NEWS |
|
April 7, 2002 |
|
FREE to the Public "We Were What We Laughed At:
For more information, contact John W. Havrilla, 736-8931.
This presentation is free of charge and open to the public. Dr. Zolten uses rare audio and video clips of the best comedy routines of the century to explore American culture and how it has changed over time. Audiences are treated to comedy by such artists as Bert Williams, Miller and Lyes, Amos "n" Andy, Abbott & Costello, Andy Griffith, Brooks & Reiner, Bob Newhart, Moms Mabley, Lenny Bruce, Dick Gregory, and Bill Cosby. Dr. Zolten's presentation is a program of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council (PHC). For additional information, contact John W. Havrilla, 736-8931.
|
From
Newsletter, after the talk
Dr.
Jerry Zolten gave a talk entitled “We Were What We Laughed At: Stand-Up
Comedy, Ethnic Image and Changing Social Values” at the Station Museum in
Portage on April 7, 2002. Dr.
Zolten is a former stand-up comedian and presently works as an Assistant
Professor of Speech, Communications, and American Studies at Penn State Altoona.
Dr. Zolten is also an active writer and performer.
The
talk discussed comedy as a mirror held up to society.
Dr. Zolten used rare audio and video clips of the best comedy routines of
the century to explore American culture and how it has changed over time.
The audience was treated to comedy by such artists as Bert Williams,
Miller and Lyes, Amos ‘n” Andy, Abbott & Costello, Andy Griffith, Brooks
& Reiner, Bob Newhart, Moms Mabley, Lenny Bruce, Dick Gregory, and Bill
Cosby. Dr. Zolten stayed after the
presentation to discuss various topics with the people present.
Dr. Zolten’s presentation was a program of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council (PHC). The PHC provides speakers free of charge to eligible organizations. The Historical Society is interested in inviting other speakers to talk. Some of the topics of the speakers are Books and Writers, Cinema, the Civil War, Ethnic Heritage, Family Stories and Personal Journeys, Folk and Traditional Arts, Heroes and Heroines, Land, Labor and Industry, Native Americans, Special Places, Times to Remember, and Women’s’ lives. Complete information can be found at the PHC web site at: http://www.pahumanities,org/speakers.
If there is a topic that you feel would be of
particular interest to the people in the area, contact any society member or
call the museum at (814)736-9223.