Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be
humor
Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...
ous or amusing by inducing
laughter
Laughter is a pleasant physical reaction and emotion consisting usually of rhythmical, often audible contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system. It is a response to certain external or internal stimuli. Laughter ...
, especially in
theatre,
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
,
stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up.
Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...
,
television,
radio,
books
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ar ...
,
or any other entertainment medium. The term originated in
ancient Greece: in
Athenian democracy
Athenian democracy developed around the 6th century BC in the Greek city-state (known as a polis) of Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica. Although Athens is the most famous ancient Greek democratic city- ...
, the
public opinion of voters was influenced by
political satire performed by
comic poets in
theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing ''
agon
Agon (Greek ) is a Greek term for a conflict, struggle or contest. This could be a contest in athletics, in chariot or horse racing, or in music or literature at a public festival in ancient Greece. Agon is the word-forming element in 'agony', ...
'' or conflict.
Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old". A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses which engender dramatic
irony
Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique.
Irony can be categorized into ...
, which provokes laughter.
Satire and political satire use comedy to portray people or social institutions as ridiculous or corrupt, thus alienating their audience from the object of their humor.
Parody subverts popular genres and forms, critiquing those forms without necessarily condemning them.
Other forms of comedy include
screwball comedy, which derives its humor largely from bizarre, surprising (and improbable) situations or characters, and
black comedy, which is characterized by a form of humor that includes darker aspects of human behavior or human nature. Similarly
scatological humor, sexual humor, and
race humor create comedy by violating
social conventions or
taboos in comic ways, which can often be taken as offensive by the subjects of said joke. A
comedy of manners typically takes as its subject a particular part of society (usually upper-class society) and uses humor to parody or satirize the behavior and mannerisms of its members.
Romantic comedy is a popular genre that depicts burgeoning romance in humorous terms and focuses on the foibles of those who are falling in love.
Etymology
Dean Rubin says the word "comedy" is derived from the
Classical Greek κωμῳδία ''kōmōidía'', which is a compound of
κῶμος ''kômos'' (revel) and ᾠδή ''ōidḗ'' (singing; ode). The adjective "comic" (Greek κωμικός ''kōmikós),'' which strictly means that which relates to comedy is, in modern usage, generally confined to the sense of "laughter-provoking".
[Cornford (1934)] Of this, the word came into modern usage through the Latin ''comoedia'' and Italian ''commedia'' and has, over time, passed through various shades of meaning.
[Oxford English Dictionary]
The
Greeks and
Romans confined their use of the
word "comedy" to descriptions of stage-plays with happy endings.
Aristotle defined comedy as an imitation of men worse than the average (where
tragedy was an imitation of men better than the average). However, the characters portrayed in comedies were not worse than average in every way, only insofar as they are Ridiculous, which is a species of the Ugly. The Ridiculous may be defined as a mistake or deformity not productive of pain or harm to others; the mask, for instance, that excites laughter is something ugly and distorted without causing pain. In the
Middle Ages, the term expanded to include narrative poems with happy endings. It is in this sense that
Dante used the term in the title of his poem, ''
La Commedia''.
As time progressed, the word came more and more to be associated with any sort of performance intended to cause laughter.
[ During the Middle Ages, the term "comedy" became synonymous with satire, and later with humour in general.
Aristotle's ''Poetics'' was translated into Arabic in the ]medieval Islamic world
The Islamic Golden Age was a period of cultural, economic, and scientific flourishing in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 14th century. This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign ...
, where it was elaborated upon by Arabic writers and Islamic philosophers, such as Abu Bishr, and his pupils Al-Farabi, Avicenna
Ibn Sina ( fa, ابن سینا; 980 – June 1037 CE), commonly known in the West as Avicenna (), was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, philosophers, and writers of the Islamic G ...
, and Averroes. They disassociated comedy from Greek dramatic representation and instead identified it with Arabic poetic themes and forms, such as '' hija'' (satirical poetry). They viewed comedy as simply the "art of reprehension", and made no reference to light and cheerful events, or to the troubling beginnings and happy endings associated with classical Greek comedy.
After the Latin translations of the 12th century, the term "comedy" gained a more general meaning in medieval literature.
