Observational comedy is a form of

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 ...

based on the commonplace aspects of everyday life. It is one of the main types of humor in

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 ...

. In an observational comedy act, the comedian makes an observation about something which is common enough to be familiar to their audience, but not commonly discussed. Such observations are typically presented with the phrase "Have you ever noticed...?" or "Did you ever notice...?" which has become a comedy

cliché A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...

Analysis

British comedians

Richard Herring Richard Keith Herring (born 12 July 1967) is an English stand-up comedian and writer, whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring (alongside Stewart Lee). He is described by ''The British Theatre Guide'' as "one of the lead ...

and

Jo Caulfield Josephine Caulfield (born 26 September 1965) is a British actress, writer and comedian. Biography Born in Wales to Irish parents, she was brought up in Derbyshire and Leicestershire, England. At 17, Caulfield moved to London. For two years sh ...

wrote in an article that observational comedy relies upon the fact that the observation is "universally familiar" but that it "won't necessarily have been consciously noted by your audience", arguing that the statements can be neither too obvious nor too obscure. Similarly,

Eddie Izzard Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime. Izzard's stand- ...

noted that a comedian's observations need to be relatable in order to be successful.

Douglas Coupland Douglas Coupland (born 30 December 1961) is a Canadian novelist, designer, and visual artist. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller '' Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture'', popularized the terms ''Generation X'' and ''McJ ...

claims that "it takes a good observational comedian to tell you what, exactly, is the 'deal'" with the phenomenon they are observing, and describes ideal topics for observational comedy as "those banalities and fragments of minutiae lurking just below the threshold of perception". Observational comedy has been compared to

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

History

Although observational comedy became popular in the United States in the 1950s, one author suggests that even much older jokes commented on human nature in comparable ways. Shelley Berman was one of the pioneers in the field. Other influential observational comics include

David Brenner David Norris Brenner (February 4, 1936 – March 15, 2014) was an American stand-up comedian, actor and author. The most frequent guest on '' The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' in the 1970s and 1980s, Brenner "was a pioneer of obser ...

George Carlin George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American comedian, actor, author, and social critic. Regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of countercul ...

, and

Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a Jerry Seinfeld (character), semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom ''Seinfeld'', which he ...

. A 1989 ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' article wrote that Seinfeld is "clearly the standard of excellence in observational comedy", while

Judd Apatow Judd Apatow (; born December 6, 1967) is an American comedian, director, producer, and screenwriter, best known for his work in comedy and drama films. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films '' ...

called Seinfeld "the greatest observational comedian who ever lived". The British observational comedy tradition began with the Irish comedian Dave Allen's performances in the early 1970s. More recently,

James Acaster James William Acaster (; born 9 January 1985) is an English comedian, writer, presenter and musician. As well as appearances on panel shows, he is known for the stand-up specials ''Repertoire'', co-hosting the food podcast ''Off Menu'' and co-p ...

has developed a form of "uber-trivial" observational comedy, which has been described as a spoof of the traditional observational form.

References

{{Comedy footer Comedy genres Observation Stand-up comedy