Matthew McMahan
Assistant Professor, School of Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies
Dr. Matthew McMahan’s research focuses on the intersection of comedy, clowning, and migration. He has authored two books: Border-Crossing and Comedy at the Théâtre Italien, 1716-1723 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021) and Clowns and Clowning (Routledge, 2026). He has secured advanced contracts for two additional books: Funny Moves: Migration and Comedy in the United States (Iowa University Press) and Pantomime Clowning (Routledge, 2026).
In addition, Dr. McMahan has published articles on physical comedy, clowning, commedia dell’arte, vaudeville, and French farce in Siècles, Theatre Topics, Theatre Survey, Comedy Studies, Nineteenth Century Theatre & Film, Theatre History Studies, The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, The New England Theatre Journal, The Texas Theatre Journal, and HowlRound. His article on two Parisian clowns, Foottit and Chocolat, was awarded an honorable mention for the Robert A. Schanke Research Award at the Mid-America Theatre Conference.
For the last six years, Dr. McMahan has spearheaded the comedy studies working group at the American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR). In the Fall of 2023, alongside a team of comedy scholars from institutions across the U.S., he convened the Comedy and Embodiment Symposium at MIT, which was honored with the ASTR Co-Sponsored Event Award. This event inspired a special issue of Theatre Topics co-edited by Dr. McMahan.
Courses
- Evolution of Comedy I
- Directed Study
- Playing with Theory: Comic Analysis in Creation and Practice
- Stages of Drama
- Black Box Variety Comedy Troupe
- Topics in Drama Theater and Culture
- Master's Thesis
Academic Work
- Est. 2027, Funny Moves: Migration and Comedy in the United States, University of Iowa Press (advance contract).
- 2021, Border-Crossing and Comedy at the Théâtre Italien, 1716-1723, Palgrave
- 2027, Pantomime Clowning: A Documentary History of the Long Nineteenth Century, ed., with Senelick, L., Routledge (advance contract).
- 2026, Clowns and Clowning, with Senelick, L., volume 5 of Circus in the Long Nineteenth Century: A Documentary History, edited by Arrighi, G. Routledge.
- 2026, “Gasps and Guffaws: The International Rise of the Comic Acrobat,” Siècles: Revue du Centre d'Histoire 59, no. 1
- 2025, “Wrestling with Consent: Natalie Palamides and Audience Participation in the Clown Show Nate,” Comedy Studies 36, no. 2.
- 2025, “Teaching the Commedia dell’Arte Tradition in One Day: Problems and Possibilities,” with Hamill, K., Theatre Topics 35, no. 1
- 2024, “Comedy and Embodiment” [Special Issue], with Overbeke, G., Hale Wood, K., & de Simone, M. Theatre Topics 34, no. 2.
- 2024, “Playing Nice in the Face of Bigotry: Bassem Youssef and Islamophobia in the United States,” Comedy Studies 14, no. 1.
- 2023, “Send in the Clowness: The Problematic Origins of Female Circus Clowns,” with Senelick, L., Theatre Survey 64, no. 1
- 2021, “To Catch a Joke Thief, or Copyrighting Vaudeville Acts in the New York Clipper Registry,” Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film 49, no. 1
- 2020, “Projections of Race at the Nouveau Cirque: The Clown Acts of Foottit and Chocolat,” Theatre History Studies 39, no. 1.
- 2025, “A path forward: social democratic strategies and responses to far-right populist challenges,” with Falkenbach, M., European Politics and Society, 26(3), 701-722
- 2024, “Workforce automation risks across race and gender in the United States,” American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 83(20), 463–492
- 2024, “The resurgence of partisanship in social policy making,” in Handbook of the Political Economy of Social Policy, B. Greve (Ed.), Edward Elgar Publishing
- 2023, “Socio-economic and socio-cultural foundations of voter support for far-left and far-right parties,” Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 31(1), 214–231
- 2022, The Repoliticization of the Welfare State. University of Michigan Press
- 2022, “A hollow victory: Understanding the anti-immigration shift of Denmark’s Social Democrats,” with Falkenbach, M., Journal of Contemporary European Research, 18(1), 4–30
- 2021, “Gender, austerity and the welfare state,” with Kushi, S., in Handbook on Austerity, Populism and the Welfare State, B. Greve (Ed.), Edward Elgar Publishing
- 2021, “Populist radical right politics and health policy in the UK.” in Populist Radical Right and Health: National policies and global trends, M. Falkenbach & S. Greer (Eds.), Springer
- 2020, “The Eurocrisis between technocratic and democratic legitimacy,” with Costa Lobo, M., in The Technocratic Challenge to Democracy, E. Bertsou & D. Caramani (Eds.). Routledge
- 2019, “The reemergence of partisan effects on social spending after the global financial crisis,” Journal of Common Market Studies, 57(6), 1274–1291.
Creative Work
- 2022-2026, resident cast member, Union Comedy, Somerville, MA
- 2026,Ensemble, Here It Comes!: A Sketch Comedy Show, Rockwell Theatre, Somerville, MA
- 2025, ensemble, Peepers Creepers: A Sketch Comedy Show, Rockwell Theatre, Somerville, MA
- 2015-20, resident cast member, ImprovBoston, Cambridge, MA
- 2019,dramaturg, Around the World in 80 Days by Laura Eason, Theatreworks, Colorado Springs, CO
- 2019, dramaturg, Bad Hombres/Good Wives by Herbert Siguenza, San Diego Repertory Theatre
- 2018-19, director, Boston Sketch Company