Savvas Patsalidis delivers a modern and bibliographically up-to-date study for those interested in learning more about the subversive seriousness of theatrical comedy and the laughter that accompanies it. Attempting his own counterargument, the book’s author argues that comedy does not turn its back on the serious aspect or knowledge of life and its truths, seeking paths of easy (and enjoyable) escape. Drawing on contemporary theories of postmodernism, psychoanalysis, feminism, postcolonialism, and Orientalism, and with examples drawn from the history of both the comic and comic-tragic genres, from Aristophanes, Rabelais, Shakespeare, Commedia dell’arte, Byzantium, Gogol, to the modern Pirandello, Fault, Ionesco, Beckett, Churchill, Albee, Ruhl, Reza, Ziogas, Pontikas, Matesis, Dialegmenos, Demou, Spiliotis, Tsiros etc. etc., brings out comedy from a different angle, in order to recognize and appreciate its peculiarities, which are far more complex, varied and beneficial than many people think. For the first time in Greek theatrical literature, two extensive chapters are devoted to Greek and foreign stand-up comedy performers, one focusing on male and the other on female performers. The aim is to highlight the complex yet explosive materials of contemporary political (and gendered) comedy that touch on issues such as political correctness, the culture of nullification, entitlement, and boundaries. In addition to the six parts, the publication includes two auxiliary appendices, one a dictionary of versions of the comic (and their definition) and the other, a dictionary of terms.