Jessica Milner Davis Jessica Milner Davis i(A122330 works by)
Gender: Female
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1 A Wry Kind of Grief : John Clarke's Satire and the Bureaucracy of Sport Jessica Milner Davis , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: Comedy Studies , vol. 10 no. 1 2019; (p. 56-70)

'In Australia, sport has traditionally been held too sacred for mockery. This began to change in the 1980s with radio shows that affectionately mocked the verbiage of sporting commentary. Among the pioneers were Melbourne-based radio commentators, the Coodabeen Champions, and the Sydney-based radio and TV comedy duo, Rampaging Roy Slaven (John Doyle) and H. G. Nelson (Greig Pickhaver). Trans-Tasman satirist John Clarke also built on his earlier work to dissect the imaginary ancient sport of farnarkeling in The Gillies Report (ABC TV, 1984–1985). The advent of mega sporting events including the Australian millennial Olympics favoured the emergence of a more satirical critique aimed at bureaucratic hype and posturing by sports czars. In the run-up to the Sydney Games, Clarke and Stevenson co-wrote a 2-part series The Games for ABC TV (1998, 2000), starring Clarke, Bryan Dawe and Gina Riley. This moved Clarke’s earlier sports humour away from affectionate mockery towards a satirical critique of sport as a bureaucratic construct corrupted by money-making and media coverage. This article argues that such satire contributed to exposing the shady politics and inept institutional management of sport, both in Australia and more broadly. It probes the connections between humorous creation, professional sport realities, audience awareness and social impact, arguing that, while the ability of satire to bring about reform is here (as elsewhere) strictly limited, the satire contributes to public awareness and acknowledgement of contemporary sporting scandals.'

Source: Abstract.

1 Introduction to Special Issue of Journal of Comedy Studies on John Clarke Trans-Tasman Satirist : John Clarke and His Art Robert Phiddian , Jessica Milner Davis , 2019 single work essay
— Appears in: Comedy Studies , vol. 10 no. 1 2019; (p. 2-7)
1 y separately published work icon Comedy Studies The Satire of John M. Clarke (1948-2017) vol. 10 no. 1 Jessica Milner Davis (editor), Robert Phiddian (editor), 2019 19547790 2019 periodical issue

A special issue of Comedy Studies devoted to the career of John Clarke.

1 Ethnic Comedy in Contemporary Australia Jessica Milner Davis , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Author , December vol. 41 no. 3 2009; (p. 20-22)
'Having a good sense of humour' is something most societies and cultures pride themselves upon. But in Australia, joking of all kinds can be targeted at all social levels and while witty is good, crude will also pass. For Australians, using (or at least tolerating) humour is not so much permitted, as compulsory. Our national identity is almost synonymous with the right to take the mickey (aka - take the piss - a cruder, older form of the expression, now acceptable again). Our culture deploys humour as a weapon to identify those who are truly 'at home', in the land and the society. Thus it's not so much the nature of the humour we use as how we use it that indicates our 'Australian-ness'.
1 'Aussie' Humour and Laughter Jessica Milner Davis , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Serious Frolic : Essays on Australian Humour 2009; (p. 31-47)
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