The Beatles are known for cheeky punchlines, but understanding their humor goes beyond laughing at John Lennon's memorable "rattle your jewelry" dig at the Royal Variety Performance in 1963. From the beginning, the Beatles' music was full of wordplay and winks, guided by comedic influences ranging from rhythm and blues, British radio, and the Liverpool pub scene. Gifted with timing and deadpan wit, the band habitually relied on irony, sarcasm, and nonsense. Early jokes revealed an aptitude for improvisation and self-awareness, techniques honed throughout the 1960s and into solo careers. Experts in the art of play, including musical experimentation, the Beatles' shared sense of humor is a key ingredient to their appeal during the 1960s-and to their endurance.The Beatles and Humour offers innovative takes on the serious art of Beatle fun, an instrument of social, political, and economic critique. Chapters also situate the band alongside British and non-British predecessors and collaborators, such as Billy Preston and Yoko Ono, uncovering diverse components and unexpected effects of the Beatles' output.

Editor and Contributor BiosIntroduction: Mockers, Funny Papers, and Rolling Up: Why the Beatles are Still in Play Katie Kapurch, Texas State University, USA, Matthias Heyman, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, and Richard Mills, St Mary's University, UKPART I: Playing Together1. The Beatles and the Bard, the Walrus and the Eggman: Playing with William Shakespeare and Lewis Carroll and/as Perspective by IncongruityKatie Kapurch, Texas State University, USA2. I Laugh and Act Like a Clown: The Beatles as Paradoxical ClownsMatthias Heyman, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium3. Defuse, Dilute, Deflate: The Beatles Turn It On and Laugh It OffAviv Kammay, Wingra School, USA4. Billy Preston and the Beatles Get Back: Black Music and the Wisdom of Wordplay and WitMike Alleyne, Middle Tennessee State University, USA, Walter Everett, University of Michigan, USA, and Katie Kapurch, Texas State UniversityPART II: Playing Solo5. Madcap Laughs: The Evolution of John Lennon's HumorJeffrey Roessner, Mercyhurst University, USA6. "Shall We Dance? This is Fun!": Paul McCartney's Popular Song PastichesDavid Thurmaier, University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, USA7. "I Was So Young When I Was Born": George Harrison and the Mansion of MirthJohn Covach, University of Rochester, USA8. George Martin, Parlophone Records, and Great Britain's FunnymenKenneth Womack, Monmouth University, USA, and Ed Zareh, writer, USA9. Yoko Ono's Avant-Garde HumorStephanie Hernandez, Independent Scholar, UKPART III: Playing in Context10. Bug Music: Beatle Memes in Sixties American SitcomsMatthew Schneider, High Point University, USA11. The Beatles and the Birth of British Comedy in the 1960s with Beyond the Fringe and Monty Python's Flying CircusRichard Mills, St Mary's University, UK12. Pastiche, Parody, or Post-Irony? The Beatles' Influence on Tears for FearsMark Spicer, Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, USAIndex