¶ … Vaudeville [...] vaudeville and popular entertainment between 1870-1920. Vaudeville relied on obvious humor and often stereotypical behavior to help entertain the audience. Often, this humor was ethnically based, or at the expense of someone else. This blatant and obvious humor was funny to an audience less sophisticated than many theatergoers, which may be one reason vaudeville lost favor and eventually disappeared from the American theater scene. The films at the American Memories Web site show many different sides of vaudeville. However, they all show simple forms of magic, bicycle riding, or even circus acts. None of the acts is especially sophisticated, and many of them use humor as a base form of entertainment. For example, the "Bowery Waltz" number shows the ill effects of drinking in the bars of the bowery, but it also caricatures the type of people that frequent bowery bars, and shows them all as pathetic drunkards. The trapeze clip shows women simply as sex objects who take off a few articles of clothing to get the "rubes" from the country excited. These films are humorous, but at the expense of someone else,...
The vaudeville humor is gross, and often, it was based on ethnicity, such as Jew or Irish immigrants, too. As one expert notes, "The core of the [vaudevillian] humor is the construction of caricatures based on familiar ethnic stereotypes and linguistic humor -- puns, malapropisms, double entendres, and accent-play, including broad exaggeration and misunderstandings which result from faulty pronunciation" (Mintz 19). This broad type of humor kept vaudeville audiences laughing, but it exploited minorities and women for laughs, and it seems silly and inappropriate in today's world. As the dates on the film clips show, the earliest vaudeville entertainment was very basic, such as the man doing quite uncomplicated tricks on his bicycle. However, as the medium developed, more complications were added, such as the lengthy act of the woman disrobing on the trapeze. Acts had to become more sophisticated and intricate as vaudeville grew more popular, but humor was still a key ingredient of many acts, and played an important role in vaudeville as a whole.
Entertainment Industry Report a: Entertainment Industry Structure and Relationships. The entertainment industry in general is a complicated and often violent beast. It crushes most of the hopes and dreams it cultivates. For the handful of successful industry employees today, thousands, or even millions, have shattered dreams. At the same time, the structure of the industry is such that often even those with some success do not always achieve this long-term. This is
Entertainment Economy Michael J. Wolf's book, The Entertainment Economy: How Mega-Media Forces are Transforming Our Lives, was published six years ago but nevertheless offers timely insights into how the forces of American corporate entertainment are shaping our culture. Main Points The author points to the end of huge military spending at the conclusion of the Cold War, but those military-related industries were replaced by entertainment revenue for those cities. The author also mentions
While royalties are discounted, an earning party may qualify for increases as well. Substantial record sales provides artists with an increase in the royalty rate based on specific plateaus of record sales, such as Recording Industry Association of America (R.I.A.A.) certification for gold and/or platinum sales. Even if a contract does not spell out for these increases, it may be possible to renegotiate if the sales are significant. Negotiating a
Entertainment Violence In recent years, politicians and citizen groups have criticized the entertainment industry for its violent content, claiming that it is responsible for violence in society. However, many claim that this consensus is overblown and unfounded by substantial research. There is considerable sociological and statistical data that suggests that violence begets violence and the root factor in the United States has been war, a continuous experience in one zone or another
Entertainment Expenses Tax Research Memorandum Jennifer Woods From: Tax Accountant, CPA Entertainment Expenses Facts You are employed by Ski USA, a distributor of ski equipment and boots. You have been a bicycle racer for two years, in which you have participated in about 50 races annually, winning some so there is revenue, and incurring expenses, some being paid by sponsors. The National Bike Racing Association has ranked you in two events, the dual slalom and downhill
Entertainment Poll In a recent poll teens between the ages of 12 to 17 who were polled. In the poll 69% said that they believed it was legal to copy a CD from a friend who had purchased the original. Only 21% said that it was legal to copy such a CD if the friend got the music for free. 58% felt it was legal to copy the friend's purchased videotape
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