrated satire, politics, religion, sex, and
vulgarity. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial was
followed by a posthumous pardon, the first in the history of
New York state, by then-Governor George Pataki in 2003.
3. Bruce is renowned for paving the way for future outspoken
counterculture-era comedians, and his trial for obscenity is seen
as a landmark for freedom of speech in the United States. In
2017, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him third (behind
disciples Richard Pryor and George Carlin) on its list of the 50
best stand-up comics of all time.
4. Bruce was the Gertrude Stein of comedians. Never popular

4. himself—because he was too cryptic and too scatological for
popular taste—he nevertheless influenced a whole generation of
comics, just as Stein influenced Hemingway and that generation
of writers. Her own work was a dead end (so was Bruce's), but
out of that compost grew the buds of a flourishing school.