Editorial

What are the characteristics of popular entertainment? We know that these are shaped by the sites of their performances. Yet the circus tent and the theatre stage (however configured) form the tip of an iceberg that is made up of side show booths, marketplace stalls, pubs, street venues and even television studios that all mediate the interaction between the performers and their audiences. Nonetheless, standup comedians, buskers, variety performers and showmen know the value of the eccentric, the exotic and the unusual. Even a good joke juxtaposes the ordinary with an extraordinary outcome. It is this juxtaposition that turns the commonplace into something memorable. As often as not, this process involves complementary manifestations of satire, parody and outrageous burlesque allowing for the display of contrasting yet often inexorably logical viewpoints. Thus it is perhaps appropriate that two of the strands in our current issue should concern themselves with unusual and exotic people (the manifestations of ethnology and entertainment) and unusual and idiosyncratic places (the manifestations of sites and performance).