Pirates/Philosophy
What is Literature Good For?
Comedy:
A. Something is funny because it is expected (and we feel superior because we know what will happen to someone who...
B. Something is funny because it is UNEXPECTeD.
C. Something is funny because someone gets hurt, but not too badly.
D. Something is funny because it doesn't make sense.
From Christian Cook:
slapstick
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.
parody
Parody is where a work deliberately mimmicks the style of another for comic effect or ridicule.
spoof
Spoof is light parody or gentle imitation. Is it not necessarily intended to ridicule or make fun of the thing being spoofed but the comedy happens in the recognition of the piece being spoofed. For instance, a woman in glasses with tied up hair who is obviously beautiful anyway takes off her glasses and then unties her hair and shakes it loose. As she does, her wig falls off. We all recognize the Hollywood moment and so this is funny not just because her wig falls off but we are fully aware of the reference and know that usually this is not supposed to happen.
satire
Satire is where a section of society or politics is deliberately mimicked and mocked in order to poke fun at them and point criticism using humour. e.g. Catch-22 is a satire of war.
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 (so if you moved jobs from being a dustman to being in a bank but were being paid less then some would point out a certain irony.)
sarcasm
sarcasm is where an insult or quick remark is fired at someone with the intention of causing injury. It is often used in repsonse to an initial statement or comment in order to pour scorn on the stated idea or statement. Sarcasm often features irony (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.
black comedy
This is a dark comedy where a light humored touch is applied to very dark and serious subject matter in order to ease the pain or make some specific point by juxtaposing the humour and the sadness.
Surrealism
Throwing together completely disjointed concepts and random ideas to weave together something bizarre. (I once heard a very funny stand up comedian come out with: "Suppose you're a fish... (pause) how the f*** you suppsoed to get to the airport?... (pause) They don't make rivers go that way."
Timing
Probably the most mysterious part of performance comedy. In any performance comedy a rhythm is destablished and people often talk about beats. A beat is a small pause put in place to enhance a joke... sometime after the punchline 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 punchline. the punchline is delivered.. (laugh) (pause) ...Second punchline follows on that audience weren't expecting. These beats are often called 'pregnant pauses' as they are full of expectation.
Some basic techniques:
Misunderstanding
Joe is holding a large girder in the round. Fred is holding a large hammer.
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 straight literature and plays however but they can be employed very effectively in comedy.
Mock epic is basically where something very trivial is treated as if it were high and lofty and important on a grand scale.
Travesty is the opposite - high and important issues treated very lightly as if they were trivial.
double entendre
Typical british 'saucy postcard humour': A vicar with an umbrella is having trouble with opening it and so he says to some woman in a tennis skirt "Can you help me get it up?" and she says "Oh my, it is a big one!"
stereotypes
Stereotypes work because we immediately recognise the character and so we are familiar with what sort of person this is without too much information needing to be given. The problem is that they very quickly become old and repetitive and so you have to try and spot new stereotypes or add a twist to an old one to avoid the joke looking tired.
A few other techniques and structures that are often used:
Out of context
Everyday objects used for other purposes or people assuming roles they should not occupy.
Banana used as a gun in a bank raid.
Hospital cleaner called in to help with brain surgery.
Characteristic swap
Attributing human characteristics to animals and objects or attributing animal/object qualities to humans.
Man arguing with a toaster and accusing it of deliberately burning his bread.
A man gives directions and says "go over the hill and past the sleeping tramp..."
Other person asks if the sleeping tramp is a pub, person replies and says "No, there's a tramp asleep on the bench."
the infectious wisdom of 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 coreecting it to prevent the foolishness from spreading.
An example of this from a photoshoot sketch:
LORNA: Oh, hang on
PHOTOGRAPHER: Yes?
LORNA: What's my motivation for this shoot?
PHOTOGRAPHER: You'll get paid, don't worry
LORNA: No, what's my character's motivation?
PHOTOGRAPHER: There isn't any... ok?
LORNA: Ok, got it
PHOTOGRAPHER: Right, poses.... now, on 3... Lorna, what's with the face? LORNA: I'm trying to look demotivated.
NIKKI: Oh, sorry, I wasn't doing that
PHOTOGRAPHER: I don't want either of you looking demotivated!
The flawed plan
A character is discussing a plan but it is obvious to the audience that one glaring aspect of it is doomed to fail. This can either be due to information the audience has been told elsewhere or it can simply be that the character is overlooking something blatantly obvious.
Paralleling reality
Taking a familiar framework but replacing all the elements. The situation is familiar but the details are bizarre. The hotel sketch is a good example of this... we recognise the set up and the social norms at work, but there is a mini-bar full of various types of beans rather than alcohol, but this appears to be accepted as proper by the characters involved.
After a quick writing prompt, we'll be going up to the lab to complete our philosophy film projects.
HOMEWORK: Complete your film project if you did not complete the project in class. Complete the reading of the book: The Pirates in an Adventure with the Romantics. Expect a quiz and discussion on the book Wednesday.