In the late 20th century, many scholars preferred to use the term ''laughter
Laughter is a pleasant physical reaction and emotion consisting usually of rhythmical, often audible contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system. It is a response to certain external or internal stimuli. Laughter ...
'' to refer to the whole gamut of the comic, in order to avoid the use of ambiguous and problematically defined genres such as the grotesque, irony
Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique.
Irony can be categorized into ...
, and satire.
History
Western history
Dionysiac origins, Aristophanes and Aristotle
Starting from 425 BCE, Aristophanes, a comic play and satirical author of the Ancient Greek Theater, wrote 40 comedies, 11 of which survive. Aristophanes developed his type of comedy from the earlier satyr plays
The satyr play is a form of Attic theatre performance related to both comedy and tragedy. It preserves theatrical elements of dialogue, actors speaking verse, a chorus that dances and sings, masks and costumes. Its relationship to tragedy is str ...
, which were often highly obscene. The only surviving examples of the satyr plays are by Euripides, which are much later examples and not representative of the genre. In ancient Greece, comedy originated in bawdy and ribald songs or recitations apropos of phallic processions and fertility festivals or gatherings.[ Cornford, F.M. (1934]
''The Origin of Attic Comedy''
pp.3-4 quotation:
Around 335 BCE, Aristotle, in his work ''Poetics
Poetics is the theory of structure, form, and discourse within literature, and, in particular, within poetry.
History
The term ''poetics'' derives from the Ancient Greek ποιητικός ''poietikos'' "pertaining to poetry"; also "creative" an ...
'', stated that comedy originated in phallic processions and the light treatment of the otherwise base and ugly. He also adds that the origins of comedy are obscure because it was not treated seriously from its inception. However, comedy had its own Muse: Thalia.
Aristotle taught that comedy was generally positive for society, since it brings forth happiness, which for Aristotle was the ideal state, the final goal in any activity. For Aristotle, a comedy did not need to involve sexual humor. A comedy is about the fortunate rise of a sympathetic character. Aristotle divides comedy into three categories or subgenres: farce
Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...
, romantic comedy, and satire. On the other hand, Plato taught that comedy is a destruction to the self. He believed that it produces an emotion that overrides rational self-control and learning. In '' The Republic'', he says that the guardians of the state should avoid laughter, "for ordinarily when one abandons himself to violent laughter, his condition provokes a violent reaction." Plato says comedy should be tightly controlled if one wants to achieve the ideal state.
Also in ''Poetics'', Aristotle defined comedy as one of the original four genres of literature. The other three genres are tragedy, epic poetry, and lyric poetry. Literature, in general, is defined by Aristotle as a mimesis
Mimesis (; grc, μίμησις, ''mīmēsis'') is a term used in literary criticism and philosophy that carries a wide range of meanings, including ''imitatio'', imitation, nonsensuous similarity, receptivity, representation, mimicry, the act ...
, or imitation of life. Comedy is the third form of literature, being the most divorced from a true mimesis. Tragedy is the truest mimesis, followed by epic poetry, comedy, and lyric poetry. The genre of comedy is defined by a certain pattern according to Aristotle's definition. Comedies begin with low or base characters seeking insignificant aims and end with some accomplishment of the aims which either lightens the initial baseness or reveals the insignificance of the aims.
Commedia dell'arte and Shakespearean, Elizabethan comedy
"Comedy", in its Elizabethan
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
usage, had a very different meaning from modern comedy. A Shakespearean comedy is one that has a happy ending, usually involving marriages between the unmarried characters, and a tone and style that is more light-hearted than Shakespeare's other plays.
The Punch and Judy show has roots in the 16th-century Italian commedia dell'arte
(; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...
. The figure of Punch derives from the Neapolitan stock character of Pulcinella. The figure who later became Mr. Punch made his first recorded appearance in England in 1662. Punch and Judy are performed in the spirit of outrageous comedy — often provoking shocked laughter — and are dominated by the anarchic clowning of Mr. Punch. Appearing at a significant period in British history, professor Glyn Edwards states: " ulcinellawent down particularly well with Restoration British audiences, fun-starved after years of Puritanism. We soon changed Punch's name, transformed him from a marionette to a hand puppet, and he became, really, a spirit of Britain — a subversive maverick who defies authority, a kind of puppet equivalent to our political cartoons."
