What is humour?

What is funny?
Comedy is not a science, it's art. Therefore there are no rules and it can be very subjective.
What one person finds funny another might find offensive.

Why do we find things humorous?

There is no simple answer because humour captures a moment or it contains an element of

simple truth; it is something that we have always known but shown in a different way.
Perhaps humour lies in the enjoyment of feeling intelligent or superior. Alternatively, we
might laugh at something ridiculous or exaggerated. There are so many more reasons...

Somebody tries to put on their shoes standing up and falls over in the process. They
look foolish, we therefore feel better than them as we are not the one falling over
trying to put on shoes. We laugh.

Someone makes a clever joke and only a few people get it. If we understand the
joke we consider the person as clever and feel clever ourselves as we understood the
concept/s. We laugh.

Comedy is full of opposites and contradictions.

Something is funny because...

1. ...It is expected
Imagine a scene where a woman buys white coat she has a long time been saving up for.
She tells the shop keeper she has dreamed of wearing it for months. The shop keeper says
that this is the last one in stock. We see the woman's gleeful face as she tries on her new
lovely white coat. We then cut to a scene of a zoo keeper in a zebra enclosure painting a
bench black. We know what's going to happen already. The comedy is in the anticipation
and expectation as we build up to the inevitable moment where she sits on the wet black
bench in her new white coat and ends up with black stripes across her back like the Zebras
in the zoo.
2. ...it is unexpected
A hunter is out hunting rabbits. He finds a rabbit hole and sends his dog down. After five
minutes of nothing, he sticks his head down the hole to find the rabbit and dog playing
cards.
Or let's go for a twist... That same woman buys her white coat and approaches the wet
black bench:
"Look out!" yells the zoo keeper.
"Oh thanks," says the woman, "I almost sat on that."
An escaped lion then leaps in to the scene, from the side, and chases her.
3. ...it is familiar
A woman in a supermarket places an item in her trolley and turns to fetch another. While
she is not looking, her trolley rolls away sideways. We laugh a knowing laugh as we
recognise the age old problem of errant shopping trolleys. To exaggerate the scene further,
a whole section of soup cans could pile into the aisle and reach the ceiling.
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4. ...it is unfamiliar
A woman places a can in her trolley and turns to choose another item. While she is not
looking, an innocent old lady walks past and takes the can and puts it in her trolley. She
then proceeds to steal the woman’s purse out of her bag. We laugh in shock as we didn't
expect that.
5. ...it is exaggerated
All the examples of humour so far have included exaggeration or hyperbolic action. Dialogue
can also be exaggerated and over the top. Exaggeration allows us to experience something
beyond the ordinary, beyond reality. Exaggerated humour is a form of escapism from our
normal daily lives.

The origins of comedy

The original meaning of the word comedy was merely a dramatic play that was the opposite
of tragedy in ancient Greek theatre.

Tragedy involved big important characters (usually falling from grace). It would often end
badly and would explore high themes of power and betrayal etc. Comedy, on the other
hand, usually revolved around normal people moving up in the world and would feature a
happier ending. This was the origin of the word comedy.

In literary circles, people often talk of high comedy and low comedy. High comedy is seen
as intellectual wit, often set among high society and using clever characterisations and
complex situations. (Oscar Wilde, P G Wodehouse). Low comedy uses coarse language,
slapstick and farce. (Monty Python, Little Britain)

There are various types of comedy, including:

Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of physical comedy characterized by broad humour, absurd situations,
and vigorous, usually violent action. The slapstick comic is more than a funnyman or
buffoon, combining skills of an acrobat, a stunt performer and must have perfect timing. For
example, Joe picks up a large plank. Fred behind him says "Hey Joe, careful with that
plank!" Joe turns round saying "What?" and whacks Fred in the face with the plank.
Spoof
Spoof is light parody or gentle imitation and can be a bit silly like a prank. Is it not
necessarily intended to ridicule or make fun of the thing being spoofed. For instance, a
woman in glasses with tied up hair, who is obviously beautiful, takes off her glasses and
then unties her hair and shakes it loose. As she does so, her wig falls off. We all recognise
the stereotypical Hollywood film moment being spoofed and so this is funny not just
because her wig falls off but we are fully aware of the ugly duckling turning beautiful
allusion.

Parody
Parody is where a work deliberately mimics the style of another for comic effect or ridicule.
This is usually cleverer than a spoof. For example, Spaceballs is a film parodying the Star
Wars franchise of films etc. Instead of Darth Vader, a menacing and imposing villain, Dark
Helmet in Spaceballs wears an exaggerated helmet far too big for him, he is short and looks
ridiculous, not powerful.
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Satire
Satire is where a section of society or politics is deliberately mimicked and mocked in order
to poke fun at them and to criticise using humour. Literary or dramatic satire makes a point
and can be more severe than a spoof or parody- cruel even. For example, Catch-22 is a
satire of war where nobody wins.
Irony
Irony is where the opposite of what is expected happens or where someone says the
opposite of what they mean. The lack of harmony between something that is expected and
the reality For example, if you changed jobs from being a cleaner to working in a bank but
were being paid less, then this would be ironic. Dramatic irony is used in plays and films
where the audience knows something a character(s) doesn’t. Often used for suspense.
Situational irony works the same way in non-dramatic texts, where events are ironic.
Irony in speech is called verbal irony.
Sarcasm
Sarcasm is a lower form of irony, where an insult or quick remark is fired at someone with
the intention of causing injury or shame. It is often used in response to an initial statement
or comment in order to pour scorn on the stated idea or statement. For instance, someone
drops a tray and someone else shouts "Ooh, that was ‘so’ clever."
Farce
This is where comedy is achieved through exaggeration and extreme characters in
preposterous circumstances that seem to spiral out of control and become ever more
ludicrous. For example, Frank Spencer in the ‘Some Mothers do ‘ave ‘em’ television series
always does something wrong, inadvertently. Farce is often in the form of a drama or play.
Black comedy
Also called dark comedy. Often light humour is applied to very dark and serious subject
matter. It is a subtle and clever form of comedy that juxtaposes humour and sadness. Not
everyone enjoys black comedy because a serious subject is humorised.
Surrealism
Throwing together completely disjointed concepts and random ideas to weave together
something bizarre. For example, the new Old Spice advertisements juxtapose all sorts of
scenes for humorous effects. You remember them because they are so strangely appealing
or because they are truly ridiculous and awful.

