Being Rob Brydon: Performing the self in comedy

Mills, Brett (2010) Being Rob Brydon: Performing the self in comedy. Celebrity Studies, 1 (2). pp. 190-202. ISSN 1939-2400

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Abstract

Through analysis of the writer, actor and comedian Rob Brydon, this paper aims to examine the performative role afforded to the comedian. The paper argues that the comedian occupies a space which, while drawing on representational processes similar to those for stars and celebrities is, in fact, of a sort all of its own. It is suggested that the fact that comedians can perform as themselves – even in texts which are quite clearly signalled as fiction – means that versions of themselves can multiply across texts, resulting in a version of the self which, while seemingly repeatedly confessional, may instead be nothing more than a performance. In showing how versions of Brydon recur across a range of texts and genres this article demonstrates the complexity of comic performance, and suggests that the specificities of comedy offer a ripe site for the field of celebrity studies.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Art, Media and American Studies (former - to 2024)
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Film, Television and Media
Depositing User:	Rowena Burgess
Date Deposited:	23 May 2011 14:39
Last Modified:	28 Mar 2025 03:07
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/31276
DOI:	10.1080/19392397.2010.482283

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