03/10/2025 – 04/10/2025, Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society
Organisers: Professor Andy Hamilton, Bayley Moreton, Durham University

Programme

Andy Hamilton (Durham) ‘Introduction: Improv and Comedy’
Raymond MacDonald (Edinburgh) ‘Who’s Laugh Is It Anyway?: what’s so funny about peace, love and improvisation?’
Tracey Tofield (Newcastle) ‘Time After Time’
Miglė Miliū naitė (Vilnius) ‘Is Improvisation Closer to Art, or Nature?’
James Mackay (Newcastle) ‘Play It Like You Mean It! A narrative approach to teaching improvisation in jazz’
Ruby Main (Durham) ‘Just Chatting: Mapping the Improvisational Appeal of the Podcast’
Ziteng Yang (Durham) ‘Comedy, Irony and Truth: Aristophanes’ The Clouds The Problem of Historical Socrates’
Martin Mayes (Turin) ‘Where’s the 2 gone?’
Tony Buck/Alister Spence (Berlin and Sydney) ‘Mythographer’
Denise Ho (Edinburgh) ‘The Farce of Solitary Literature: Understanding the Relationship Between Loneliness and Literature in Sakaguchi Ango’s “The Birthplace of Literature”’
George Burt (Glasgow) ‘Solo guitar performance and discussion’

Report

On the 3rd and 4th of October at Newcastle’s Literary and Philosophical Society, participants were invited to speak on the relationship between aesthetics, comedy and improvisation before their peers and members of the public. The workshop ran smoothly, and all speakers listed above were able to attend in person.

Professor Andy Hamilton introduced the workshop, explaining the theme of comedy and improvisation in an aesthetic context. Notably, how the contrast and interaction between them shapes the works we create and consume. Using the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra as a case study, Raymond MacDonald highlighted instances where humour is used to develop improvisational narratives and open possibilities for creative collaboration. This presentation also gave insight into the relationship different musicians have with humour, particularly the difference between ‘taking oneself too seriously’ and embracing humour when it arises. Tracey Tofield then led a presentation beginning with the Ox-Herding series before going on to discuss improvisation and comedy through the Fibonacci sequence, John Cage, David Bowie and William Blake.

Referring back to the Ox-Herding series at each point, the audience was walked through the stages of a practitioner’s progress towards awakening. Bolstered by reference to their teaching experience, Tracey’s presentation left us all with something to think about.

Following lunch, Miglė Miliū naitė compared the possible views of Plato and St Augustine on what we call improvisation in music. Drawing on their musical expertiseMiglė explained, with example clips, the grounding of ancient musical score and performance in tradition and how deviation from these traditions was considered dangerous. Discussion of both figures revealed the deep importance music had in shaping individual character and society as a whole. The distinction between the professional and the home musician hinted at a greater general musical ability in the ancient population compared to the modern day. This thematically passed the torch to James Mackay’s presentation, much of which was grounded in their teaching of music in an impressive variety of settings. James began by inviting the audience to draw on their own phenomenological experiences of some presented visual examples of narrative encoding. Following this, they presented an original phenomenology of narrative listening, explaining how performers can raise listeners’ narrative engagement through conceptual metaphor theory and semiotic encoding in performance. This was expertly demonstrated to the audience with some self-recorded clips showing how notes can be played differently to give narrative quality based on preconceived human notions of how sound is extended in space.

Closing the first day, Ruby Main led an aesthetic investigation into the appeal of the podcast, arguing that the aesthetic appeal of many unscripted podcasts lies in a marriage of the aesthetics of imperfection with parasocial storytelling. The chance of organically stumbling into greatness, as seen in improvised music, is paralleled in podcasting and Ruby highlighted this through examples of one presenter subverting or derailing the narrative planned by their co-host or presenting information previously unknown to a host to elicit a genuine reaction. The parasocial aspect of the podcast was illuminated through reference to celebrity studies and led to a discussion on the aesthetic implications of ‘comfort media/characters’.

The second day began with Ziteng Yang explaining the different portrayals of Socrates by Xenophon, Plato and Aristophanes. This led into a discussion of the role of irony in the portrayals of Socrates and in his daily life. Though the comedic tone of The Clouds was conveyed, the philosophical rigour in the analysis supported by Kierkegaard made this a deeply engaging presentation. The next presentation, from Martin Mayes and his telescopic carbon fibre alphorn, discussed the absurdist facet of humour. Supported by an exposition of Homo Ludens, Martin presented an analysis of the relationship between play, comedy, and the absurd — ultimately highlighting that, arising out of the apparent paradox of what is and isn’t there, is a more complex truth or nuanced perspective than one began with.

Following lunch, Alister Spence and Tony Buck engaged in a reflective discussion on the aesthetic dimensions of sound and improvisation. Framing duo-music-making as a process of navigating both natural and imagined sonic phenomena, they explored how spontaneous collaboration can serve as a site for encountering the unknown, the ephemeral, and the affective. Touching on an awareness of the occasionally comedic elements of their work, they explored the effect this had on an audience and on creating a space for the audience to experience these moments fully.

Denise Ho then led an exploration of the complex relations between loneliness, farce and Solitary Literature informed by Sakaguchi Ango’s The Birthplace of Literature. Theybegan by defining Ango’s terminology and the core argument: that what discloses the necessity of becoming authentic is the experience of loneliness evoked by a certain class of literature, which he calls ‘Solitary Literature’. Following this was a discussion of the Little Red Riding Hood story but with particular attention to its more absurd aspects. Recognising that the farcical and absurd elements of the story were obscured by the (mostly Western) audience’s presuppositions, Denise presented a story from the Ise Monogatari, which allowed the audience to experience the farce and absurdity thatAngo posits as central to becoming authentic.

The final presentation was from George Burt, giving insight into the music-making process and the drawing of aesthetic inspiration from one’s environment. George supported each aetiological narrative with sporadic guitar playing, which gave context and drew in the audience.

The organisers are grateful to the BSA for sponsoring this event, to the speakers for their excellent presentations, and to the Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society for hosting us.

BPA/SWiP statement

All participants in the workshop were billed equally on all publicity, and no personal titles or institutions were listed. Formal invitations to speakers gave them opportunity to declare requirements for childcare or babysitting facilities, and we endeavoured to make suitable arrangements where necessary. Speakers were diverse in profession and included writers, academics, musicians, artists and entertainers. Of the 10 presentations, 4 (40%) were given by women.