ELEMENTS & TYPES OF COMEDY

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ELEMENTS
C#$%" T%$%n(: Comic timing is use of rhythm and tempo to enhance comedy and humor.
The pacing of the delivery of a joke has a strong impact on its comic effect; the same is also true of more physical comedy such as slapstick. A beat is a pause taken for the purposes of comic timing, often to allow the audience time to recognize the joke and react, or to heighten the suspense before delivery of the e pected punch line. !ometimes those outside the comedy business assume that there must be some set period of silent time "that#s funny." Aside from a few comedic pauses intended only to heighten an already established tension, nothing could be further from the truth. $nstead, pauses are one of the clues we use to discern subte t or even unconscious content % that is, what the speaker is really thinking about. &ack 'enny and (ictor 'orge are two comedians famed for using the e tended beat, allowing the pause to itself become a source of humor above the original joke. )eorge Carlin and *owan Atkinson are two other stand%up comedians well known for superior timing.

P! (nant Pa)s : A pregnant pause is a techni+ue of comic timing used to accentuate a

comedy element. *efined and perfected by &ack 'enny, the pregnant pause has become a staple of stand%up comedy , amples- .avid /etterman- "Congratulations are in order for 0oody Allen. 1e and !oon%2i have a brand%new baby daughter." 34ause5 "$t6s all part of 0oody6s plan to grow his own wives."

S*apst%"+: Comedy characterized by broad humor, absurd situations, and vigorous, often
violent action. $t took its name from a paddlelike device, probably introduced by 78th%century commedia dell#arte troupes that produced a resounding whack when one comic actor used it to strike another. !lapstick comedy became popular in 79th%century music halls and vaudeville theatres and was carried into the :;th century by silent%movie comedians such as Charlie Chaplin, 1arold /loyd, and <ack !ennett#s =eystone =ops and later by /aurel and 1ardy, the <ar 'rothers, and the Three !tooges.

TYPES OF COMEDY
B*a"+ H)$#!:
$n literature, drama, and film, grotes+ue or morbid humor used to e press the absurdity, insensitivity, parado , and cruelty of the modern world. >rdinary characters or situations are usually e aggerated far beyond the limits of normal satire or irony. 'lack humor uses devices often associated with tragedy and is sometimes e+uated with tragic farce. ?or e ample, !tanley =ubrick#s film Dr. Strangelove; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 3798@5 is a terrifying comic treatment of the circumstances surrounding the dropping of an atom bomb, while &ules ?eiffer#s comedy Little Murders 3798A5 is a delineation of the horrors of modern urban life, focusing particularly on random assassinations. The novels of such writers as =urt (onnegut, Thomas 4ynchon, &ohn 'arth, &oseph 1eller, and 4hilip *oth contain elements of black humor.

Sat%! :
Term applied to any work of literature or art whose objective is ridicule. $t is more easily recognized than defined. ?rom ancient times satirists have shared a common aim- to e pose foolishness in all its guisesBvanity, hypocrisy, pedantry, idolatry, bigotry, sentimentalityBand to effect reform through such e posure. The many diverse forms their statements have taken reflect the origin of the word satire, which is derived from the /atin satura, meaning Cdish of mi ed fruits,D hence a medley.

T !$:
$n literature, a work in which the style of an author is closely imitated for comic effect or in ridicule. .iffering from both burles+ue 3by the depth of its technical penetration5 and travesty 3which treats dignified subjects in a trivial manner5, parody mercilessly e poses the tricks of manner and thought of its victim and therefore cannot be written without a thorough appreciation of the work it ridicules. , amples date from as early as ancient )reece and occur in nearly all literatures and all periods.

I!#n':
?igure of speech in which what is stated is not what is meant. The user of irony assumes that his reader or listener understands the concealed meaning of his statement. 4erhaps the simplest form of irony is rhetorical irony, when, for effect, a speaker says the direct opposite of what she means. Thus, in !hakespeare#s ulius !aesar, when <ark Antony refers in his funeral oration to 'rutus and his fellow assassins as Chonorable menD he is really saying that they are totally dishonorable and not to be trusted. .ramatic irony occurs in a play when the audience knows facts of which the characters in the play are ignorant. The most sustained e ample of dramatic irony is undoubtedly !ophocles# "edipus #e$, in which >edipus searches to find the murderer of the former king of Thebes, only to discover that it is himself, a fact the audience has known all along.