The Material A Novel

Camille Bordas, Megan Tusing

eAudio - 2024

A single momentous day transforms the lives of students and professors at a school for stand-up comedy in a novel that “[brims] with insecure characters, clever repartee, dark jokes and funny riffs” (The Wall Street Journal) “Insightful, compassionate, biting and honest.”—The Washington Post“Brilliance is on display here.”—Percival Everett, author of James and The TreesLonglisted for the New American Voices AwardCan comedy be taught? Someone, at some point, seemed to think so. The Chicago Stand-Up MFA program has enrolled young comedians for nearly a decade.Its teachers and students all know how bits work—in theory, at least. They know that there’s a line between sharp and cruel, that sad becomes funny at the right angle..., that the worst is the best, the truth is the worst, and any moment of your life that isn’t a punch line... more