Comedy is an entertainment form meant to amuse the audience.
Many storytellers employ comedy in various mediums, including film, radio, literature, television, stage shows, and visual arts such as cartoons.
But the modern comedy ideas can be traced as far as ancient Greek plays by figures like Aristophanes. But how did stand-up comedy become the hip culture it is now?
The origins of stand-up comedy in USA can be tracked as far as the early 1800s when minstrels used to perform shows on the road.
However, it did not gain popularity until the 1970s with the birth of comedy clubs.
By the 1980s, stand-up comedians could be found everywhere, but obviously, not all are the same.
There are multiple genres of stand-up comedy. For example, one comic might do a bit on family-friendly material whereas, others might make it all about vulgarity.
There are various stand-up comedy styles that comics can choose to go with, such as:
- Sketch comedy: it includes multiple performers acting on short comedic scenarios. This style was popularized by sketch comedy shows such as the Saturday Night Live
- Stand-up comedy: the stand-up performer use jokes and anecdotes with punchlines to amuse and surprise their audience
- Improvisational comedy: it involves the performer inventing comedic scenarios on the spot without a script
Importance Of Comedy In Our Lives
We all understand comedy's value, and everyone enjoys a good laugh, but comedy is not only about entertainment.
When you laugh at some joke, you admit there is some truth to it, and comedies are typically used to convey important ideas.
It might also take the form of satire, in which the writer employs exaggeration and humor to expose the foolishness of institutions, individuals, political parties, to name a few.
Even though comedy has multiple functions, the most visible and important is providing entertainment to its readers or audience.
The audience laughs at various comedy characters' follies, and they feel joyous by forgetting their humdrum life for some time.
Idea of Comedy's George Meredith believes that comedy appeals to unadulterated, unassuming intelligence, and it focuses on our heads.
To put it simply, comedy is artificial play, and its vital function is to emphasize what ails the world.
He points out that comedy is crucial, but in its scourge of vice and folly, there is little anger or contempt in it.
Comedy also ridicules and exposes immorality and stupidity without gaining the wrath of the reformer.
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Various Types Of Comedy
Comedy types are uncountable; however, Hollywood has provided us with specific broad categories which cover some prevalent types:
Situational Comedy
This type of comedy gains its humor from amusing and awkward situations.
Known as 'sitcom' for short, situational comedies are typically tv shows where a small group of characters gets in a diverse situation every episode.
Romantic Comedy
This type of comedy typically showcases romantic relationships, usually between a young man and woman.
This comedy is derived from the awkward efforts of protagonists to get together. The scenario always depicts them liking each other but always unsure whether they want them back.
This creates an awkward and nervous behavioral situation which results in situational comedy. They are also often known as 'dramedies.'
In romantic comedies, the playwright does not follow classical conventions, and the writer is primarily concerned with their imagination's plight and writes what they think.
There is always a mix of tragic and comic elements in this genre, unlike your classic comedy, in which only comic elements are part of the comedy.
So, for 'romcom,' three unities are thrown out since their purpose is not morality or didactic but to provide entertainment to the audience. The best example is the comedies of Shakespeare.
Slapstick Comedy
Slapstick or physical comedy might be the oldest comedy around. It constitutes banana peels, face pies, and multiple physical gags.
Even though many consider it less sophisticated than other comedy types, it is still quite effective.
Dark Comedy
Gallows humor or dark comedy makes a serious topic light, such as disease, slavery, terrorism, death, addiction, war, to name a few.
It is considered a way to process the despair and sadness which results in the face of these.
Farce
It is a type of comedy that is so over-the-top and silly that it does not make sense and forces the audience to laugh.
They are typically a highly exaggerated mix of situational and physical comedy, riddled with hidden identities, confusing surprises, and plot twists.
Topical Humor
This type of comedy typically talks about current events, especially comedy related to politics.
Parody Or Spoof
A parody or spoof is a type of comedy that imitates the cliches and rules of another movie genre.
A perfect example is the Scary Movie series which makes fun of the horror film genre via confusion and exaggeration.
Comedy Of Humors
It is a unique comedy type where the author observes various traits. In this comedy, humor means a particular character trait such as pride, avarice, and more.
