The history of comedy, beginning in Greece and Rome, through the Italian renaissance (Commedia erudita and Commedia dell' arte), Elizabethan England, 17th-century France, the English Restoration, to the Hollywood comedy of the 1930’s and 1940’s.
An exploration of the evolutions of mass culture comedy, focusing on social and political significance.
Laughter in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times: epistemology of a fundamental human behavior, its meaning, and consequences [electronic resource] by 
Specters of Slapstick and Silent Film Comediennes by 
What Made Pistachio Nuts? Early Sound Comedy and the Vaudeville Aesthetic by 
When a Young Man Falls in Love: the sexual exploitation of women in new comedy [electronic resource] by 