19th to early 20th century
In early 19th century England, pantomime acquired its present form which includes slapstick comedy and featured the first mainstream clown
A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms.
History
The most ancient clowns have been found in ...
Joseph Grimaldi
Joseph Grimaldi (18 December 1778 – 31 May 1837) was an English actor, comedian and dancer, who became the most popular English entertainer of the Regency era.Byrne, Eugene"The patient" Historyextra.com, 13 April 2012 In the early 1800s, ...
, while comedy routines also featured heavily in British music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
theatre which became popular in the 1850s. British comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing
Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...
s who honed their skills in music hall sketches include Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
, Stan Laurel
Stan Laurel (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, writer, and film director who was one half of the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Ha ...
and Dan Leno. English music hall comedian and theatre impresario Fred Karno
Frederick John Westcott (26 March 1866 – 17 September 1941), best known by his stage name Fred Karno, was an English theatre impresario of the British music hall. As a comedian of slapstick he is credited with popularising the custard-p ...
developed a form of sketch comedy without dialogue in the 1890s, and Chaplin and Laurel were among the comedians who worked for his company.[McCabe, John. "Comedy World of Stan Laurel". p. 143. London: Robson Books, 2005, First edition 1975] Karno was a pioneer of slapstick
Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...
, and in his biography, Laurel stated, "Fred Karno didn't teach Charlie haplinand me all we know about comedy. He just taught us most of it". Film producer Hal Roach stated: "Fred Karno is not only a genius, he is the man who originated slapstick comedy. We in Hollywood owe much to him." American vaudeville emerged in the 1880s and remained popular until the 1930s, and featured comedians such as W. C. Fields, Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...
and the Marx Brothers.
20th century theatre and art
Surreal humour (also known as 'absurdist humour'), or 'surreal comedy', is a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causal reasoning, producing events and behaviours that are obviously illogical. Constructions of surreal humour tend to involve bizarre juxtapositions, incongruity, non-sequiturs, irrational or absurd situations and expressions of nonsense. The humour arises from a subversion of audience's expectations, so that amusement is founded on unpredictability, separate from a logical analysis of the situation. The humour derived gets its appeal from the ridiculousness and unlikeliness of the situation. The genre has roots in Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
in the arts.[
Surreal humour is the effect of illogic and ]absurdity
An absurdity is a state or condition of being extremely unreasonable, meaningless or unsound in reason so as to be irrational or not taken seriously. "Absurd" is an adjective used to describe an absurdity, e.g., "Tyler and the boys laughed at ...
being used for humorous effect. Under such premises, people can identify precursors and early examples of surreal humour at least since the 19th century, such as Lewis Carroll's '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and '' Through the Looking-Glass'', which both use illogic and absurdity (hookah
A hookah (Hindustani language, Hindustani: (Nastaleeq), (Devanagari), IPA: ; also see #Names and etymology, other names), shisha, or waterpipe is a single- or multi-stemmed instrument for heating or vaporizing and then smoking either tobacco ...
-smoking caterpillars, croquet matches using live flamingos as mallets, etc.) for humorous effect. Many of Edward Lear
Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limerick (poetry), limericks, a form he popularised. ...
's children stories and poems contain nonsense and are basically surreal in approach. For example, ''The Story of the Four Little Children Who Went Round the World'' (1871) is filled with contradictory statements and odd images intended to provoke amusement, such as the following:
In the early 20th century, several avant-garde movements, including the dadaists, surrealists
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
, and futurists, began to argue for an art that was random, jarring and illogical. The goals of these movements were in some sense serious, and they were committed to undermining the solemnity and self-satisfaction of the contemporary artistic establishment. As a result, much of their art was intentionally amusing.
A famous example is Marcel Duchamp's '' Fountain'' (1917), an inverted urinal signed "R. Mutt". This became one of the most famous and influential pieces of art in history, and one of the earliest examples of the found object movement. It is also a joke, relying on the inversion of the item's function as expressed by its title as well as its incongruous presence in an art exhibition.