People believed that the body was composed of fire, water, air, and earth in the old days. And the increase in any of these elements' quantity is known as humor.
It was also supposed that every element was associated with a particular trait of the hum character.
For example, water represents cool temperament; ill-tempered nature is represented by fire, air implies a showy or lofty disposition, whereas earth is symbolic of a down-to-earth personality.
Comedy of humors satirizes the idiosyncrasies and idiocies, the evils and flaws of modern society, and this satire is typically fierce and abrasive.
Classical Comedy
It is a type of comedy in which the author follows classical rules by Roman and Greek writers. It is developed upon classic comedies such as Aristophanes and Platus Terence.
Some of the essential classical comedy rules are:
- Three Unites of Time and Place
- Do not mix tragedy with comedy
- Classical comedy not only aims to provide entertainment but also to correct society
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Styles Of Stand-Up Comedy
Even though there are multiple types of comedies in the world, the one that has gained much following in these times is the genre we all love and are familiar with, none other than Stand-up comedy.
But stand-up comedy is not limited to just a person gracing the stage and doing a funny bit. It is much more complex and has evolved over the years.
So, without further ado, here are the various styles of stand-up comedy:
Slapstick
This genre of stand-up comedy has lost its popularity over the years.
It is one of the simplest and earliest comedy forms, typically used by the great ones like Charlie Chaplin, Jerry Lewis, Dick Van Dyke, and the Three Stooges, who are thought to be some most famous stand-up comedians of all time.
Charlie Chaplin built his persona around gaining sympathy for falls, which he told The New Yorker once included falling off a piano to falling from a two-story window that caused daily pain.
However, slapstick comedy is still used in stand-up these days, but it is usually mixed with various comedy types.
Among the notable stand-up comics, Jim Carrey comes to mind. After landing a recurring role in 'In Living Color,' he gained recognition nationally, a sketch comedy television series.
The 'Jackass' series is also a fantastic example of this type of comedy.
It involves exaggerated physical activity, which surpasses the typical physical comedy's boundaries. Sometimes it also includes violence due to mishaps and even going as far as intentional violence.
Sasha Baron Cohen, who we all know as Borat, is also a renowned physical comedian known for his slapstick performances on stage in multiple characters.
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Observational
Multiple comics perform an observational style of stand-up. It is the type of humor based entirely on stuff that happens in our daily lives.
It typically starts with 'Do you ever wonder why?' or 'Have you ever noticed?' which Jerry Seinfeld is renowned for. The masses enjoy this type of comedy since it is relatable.
This is why many stand-up comedians of the past and today have found immense success by simply observing the ordinary things from routine life and turning them into something fun.
This style of comedy can also be easily made family-friendly.
Jim Gaffigan is an excellent example of clean comedy, as he bases most of his comedy routines on the stuff that goes on in a household where parents are taking care of five children.
He never has to resort to profanity with the material about fatherhood, observing his food kids, and coping with laziness.
Of course, this is always not the case for other comedians since many stand-up comics who perform observational comedy use plenty of profanity during their routines.
Some notable names include a person known for his shock comedy – Daniel Tosh, late Richard Pryor, Bill Hicks, and George Carlin.
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Shock
Shock comedy or 'offensive' comedy aims to shock its audience.
It can be achieved by making fun of a serious issue, explicit sexual themes, the 'toilet humor,' or carelessness like in crisis aftermath.
It angers and disgusts some and tickles the funny bone of others.
Comedians like to test the boundaries, and comedians such as Lenny Bruce were arrested after a stand-up performance for saying 9 'inappropriate words.'
In his famous monologue, George Carlin also used those words (minus two) years later. He is definitely a massive figure in the history of stand-up comedy.
However, nowadays, it goes much further than those words. Some renowned comedians who perform shock today include Amy Schumer, Sarah Silverman and, Dave Chapelle.
Learn All About The Multiple Stand-Up Comedy Styles
Stand-up comedy is dubbed by many as an odd entertainment source. There is no plot, no narrative structure, no sets, backstory, producers, or even editors.
It is a comedy that boils down to the basics; a comedian entertaining an audience, in which you either laugh or do not.
If you want to understand more about the peculiar stand-up comedy styles, get in touch with Superprof and connect with hundreds of professional, certified, and experienced tutors near you.
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