Theories of Humor and Comedy
- probably began in religious rituals
- the individual in a comedy is made to conform as opposed to retaining integrity in a tragedy
- What is required for something to be humorous?
- it must appeal to the intellect rather than the emotions
- it must be mechanical
- it must be inherently human
- there must be a set of established norms with which the observer is familiar
- the situation and its component parts must be inconsistent or unsuitable to the surrounding
- it must be perceived by the observer as harmless or painless to the participants
Types of Comedy
- low comedy: lacks seriousness of purpose or subtlety of manner and has little intellectual appeal
- quarreling, clownishness, buffoonery, etc
- high comedy: pure or serious comedy that appeals to the intellect and arouses laughter by exhibiting the incongruities of human nature and displaying the follies of social manners
- burlesque: characterized by ridiculous exaggeration and distortion
- serious topic treated frivolously, visa versa
- farce: light dramatic work in which a highly improbable plot, exaggerated character, and slapstick elements are used for humorous effect
- lampoon: broad satirical piece that uses ridicule to attack a person or group
- parody: ridicules in a nonsensical fashion an original piece of work
- satire: holding up to ridicule the follies and vices of a people or time
- slapstick: boisterous form of comedy marked by chases, collisions, and crude practical jokes
- travesty: presents a serious subject frivolously and reduces everything to its lowest level
- religion
The Comedic Ladder
- Comedy of Ideas
- characters argue about ideas like politics, marriage, etc
- characters use their wit and clever language to mock their opponent in an argument
- subtle way to satirize people and institutions like churches, political parties, etc
- Comedy of Manners
- amorous love affairs among the upper classes
- focus is on witty language, clever speech, 'put downs'
- society is often made up of cliques with certain groups being the exclusive in crowd
- Farce
- plot is full of coincidences, mistaken identities
- characters are puppets of fate - unable to marry, too poor, too rich, etc
- loss of identity because of birth, fate or accident
- sometimes they are twins separated unaware of their double
- Low Comedy
- dirty jokes, dirty gestures, and sex are subjects of humor
- exaggeration or understatements are the extremes with a focus on physical - long noses, cross eyes, humped back
- slapstick, pratfalls, loud noises, physical mishaps, collisions, etc
Difference Between Comedy and Tragedy
Tragedy <---------------------> Comedy
Rational ----- Irrational
Moral ------- Amoral
Sense -------- Nonsense
Death ---------- Marriage
Punishment------------- Reconciliation
Metaphysical --------------------- Accidental
importance of the soul -------- to be human is inherently funny
How Comedy Affects Us
- comedy is based on irony
- awareness of irony is intellectual, not emotional
- comedy lifts us out of our emotional responses
- good comedy allows us to feel superior to the characters
- we see similarities between the comic characters and ourselves
- comedy acts as a way to change the individual or the society using laughter
- satire, ridicule, burlesque often work in the service of change
- comedy uses exaggeration, understatement, role reversal and generally the devices of irony to make us laugh and compare
Techniques of Comedy
- caricature: representation in which the subject's distinctive features are deliberately exaggerated to produce a comic effect
- colloquialism: use of slang or informal language
- deflation: an object is given elevated status and then treated in such a way that the estimation of the object decreases
- disparagement: to speak in a slighting way - to be little
- euphemism: a less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word
- hyperbole: exaggeration or overstatement
- incongruity: surprising contrast that occurs through situation, image, allusion, etc
- invective: harsh language directed against a person or cause
- irony
- verbal - discrepancy between what is stated and what is meant
- situational - discrepancy between what is expected and reality
- dramatic - discrepancy between what the audience and character knows
- knaves & fools: there are only rogues and suckers in comedy
- litotes: understatement in which something is affirmed by stating the negative of its opposite
- malapropism: mistake in speech resulting from using one word for another which resembles it
- non-sequitur: inference or conclusion that doesn't follow from the premise or evidence
- oxymoron: a group of contradictory terms suggesting a paradox
- paradox: self-contradictory statement which contains some degree of truth
- parody: a work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect
- pun: play on words based on the similarity of sound
- sarcasm: bitter language meant to hurt or ridicule something
- understatement: when what is said falls short of the magnitude of whats being talked about
- wit: clever use of language to arouse laughter
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