20th century film, records, radio, and television
The advent of cinema in the late 19th century, and later radio and television in the 20th century broadened the access of comedians to the general public. Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
, through silent film, became one of the best-known faces on Earth. The silent tradition lived on well into the late 20th century through mime artists like Marcel Marceau, and the slapstick comedy of artists like Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms '' Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and ''Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series ''Johnny English'' (2003–201 ...
(as Mr. Bean). The tradition of the circus clown also continued, with such as Bozo the Clown in the United States and Oleg Popov in Russia. Radio provided new possibilities — with Britain producing the influential surreal humour of the Goon Show after the Second World War. The Goons' influence spread to the American radio and recording troupe the Firesign Theatre. American cinema has produced a great number of globally renowned comedy artists, from Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were a British-American Double act, comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–19 ...
, the Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello
Abbott may refer to:
People
*Abbott (surname)
*Abbott Handerson Thayer (1849–1921), American painter and naturalist
* Abbott and Costello, famous American vaudeville act
Places Argentina
* Abbott, Buenos Aires United States
* Abbott, Arkansas ...
, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope and Phyllis Diller during the mid-20th century, to performers like George Carlin, Bill Cosby, Joan Rivers, Robin Williams, and Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...
toward the end of the century. Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
attracted many international talents like the British comics Peter Sellers, Dudley Moore and Sacha Baron Cohen, Canadian comics Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1979). During his tenure on ''SNL'' ...
, Jim Carrey
James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and artist. Known for his energetic slapstick performances, Carrey first gained recognition in 1990, after landing a role in the American sketch comedy te ...
, and Mike Myers, and the Australian comedian Paul Hogan, famous for '' Crocodile Dundee''. Other centres of creative comic activity have been the cinema of Hong Kong, Bollywood, and French farce
Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...
.
American television has also been an influential force in world comedy: with American series like '' M*A*S*H'', ''Seinfeld
''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...
'' and '' The Simpsons'' achieving large followings around the world. British television comedy also remains influential, with quintessential works including '' Fawlty Towers'', Monty Python
Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...
, '' Dad's Army'', ''Blackadder
''Blackadder'' is a series of four period British sitcoms, plus several one-off instalments, which originally aired on BBC One from 1983 to 1989. All television episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as the antihero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robins ...
'', and '' The Office''. Australian satirist Barry Humphries, whose comic creations include the housewife and "gigastar" Dame Edna Everage
Dame Edna Everage, often known simply as Dame Edna, is a character created and performed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries, known for her lilac-coloured ("wisteria hue") hair and cat eye glasses ("face furniture"); her favourite flower, th ...
, for his delivery of Dadaist and absurdist humour to millions, was described by biographer Anne Pender in 2010 as not only "the most significant theatrical figure of our time ... utthe most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
".
Eastern history
Indian aesthetics and drama
By 200 BC, in ancient Sanskrit drama, Bharata Muni
Bharata Muni (Hindi: भरत मुनि) was an ancient sage who the musical treatise '' Natya Shastra'' is traditionally attributed to. The work covers ancient Indian dramaturgy and histrionics, especially Sanskrit theatre. Bharata is con ...
's ''Natya Shastra
The ''Nāṭya Śāstra'' (, ''Nāṭyaśāstra'') is a Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts. The text is attributed to sage Bharata Muni, and its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary ...
'' defined humour (''hāsya
Hāsya (Sanskrit: हास्य) is a Sanskrit word for one of the nine rasas or bhava (mood) of Indian aesthetics, usually translated as humour or comedy. The colour associated with hasya is white and deity, ''Pramatha'', and leads to exultatio ...
m'') as one of the nine ''nava rasas
Indian art evolved with an emphasis on inducing special spiritual or philosophical states in the audience, or with representing them symbolically.
Rasas in the performing arts
The theory of rasas still forms the aesthetic underpinning of al ...
'', or principle '' rasas'' (emotional responses), which can be inspired in the audience by '' bhavas'', the imitations of emotions that the actors perform. Each ''rasa'' was associated with a specific ''bhavas'' portrayed on stage. In the case of humour, it was associated with mirth (''hasya'').
