"So funny, it hurts". Cringe Comedy and Performances of Discomfort

Alena Saucke

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Master's Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Cultural Studies - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,0, Free University of Berlin (John F...

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Master's Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Cultural Studies - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,0, Free University of Berlin (John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies), course: Kulturwissenschaft, language: English, abstract: This thesis examines the relatively recent and increasingly popular phenomenon of cringe comedy. The characteristic feature of cringe comedy is the exposure of the viewer to prolonged states of social discomfort in the form of vicarious embarrassment, framed in a faux-realist aesthetic. Appearing increasingly since the turn of the millennium, cringe comedies employ the prolonged suspension of discomfort, deviating from the traditional sitcom. Since academic research on the topic has been limited, this thesis incorporates theoretical perspectives on comedy, embarrassment and shame, television and cultural history, insights from the fields of humor research, affect theory, the sociology of emotions and psychology as well as cultural and media studies. Drawing upon these sources, the author attempts to situate cringe comedy within the late capitalist comedic landscape, and analyze it as an aesthetic bound to the post-Fordist traits of hyperflexibility, hyperperformance and the increasingly blurred lines between work and play. The common experiential thread shared by cringe comedy shows is the endurance - on the part of the viewer - of a kind of voluntary shame stasis, provoked by repeated social faux pas, mixed with desperation and failure, and rarely ending in a comforting comedic resolution. These moments provide an interesting diversion from the usual hyperflexible performances of the late capitalist stage. In allowing for prolonged and awkward gaps, refusing to quickly fill them with socially scripted comfort, and delaying or altogether avoiding a return to a smooth equilibrium, cringe comedy grants us time to question the current methods of managing affective imbalance. In the words of Elspeth Probyn, the benefit of shame (as performed and triggered in these comedies) could be the introduction of "acute sensitivity" (2) towards ourselves and others. While numerous cringe comedy shows will be referenced,the main analysis centers on the 2005/2014 HBO series The Comeback.