Comedy

COMEDY

comedy - a drama or play where there is humor that is intended to make people laugh because of a characters certain circumstances

Elements of Comedy

Character, Timing, Slapstick, Pregnant Pause

The character does not necessarily have to be special, in fact the character may play any form and depending on the situation he instantly becomes someone to be laughed at. Possibly the character is also known as a comedian that effectively makes the audience laugh at any instance with his jokes or ability to pull off a good comedic act

Comic Timing:

Comic timing is use of rhythm and tempo to enhance comedy and humor. The pacing of the delivery of a joke has a strong impact on its comic effect; the same is also true of more physical comedy such as slapstick.

What is the beat?

A beat is a pause taken for the purposes of comic timing, often to allow the audience time to recognize the joke and react, or to heighten the suspense before delivery of the expected punch line.

What is slapstick?

Slapstick: Comedy characterized by broad humor, absurd situations, and vigorous, often violent action.

What is a pregnant pause?

A pregnant pause is a technique of comic timing used to accentuate a comedy element

LOL

TV comedy:

Saturday Night Live

The Big Bang Theory

Sh*t my Dad says

The Simpsons

American Dad

Family Guy

Two and a half men

South Park

30 Rock

The Office.

Modern Family

A few examples:

Three Stooges

Laurel and Hardy

The Marx Brothers

Keystone Kops

Tom and Jerry

heightened reality

HAHAHAHA

Examples of comedy

Romantic comedy

Ally McBeal

Friends

Sex and the City

Will & Grace

Desperate Housewives

Grey's Anatomy

How I Met Your Mother

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Notting Hill

Pretty Woman

Hitch

The Proposal

Satire & Parody

Stephen Colbert

The Onion (Sean Mills)

The Daily Show (Jon Stewart)

The Great Dictator (1940) by Charlie Chaplin

Comedic Forms

Other Examples:

Screwball comedy

scatological comedy

comedy of manners

gags

ROFLMAO

Stand-up comedy

Conan

Bill Cosby

Jerry Seinfeild

Jimmy Fallon

Kathy Griffin

Craig Ferguson

Bernie Mac

Why comedy?

often inappropriate

we laugh because we understand the joke

The jokes may depend on a specific background, politics or culture.

well duh! comedy is an instant favorite of most audiences, smart or slapstick, especially Filipinos that just love the humor of life and the humor behind the situations of people. A happy ending that causes you to come out of the cinema with a hurting tummy really gives the person a good feeling and feel that it is worth their time and money for watching it.

Dark Comedy

I think what makes comedy distinct

from tragedy and the complete opposite of it is that comedy is less predictable than tragedy. More often we know the destiny of a tragic character who will mostly likely experience downfall while a comedic character may experience downfall or fortune.

Difference with comedy and Aristotles tragedy

With its elements I would have to say that comedy is snappy with its humor and it does not carry on until the end of the story. It needs to build up and continually be complimented by another joke so that the story leaves you not hanging and the experience of comedy is complete after the story.

At the end of the story instead of catharsis it's more of a lighter experience for the audience unless tragedy is mixed with the story.