Studies on comic theory
The phenomena connected with laughter
Laughter is a pleasant physical reaction and emotion consisting usually of rhythmical, often audible contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system. It is a response to certain external or internal stimuli. Laughter ...
and that which provokes it have been carefully investigated by psychologists. They agree the predominant characteristics are incongruity or contrast in the object and shock or emotional seizure on the part of the subject. It has also been held that the feeling of superiority is an essential factor: thus Thomas Hobbes speaks of laughter as a "sudden glory". Modern investigators have paid much attention to the origin both of laughter and of smiling, as well as the development of the "play instinct" and its emotional expression.
George Meredith said that "One excellent test of the civilization of a country ... I take to be the flourishing of the Comic idea and Comedy, and the test of true Comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter." Laughter is said to be the cure for being sick. Studies show that people who laugh more often get sick less.
American literary theorist Kenneth Burke writes that the "comic frame" in rhetoric is "neither wholly euphemistic, nor wholly debunking—hence it provides the charitable attitude towards people that is required for purposes of persuasion and co-operation, but at the same time maintains our shrewdness concerning the simplicities of ‘cashing in.’" The purpose of the comic frame is to satirize a given circumstance and promote change by doing so. The comic frame makes fun of situations and people, while simultaneously provoking thought. The comic frame does not aim to vilify in its analysis, but rather, rebuke the stupidity and foolery of those involved in the circumstances. For example, on '' The Daily Show'', Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...
uses the "comic frame" to intervene in political arguments, often offering crude humor in sudden contrast to serious news. In a segment on President Obama's trip to China Stewart remarks on America's debt to the Chinese government while also having a weak relationship with the country. After depicting this dismal situation, Stewart shifts to speak directly to President Obama, calling upon him to "shine that turd up." For Stewart and his audience, introducing coarse language into what is otherwise a serious commentary on the state of foreign relations serves to frame the segment comically, creating a serious tone underlying the comedic agenda presented by Stewart.
Forms
Comedy may be divided into multiple genres based on the source of humor, the method of delivery, and the context in which it is delivered. The different forms of comedy often overlap, and most comedy can fit into multiple genres. Some of the subgenres of comedy are farce
Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...
, comedy of manners, burlesque
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. , and satire.
Some comedy apes certain cultural forms: for instance, parody and satire often imitate the conventions of the genre they are parodying or satirizing. For example, in the United States, parodies of newspapers and television news include '' The Onion'', and '' The Colbert Report''; in Australia, shows such as '' Kath & Kim,'' ''Utopia'', and ''Shaun Micallef's Mad As Hell
''Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell'' is an Australian comedy news television program hosted by Shaun Micallef. The show first aired on ABC at 8:00 pm on Friday, 25 May 2012. The show was named as Most Outstanding Comedy Program at the Logie Awards ...
'' perform the same role.
Self-deprecation is a technique of comedy used by many comedians who focus on their misfortunes and foibles in order to entertain.
Performing arts
Historical forms
* Ancient Greek comedy, as practiced by Aristophanes and Menander
Menander (; grc-gre, Μένανδρος ''Menandros''; c. 342/41 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek dramatist and the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His rec ...
* Ancient Roman comedy, as practiced by Plautus and Terence
* Burlesque
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. , from Music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
and Vaudeville to Performance art
* Citizen comedy, as practiced by Thomas Dekker, Thomas Middleton and Ben Jonson
* Clown
A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms.
History
The most ancient clowns have been found in ...
s such as Richard Tarlton, William Kempe, and Robert Armin
* Comedy of humours, as practiced by Ben Jonson and George Chapman
* Comedy of intrigue, as practiced by Niccolò Machiavelli and Lope de Vega
Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio ( , ; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Age of Baroque literature. His reputation in the world of Spanish literature ...
* Comedy of manners, as practiced by Molière, William Wycherley and William Congreve
* Comedy of menace
Comedy of menace is the body of plays written by David Campton, Nigel Dennis, N. F. Simpson, and Harold Pinter. The term was coined by drama critic Irving Wardle, who borrowed it from the subtitle of Campton's play ''The Lunatic View: A Comedy of ...
, as practiced by David Campton and Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...
* ''comédie larmoyante
Comédie larmoyante () was a genre of French drama of the 18th century. In this type of sentimental comedy, the impending tragedy was resolved at the end, amid reconciliations and floods of tears. Plays of this genre that ended unhappily neve ...
