Part 1: Research Proposal

Topic: I am studying
-

Slapstick comedy and its humor

Research questions: because I want to find out

1. How famous slapstick comedy actors like Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Chevy
Chase, Chris Farley, Mike Meyers, and Kristin Wiig all got their start? (SNL?)
2. Why has slapstick comedy maintained such a high recognition by teens in
society today even when it comes to older movies?
3. Why slapstick comedy is so humorous to teenagers today?
4. What impact has slapstick comedy had on the movie and television industries
in the 2000s?
5. How did slapstick comedy begin and how has it evolved over time?
Audience & Significance (in order to help _____ understand)
-

Audience: teenagers today

Significance: how slapstick comedy has impacted society todays idea of
humor particularly in the movie and television industry

Context (This issue is important and timely because):

-

It pertains to a prominent media tactic in society today

It will help people understand why it is so prominent

Exhibit: (to illustrate my discussion of _____ I play to focus on _____):

-

To illustrate my discussion of slapstick comedy, I play to focus on prominent

actors on SNL who then starred in movies and tv shows that are some of the
most popular slapstick comedies to this day

MLA Citation

Types of sources? News

articles? Scholarly
journal? Book? Website?
Other?

Peacock, Louise. Slapstick

and Comic Performance :
Comedy and Pain. 2014.
Print.

Book

What does the source

offer your project?
Background? Statistics?
Theory? Argument?
Counterargument?
Example?
This source provides
insight into why slapstick
comedy makes people
laugh which is one of the
topics of exploration I
wish to cover in my
research. It explores
various techniques
employed by the actors
and even provide
examples of slapstick
comedy in film and

Lieberman, Evan Alan.

"The Flickering Trickster:
Slapstick Comedy and
American Culture, 19121928." Dissertation
Abstracts International,
Section A: The
Humanities and Social
Sciences 62.3 (2001):
816. Print.

Dissertation

Katrib, Ruba. "Transition

Gags." Art in America,
103.6 (2015): 114-121.

Article

Peacock, Louise, and

UNIV NEWCASTLE. "No
Pain: No Gain - the
Provocation of Laughter
in Slapstick Comedy."
Popular Entertainment
Studies, 1.2 (2010): 93106.

Article

television from the past

to now.
This dissertation focuses
on slapstick comedy in
American culture in the
early 20th century. This
could provide how
slapstick comedy entered
and changed American
culture especially in the
film industry. It also
explores comic films,
providing good examples
of slapstick comedy.
This article looks at the
presence of slapstick
comedy in art, in
particularly Walt Disney.
The analysis of Walt
Disney could provide
insight to how slapstick
comedy has pervaded the
Disney industry. This
article also provides the
history of this form of
comedy as well as how
the film industry has
influenced its popularity
in society today
This article delves into
the relationship between
pain and slapstick
comedy. It explores the
origins of this type of
comedy as well as a
model of analysis for why
society laughs at
slapstick comedy.

Part 2: Exploratory Draft

1) I plan to argue that slapstick comedy should be the only kind of comedy in
the film and television industry due to its inherent ability to make teenagers
laugh. I find this topic interesting because I enjoy slapstick comedy very
much myself and it has risen to such a prominent role in the comedy industry
today. Many people recognize the classic slapstick films which Chevy Chase
and Chris Farley starred in and since then, the industry has only grown so

that now a vast array of comedies can be classified as slapstick. The concept
of slapstick humor emerged in the early 20th century from silent movies and
from there, grew to become a prominent component to the film industry. The
reason why it is called slapstick comedy is because a stage prop called a
slapstick was used on stage to harm others and incite humor. This evolved
into the whole idea that pain can cause humor to the audience because they
get to watch others experience such harm yet not feel the repercussions
themselves. Yet slapstick humor went further and drew on the social and
political aspects of the world to bring about an even greater sense of humor
as seen in Saturday Night Live. Teenagers today discuss the humor of
slapstick comedies with their friends because humor is such an important
aspect to social relationships. I hope to offer new perspective through
analyzing films of slapstick humor that have not been looked at in depth
before and using my knowledge of slapstick comedy to create great examples
of it from these films.
2) The intended audience for this project is teenagers because they will benefit
from knowing why they find slapstick comedies so humorous no matter the
age and era they were created. Hopefully no one will lose something, but if
anyone does, it would be adults in this day and age who have seen slapstick
comedy evolved from National Lampoons Vacation series and Tommy Boy
into the recent Adam Sandler Happy Gilmore and Bill Madison and Will
Ferrells Step Brothers and Anchorman. They might not like what slapstick has
become today especially with the whole subtopic of it as seen in the various
jackass movies. I think that movie producers will be the ones persuaded to
follow the new course of action because they will realize how successful
slapstick comedies have been so long and how they have made such great
names out of its actors.
3) At this point, I imagine my essay by first discussing the origins of slapstick
comedy because it would be beneficial if the audience knew where and when
it came into being. Then, I would transition into the famous slapstick actors of
the decades and discuss their accomplished movies, while at the same time
noting the difference in the slapstick humor as time moved towards the
present. Still, with each movie, I would analyze its components that can
classify them as slapstick and provide specific examples of slapstick humor.
Finally, I would tie all the movies and actors together as I would explain how
they all began on Saturday Night Live. So they not only have their same
origins, they learned to convey themselves in a similar humorous way.
4) The sources I have found so far explore both the history of slapstick comedy
as well as generate reasons as to why people laugh at this. Three of the four
also focus on how slapstick comedy has pervaded the film industry, providing
specific example from which I could utilize or help draw from to analyze my
own examples. The other source investigates the relationship between pain
and slapstick comedy which essentially is how slapstick comedy generates
laughter at the expense of other peoples pain. I hope to look at more sources
that examine the relationship between specific slapstick comedians and their
rise in this industry with a particular focus on past and present Saturday
Night Live actors. From my research, my audience should expect evidence

not only on the history of slapstick but also its psychological component and
examples of its prominence in society today. I anticipate that teenagers of
this era will agree with me because they are at the peak of this slapstick
comedy era where a majority of comedies involve some slapstick comedy or
at least allude to it. Thus, their sense of humor is based in slapstick comedy,
and they will find comfort in knowing why they laugh at the things with which
they laugh at since sometimes people laugh at things without knowing the
reason.
5) Some problems that I am concerned about include finding evidence specific
to Saturday Night Live actors. I feel that I could watch clips of Saturday Night
Live once I have a general understanding of what slapstick humor is and
analyze it myself. Yet it might be hard to truly understand slapstick humor
from the past since I did not live in that time and sometimes humor pertains
to specific political or social aspects of society. I anticipate I might run into
trouble finding good examples of slapstick humor from the past and be able
to track the timeline of slapstick humor from its origins to present day.