Timing
Probably the most mysterious part of performance comedy. In any performance comedy a
rhythm is established and people often talk about beats. A beat is a small pause put in place
to enhance a joke... sometime after the punch-line to enable the audience time to react and
get the joke, but often a pause is placed before a line to build expectation. It can also be
used to throw in a double punch-line: the punch-line is delivered.. (laugh) (pause) ...Second
punch-line follows on that audience weren't expecting. These beats are often called
'pregnant pauses' as they are full of expectation, as is a baby.

Some basic techniques...

Misunderstanding
Joe is holding a large wooden beam. Fred is holding a large hammer.

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Joe: "When I nod my head, you hit it."
Joe nods.
Fred hits Joe over the head with the hammer.

Pun and wordplay

Probably the second oldest joke after the chicken/road effort:
A: My dog's got no nose.
B: How does he smell?
A: Awful.

Mock epic and travesty

These are actually literary terms used in discussion of literature and plays but they also
relate to comedy.
Mock epic is basically where something very trivial is treated as if it were high and lofty
and important on a grand scale. Think of Princess Vespa in the film, Spaceballs, who
suddenly acquired the expert ability to shoot those who dared shoot her precious hair.
Travesty is the opposite - high and important issues treated very lightly as if they were
trivial.

Stereotypes
Stereotypes work well in comedy because we immediately recognise particular character
types and without too much information, based on their gender, occupation, ethnicity etc.
For example, a stereotypical scientist might be male, grey hair, wear a lab coat and look a
bit like Albert Einstein.

Malapropisms
Named after the character Miss Malaprop in Sheridan's comedy The Rivals, a malapropism is
any well-intended saying that takes on a different and often ludicrous meaning when a
similar yet utterly inappropriate word is used. For example: What do I look like? An inferior
(interior) decorator?
Miss Malaprop's character was charming and fond of confusing her words. Some of her lines
from the play are:
"...you will promise to forget this fellow--to illiterate him, I say, quite from your memory."
"He is the very pineapple of politeness."

Spoonerisms
Spoonerisms are words or phrases in which letters or syllables get swapped in words close
together. This often happens accidentally in slips of the tongue (or tips of the slung as
Spoonerisms are often affectionately called!).

Spoonerisms are named after the Reverend W. A. Spooner (1844-1930) who was Dean and
Warden of New College in Oxford, England. He is reputed to have made these verbal slips
frequently.

For example, he once said, “The weight of rages will press hard upon the employer.” What
he meant to say was, “The rate of wages will press hard upon the employer.” Another
example of a “Spoonerism,” which Spooner himself may not have actually said, is, “The
Lord is a shoving leopard.” The sentence should have been, “The Lord is a loving shepherd.”

A few other techniques and structures that are often

used:

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Out of context
Everyday objects are used for other purposes or people assuming roles they should not
occupy. For example, a banana used as a gun in a bank raid or a hospital cleaner called in
to help with brain surgery.

Characteristic swap or Personification

Attributing human characteristics to animals and objects or attributing animal/object
qualities to humans. For example, a man argues with a toaster and accuses it of deliberately
burning his bread.

The fool
A wrong opinion is expressed and catches on with others. Often a wise person will say
something and a fool will hear it and misinterpret it loudly. A second fool hears it and
agrees and so the wise person then has to race about correcting it to prevent the
foolishness from spreading.
NOTE: A fool can also be used to shame or demean a more learned person by actually
having more knowledge or ability than them. Shakespeare exploited the fool in this way in
his plays, such as Bottom in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ Although he was a fool, he was
also able to traverse the worlds of the humans and fairies, which no other human could do.

The flawed plan

A character is discussing a plan but it is obvious to the audience that it is doomed to fail.
This can either be due to information the audience knows (dramatic irony) or it can simply
be that the character is overlooking something blatantly obvious.

Paralleling reality
Taking a familiar plot or setting but replacing all the elements with unfamiliar characters or
events etc. The situation is familiar but the details are bizarre. Imagine a familiar
supermarket setting with aisles and shelves full of food, except the shoppers are all dogs
and cats. This appears to be accepted as normal by the characters involved. Alternatively
the shoppers could be human but the shelves stocked with different body parts wrapped in
plastic or boxed ready to be bought- the legs aisle and eyes section etc.

What is a punch-line?
The climactic part of a joke or story that ‘hits’ you
as funny. The ‘Oh, I get it,’ moment- ha ha!

More humour!
TASK: Research 5-8more conventions of humour. The links below might help

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 Comedy tropes:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ComedyTropes
More features: https://medium.com/@4MikeJohnston/29-simple-comedic-
devices-that-make-advertising-irresistible-6338b1fd9b45

Comedic feature/convention and Examples

definition

Comedic features in Catch the Waves

Comedic Example/s in the play- quotes Purpose of the author Effects on audiences
feature

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