'' or 'tearful comedy', as practiced by Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée
Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée (14 February 1692 in Paris – 14 May 1754 in Paris) was a French dramatist who blurred the lines between comedy and tragedy with his ''comédie larmoyante''.
In 1731 he published an ''Epître de Clio'', a di ...
and Louis-Sébastien Mercier
* ''Commedia dell'arte
(; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...
'', as practiced in the twentieth century by Dario Fo, Vsevolod Meyerhold, and Jacques Copeau
* Farce
Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...
, from Georges Feydeau to Joe Orton
John Kingsley Orton (1 January 1933 – 9 August 1967), known by the pen name of Joe Orton, was an English playwright, author, and diarist. His public career, from 1964 until his death in 1967, was short but highly influential. During this brie ...
and Alan Ayckbourn
Sir Alan Ayckbourn (born 12 April 1939) is a prolific British playwright and director. He has written and produced as of 2021, more than eighty full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of ...
* Jester
A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and ...
* Laughing comedy, as practiced by Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem ''The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his pl ...
and Richard Brinsley Sheridan
* Restoration comedy, as practiced by George Etherege, Aphra Behn
Aphra Behn (; bapt. 14 December 1640 – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, prose writer and translator from the Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barrie ...
and John Vanbrugh
Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restora ...
* Sentimental comedy, as practiced by Colley Cibber and Richard Steele
* Shakespearean comedy, as practiced by William Shakespeare
* Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up.
Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...
* Dadaist and Surrealist performance, usually in cabaret form
* Theatre of the Absurd, used by some critics to describe Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...
, Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...
, Jean Genet
Jean Genet (; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels ''The Thief's ...
and Eugène Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco (; born Eugen Ionescu, ; 26 November 1909 – 28 March 1994) was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre in the 20th century. Ionesco inst ...
[This list was compiled with reference to ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (1998).]
* Sketch comedy
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...
Plays
* Comic theatre
** Musical comedy and palace
Opera
* Comic opera
Improvisational comedy
* Improvisational theatre
* Bouffon comedy
* Clowns
Jokes
* One-liner joke
* Blonde jokes
* Shaggy-dog story
* Paddy Irishman joke
* Polish jokes
A "Polish joke" is an English-language ethnic joke deriding Polish people, based on derogatory stereotypes. The "Polish joke" belongs in the category of conditional jokes, whose full understanding requires the audience to have prior knowledge of wh ...
* Light bulb jokes
* Knock-knock joke
The knock-knock joke is a type of audience-participatory joke cycle, typically ending with a pun. Knock-knock jokes are primarily seen as children's jokes, though there are exceptions.
The scenario is of a person knocking on the front door to a ...
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up.
Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...
is a mode of comic performance in which the performer addresses the audience directly, usually speaking in their own person rather than as a dramatic character
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
.
* Impressionist (entertainment)
* Alternative comedy
Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe ...
* Comedy club
Events and awards
* American Comedy Awards
* British Comedy Awards
* Canadian Comedy Awards
* Cat Laughs Comedy Festival
* The Comedy Festival, Aspen, Colorado, formerly the HBO Comedy Arts Festival
* Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
* Edinburgh Comedy Festival
* Halifax Comedy Festival
The Halifax Comedy Festival (often spelled in promotional materials as ''Ha!ifax Comedy Festival'') is an annual comedy festival held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The festival is sponsored by the CBC which tapes and broadcasts the comedians' ...
* Just for Laughs festival, Montreal
* Leicester Comedy Festival
* Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
* Melbourne International Comedy Festival
* New Zealand International Comedy Festival
* New York Underground Comedy Festival
* HK International Comedy Festival
Lists of comedians
* List of comedians
** List of comedians#Comedy groups
* List of stand-up comedians
* List of musical comedians
This alphabetical list is limited to comedians who share their comedy through music and song. Usually they play an instrument onstage. List
References
{{Comedy footer
Musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
...
* List of Australian comedians
* List of British comedians
* List of Canadian comedians
* List of Filipino comedians
This is a list of notable Filipino comedians.
See also
* List of comedians
* Comedy in the Philippines
Notes and references
{{Reflist, 2
Filipino comedians,
Lists of ...
* List of Finnish comedians
* List of German language comedians
* List of Indian comedians
This is a list of notable Indian comedians, sorted by country or area of notability.
