CHF Chicago Humanities Festival

Lecture

Crossing Line

Paul Provenza & Katie Watson: Crossing the Line

 Launch Media

ABOUT 

  • ABOUT Paul Provenza

    Paul Provenza is an actor, comedian, and filmmaker. The  director of the 2005 hit documentary The Aristocrats, he is also a seasoned stand-up comedian and television actor who appeared on Northern Exposure and Empty Nest. He continues to interview comics at places like the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He lives in Los Angeles.

    Profile

  • ABOUT Katie Watson

    Katie Watson is an attorney, an assistant professor in the Medical Humanities & Bioethics Program of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, and a member of the Northwestern Memorial Hospital Ethics Committee. Watson is also on the faculty of The Second City. She has integrated disciplines by creating seminars for medical students such as "Playing Doctor: Improvisational Theater for Doctor/Patient Communication" and "Gallows Humor in Medicine."

    Profile
Click next to learn more...

1 of 1

Making searing and honest observations about people and the world around them is a comedian’s stock in trade. But are there times when comics go too far? Does it matter who, or how many, are offended by a joke? Does it matter who’s telling it? Paul Provenza joins Katie Watson for an incisive conversation exploring the volatile side of comedy. Provenza is an actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He directed the 2005 film The Aristocrats and is a regular on Chicago Public Radio’s Wait, Wait...Don’t Tell Me! Watson is an attorney, medical ethicist, and faculty member of The Second City. This program is not recommended for those who are easily offended. Really.

Pictured above, Paul Provenza.

 

Tags

What is funny?, comedy, The Second City

Dig Deeper

Broader Investigation

Laughter Public Good

chf feature

Laughter and the Public Good

Lecture

Barry Sanders: The Subversive Humor of Lenny Bruce

Barry Sanders, a prolific author and professor emeritus of Pitzer College, will discuss Bruce’s outrageous routines and how they forever changed American popular culture.

Lecture

Elizabeth Zimmer: Foot is a Funny Word The Comedic Spirit of Dance

Zimmer uses video to peer back to the Renaissance and scan forward through Romantic ballet and the 20th century to the present, tracking instances of the funny, the giddy, and the absurd within the Western concert dance tradition.

Latest Conversations

Start a Conversation | View All
Support CHF - Donate Now

Festival Sponsors

© Copyright 2009 Chicago Humanities Festival