This Special Topic in Screen Performance is structured around the tropes of aesthetics in comedic performance. Students will learn two classic physical forms—Commedia dell'Arte and Clowns. They will be able to explore concurrent threads of performance, identity, and language in the illustrations of historical and contemporary comedic performances. Students will also attend to the cultural trends that have shaped the way humour is expressed through screen acting. Class screenings and readings are organized by the type of comedic strategy format.

Projects will include self-directed and collaborative works, exercises, video-recordings, and texts. The aims are to give the students basic tools to tackle comedy acting and appreciation and to let students know what's funny and why.

Students should be able to develop their abilities to form judgments of and understand comedic acting through the lectures, readings, screenings and acting practices. Assignments will enable articulation of critical analysis, personal reflection and enhancement, and self/peer appraisal.