India
* 2 Foreigners In Bollywood
* Ahsaan Qureshi
* Ajey Nagar (CarryMinati)
* Akaash Singh
* Ali
* Allu Ramalingaiah
* Amit Bhadana
* Anubhav Singh Bassi
...
* List of Italian comedians
This is a list of Italy, Italian comedians sorted by last name:
* Sebastian Maniscalco
* Joe Avati
* Giuseppe Meleca AKA Giuseppe the MC
* Frank Spadone
* Guido Grasso Jr
* Pino Pirillo
* Enrico Renella
* Joe Pellerino AKA Lu Sicilianu Raggiat ...
* List of Mexican comedians
* List of Puerto Rican comedians
Mass media
Literature
* Comic novel
* Light poetry
* Comedic journalism
Comedic journalism is a new form of journalism, popularized in the twenty-first century, that incorporates a comedic tone to transmit the news to mass audiences, using humour and/or satire to relay a point in news reports. Comedic journalism has ...
Film
* Comedy film
** Anarchic comedy film
** Gross-out film
Gross out is described as a movement in art (often with comical conotations), which is intended to shock the viewer(s) and disgust the wider audience by presenting them with controversial material (such as toilet humor and fetishes) that might b ...
** Parody film
** Romantic comedy
** Screwball comedy film
** Slapstick film
Audio recording
* Comedy album
Television and radio
* Television comedy
** Situation comedy
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
* Radio comedy
Comedy networks
* British sitcom
* British comedy Throughout film, television, and radio, British comedy has become known for its consistently peculiar characters, plots, and settings, and has produced some of the most renowned comedians and characters in the world.
History
British comedy history ...
* Comedy Central – television channel devoted strictly to comedy
* Comedy Nights with Kapil
''Comedy Nights With Kapil'' is an Indian Hindi-language sketch comedy and celebrity talk show hosted and produced by comedian Kapil Sharma. It was on-air on Colors TV amid 22 June 2013 to 24 January 2016. Many of the episodes feature celebr ...
– Indian television program
* German television comedy
* List of British TV shows remade for the American market
* Paramount Comedy (Spain)
Comedy Central is a channel available in Spain through satellite platform Digital+, ADSL TV Movistar TV, Orange TV and cable services. It is owned by Paramount Global
Paramount Global (doing business as Paramount) is an American multination ...
* Paramount Comedy 1 and 2.
* TBS (TV network)
* The Comedy Channel (Australia)
* The Comedy Channel (UK)
The Comedy Channel was a short-lived satellite television network owned by British Sky Broadcasting during the early 1990s.
History
The channel launched on 1 October 1991, soon after the merger of Sky Television plc and British Satellite Broa ...
* The Comedy Channel (United States) – merged into Comedy Central.
* HA! – merged into Comedy Central
* CTV Comedy Channel – Canadian TV channel formerly known as The Comedy Network.
* Gold
* Sky Comedy – British comedy network
* Comedy Gold – a Canadian comedy channel, the CTV Comedy Channel is a sister to it
* Bip – Israeli comedy channel.
See also
* Lists of comedy films
This is an index of lists of comedy films split by decade, nationality and subject.
By decade
*List of comedy films before 1920
* List of comedy films of the 1920s
* List of comedy films of the 1930s
*List of comedy films of the 1940s
*List of co ...
* List of comedy television series
* List of genres
* Theories of humor
* Women in comedy
Women in comedy refers to women who participate in comedic works as well as their experience within the social environment. While primarily dominated by men throughout history, women have been represented in the field of comedy since the mid 1700s. ...
Footnotes
Notations
*
*
*
The Origins of Laughter
* Pickard-Cambridge, Sir Arthur Wallace
** ''Dithyramb
The dithyramb (; grc, διθύραμβος, ''dithyrambos'') was an ancient Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility; the term was also used as an epithet of the god. Plato, in ''The Laws'', while discussing ...
, Tragedy, and Comedy '', 1927.
** ''The Theatre of Dionysus in Athens'', 1946.
** ''The Dramatic Festivals of Athens'', 1953.
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Further reading
*
A Vocabulary for Comedy
(definitions are taken from Harmon, William & C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 7th ed.)
External links
*
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