Comedy:
A. Something is funny because it is expected (and we feel superior because we know what will happen to someone who...
B. Something is funny because it is UNEXPECTeD.
C. Something is funny because someone gets hurt, but not too badly.
D. Something is funny because it doesn't make sense.
From Christian Cook:
slapstick
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.
parody
Parody is where a work deliberately mimmicks the style of another for comic effect or ridicule.
spoof
Spoof is light parody or gentle imitation. Is it not necessarily intended to ridicule or make fun of the thing being spoofed but the comedy happens in the recognition of the piece being spoofed. For instance, a woman in glasses with tied up hair who is obviously beautiful anyway takes off her glasses and then unties her hair and shakes it loose. As she does, her wig falls off. We all recognize the Hollywood moment and so this is funny not just because her wig falls off but we are fully aware of the reference and know that usually this is not supposed to happen.
satire
Satire is where a section of society or politics is deliberately mimicked and mocked in order to poke fun at them and point criticism using humour. e.g. Catch-22 is a satire of war.
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 (so if you moved jobs from being a dustman to being in a bank but were being paid less then some would point out a certain irony.)
sarcasm
sarcasm is where an insult or quick remark is fired at someone with the intention of causing injury. It is often used in repsonse to an initial statement or comment in order to pour scorn on the stated idea or statement. Sarcasm often features irony (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.
black comedy
This is a dark comedy where a light humored touch is applied to very dark and serious subject matter in order to ease the pain or make some specific point by juxtaposing the humour and the sadness.
Surrealism
Throwing together completely disjointed concepts and random ideas to weave together something bizarre. (I once heard a very funny stand up comedian come out with: "Suppose you're a fish... (pause) how the f*** you suppsoed to get to the airport?... (pause) They don't make rivers go that way."
Timing
Probably the most mysterious part of performance comedy. In any performance comedy a rhythm is destablished and people often talk about beats. A beat is a small pause put in place to enhance a joke... sometime after the punchline 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 punchline. the punchline is delivered.. (laugh) (pause) ...Second punchline follows on that audience weren't expecting. These beats are often called 'pregnant pauses' as they are full of expectation.
Some basic techniques:
Misunderstanding
Joe is holding a large girder in the round. Fred is holding a large hammer.
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 straight literature and plays however but they can be employed very effectively in comedy.
Mock epic is basically where something very trivial is treated as if it were high and lofty and important on a grand scale.
Travesty is the opposite - high and important issues treated very lightly as if they were trivial.
double entendre
Typical british 'saucy postcard humour': A vicar with an umbrella is having trouble with opening it and so he says to some woman in a tennis skirt "Can you help me get it up?" and she says "Oh my, it is a big one!"
stereotypes
Stereotypes work because we immediately recognise the character and so we are familiar with what sort of person this is without too much information needing to be given. The problem is that they very quickly become old and repetitive and so you have to try and spot new stereotypes or add a twist to an old one to avoid the joke looking tired.
A few other techniques and structures that are often used:
Out of context
Everyday objects used for other purposes or people assuming roles they should not occupy.
Banana used as a gun in a bank raid.
Hospital cleaner called in to help with brain surgery.
Characteristic swap
Attributing human characteristics to animals and objects or attributing animal/object qualities to humans.
Man arguing with a toaster and accusing it of deliberately burning his bread.
A man gives directions and says "go over the hill and past the sleeping tramp..."
Other person asks if the sleeping tramp is a pub, person replies and says "No, there's a tramp asleep on the bench."
the infectious wisdom of 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 coreecting it to prevent the foolishness from spreading.
An example of this from a photoshoot sketch:
LORNA: Oh, hang on
PHOTOGRAPHER: Yes?
LORNA: What's my motivation for this shoot?
PHOTOGRAPHER: You'll get paid, don't worry
LORNA: No, what's my character's motivation?
PHOTOGRAPHER: There isn't any... ok?
LORNA: Ok, got it
PHOTOGRAPHER: Right, poses.... now, on 3... Lorna, what's with the face? LORNA: I'm trying to look demotivated.
NIKKI: Oh, sorry, I wasn't doing that
PHOTOGRAPHER: I don't want either of you looking demotivated!
The flawed plan
A character is discussing a plan but it is obvious to the audience that one glaring aspect of it is doomed to fail. This can either be due to information the audience has been told elsewhere or it can simply be that the character is overlooking something blatantly obvious.
Paralleling reality
Taking a familiar framework but replacing all the elements. The situation is familiar but the details are bizarre. The hotel sketch is a good example of this... we recognise the set up and the social norms at work, but there is a mini-bar full of various types of beans rather than alcohol, but this appears to be accepted as proper by the characters involved.
After a quick writing prompt, we'll be going up to the lab to complete our philosophy film projects.
HOMEWORK: Complete your film project if you did not complete the project in class. Complete the reading of the book: The Pirates in an Adventure with the Romantics. Expect a quiz and discussion on the book Wednesday.
Comments
Gena's project on Rousseau
Imani Gunner project
This is jahni rattray video