Have you ever noticed how some things can seem very simple, but in fact, are quite complex under further analysis. A great example of this is music. What do you think of when you hear the word music? Do you think of that hot new hit by your favorite artists such as Fall Out Boy, Lil Wayne, or Katy Perry? On the other hand, maybe you think of some old geezers playing violins and actual instruments in an orchestra. Maybe music isn’t as simple as you thought? There is rhythm, tempo, meter, sound, dynamics, harmonies, keys, time, and a whole lot more. In a more general sense, music has various genres, but what exactly makes certain artists part of a genre. What is the difference between Alternative and Indie, or Hip-Hop and Rap, or Blues and Jazz? To answer your questions you have to look deeper and find out how things are categorized.
Just like music, Comedy has many different genres. But, what is comedy? Is it that funny looking kid getting made fun of at school? Is it complete absurdity? Is it the humiliation of others building your own self-righteousness? Comedy is “the humorous or amusing aspects of something” as defined by my dictionary widget. While I do like this definition of comedy, in general, I do not like how the definition uses the root-word humor in the definition. Humor is very similar to comedy in the sense that it is a word that cannot be easily explained or defined. The widget defines humor as “the ability to perceive…or to appreciate a joke.” Again, another good definition, but again, I do not agree with it fully. This definition implies that humor only comes from jokes, which is certainly not the case. In a search to find out what comedy truly entails, we need to identify and understand where...
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...ve power over others/situations, or bringing unexpected circumstances your way. Maybe it’s just one, or maybe it’s a combination of the three. Nevertheless, the humor we find in things is what enables us to understand why we think things are funny. The humorous aspects that we can identify from the three categories, is what can be considered the comedy of the situation. Next time you find something funny, think about what humor is used, and why it is funny for you. It may just be in one of the categories after taking a deeper look.
Works Cited
Aaron Smuts. “Humor.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2006. 14 September 2008.
http://www.iep.utm.edu/h/humor.htm.
“Comedy.” American Oxford Dictionaries Widget. 2008
“Humor.” American Oxford Dictionaries Widget. 2008
Music. Wikipedia. 15 September 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music.
Humor is more than just amusing entertainment to pass the time. Though jokes and witty banter can be shallow, humor can go deeper than surface level to convey messages to audiences who would otherwise be close-minded about certain ideas. Humor is a great tool to get audiences to change the way they think, feel, and act. In “Saying Goodbye to Yang,” Alexander Weinstein uses humor to criticize some of society’s faults such as the way it has become heavily reliant on technology, racially insensitive, and judgmental.
Humour allows other's to understand a difficult situation without feeling the need to feel uncomfortable about it.
...dness but comedy was used as an emotion. When Michael was going to make a "citizens arrest" at the banks, there was comedy there, sort of like sarcasm which is known to sway a person's thoughts if it is funnier in the sense. The whole movie really shows a lot of emotions and tries to persuade our thoughts on the government with it.
For this reason, humor holds the capability to bring people together and lead to something, like change. Mary O’Hara writes “[comedy provides] a counterbalance to bigotry and prejudice” (O’Hara 106) to prove that humor can do more than make someone laugh, but to reinforce the truth. Humor is a natural human behavior that allows people to escape the mundane, laugh at themselves and also the world around them. O’Hara also writes that “comedy can have a profound impact on how we feel, and even how we act” (O’Hara 110). If humor can change the way we think and act, then it consequently has the ability to bring forth social
Humor: Tactic that plays on social group bias. When we laugh at something, we join with people who are of like minds to laugh at the other—the distorted, the unusual, or the exaggerated.
Humor, as a creative effort, has been respected throughout the world, I’m sure, since the beginning of spoken language. There is nothing in the world like conjuring up a joke or some other anecdote that sends a group of people off into a fit of laughter. In fact, throughout time, people have attempted to make humor at least some part of their professional career. Court jesters made the royalty of the castle laugh at his foolish behavior. Playwrights have included humor in their tragic works to provide some comedic relief from all of the terribly sad events. Today is no different. The sheer number of careers available for those interested in making people laugh for a living reflects our society’s great appreciation for novel humor. Comedians, book writers, columnists, actors, television and movie writers, cartoonists, and musicians all attempt to add some laughter to peoples’ lives on a daily basis.
In Alain de Botton’s book, Status Anxiety, he argues that the aim of humorists is not solely entertainment, but also to convey a message that isn’t always okay to state directly. There are many places where his argument can apply. Even with humor, some topics are still too controversial to joke about; However, in most cases, humor can lighten things up and make it easier to discuss topics that otherwise would not be as easy to talk about without heavy arguments. There are many cases that would make his argument true. There are many examples that support his argument, and that help to show the importance of humor in arguing, including cartoons, comics, works of literature, and also when thinking of hosts of television programs.
Humor can form an idea of the comedy that expresses a humorous way to entertain the audience. Some other forms of humor show the different perspectives on how they manipulate the ideas on something funny toward the audience. In addition, humor always has different flavors on how they appeal from one to another so that people can find it enjoyable. Humor can use as tools to communicate with people in a good way. Sometimes, forms of humor, especially like satire, can express some misunderstood term that finds it really insulting. Humor always express something less serious for everyone. Humor expresses some opinions about political acts so people can view them more critically.
Steve Almond’s “Funny is the New Deep” talks of the role that comedy has in our current society, and most certainly, it plays a huge role here. Namely, through what Almond [Aristotle?] calls the “comic impulse”, we as a people can speak of topics that would otherwise make many of uncomfortable. Almond deems the comic impulse as the most surefire way to keep heavy situations from becoming too foreboding. The comic impulse itself stems from our ability and unconscious need to defend and thus contend with the feeling of tragedy. As such, instead of rather forcing out humor, he implies that humor is something that is not consciously forced out from an author, but instead is more of a subconscious entity, coming out on its own. Almond emphasizes
According to Aristotle, “Comedy can be any colloquy or performance generally intended to amuse or stimulate laughter”. In modern times, comedy can be found in different forms, such as television, movies, theatres and stand-up comedy.
“The practical disengagement of humor…helps explain the opposition between amusement and negative emotions.” (530) There are three effects of humor; irresponsibility, blocking compassion, and promoting prejudice. Humor can take away what we are/should be doing in life and sometimes there isn’t anything wrong with that. Sometimes when we hear a hateful thing we just laugh it off as if it was no big deal when it really was. “An
Psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists study humor because it is a fundamental culture value, but they still can’t determine why certain things make some people laugh and others not. There are “humor quotient” tests that are designed to measure an individual’s sense of humor, but these tests are questionable. These tests aren’t accurate because almost all humor depends on cultural background knowledge and language skills. Not every person in the whole world, or even in one country share the same background knowledge and skills, therefore they cannot have the same type of humor. “The fact remains that individuals vary in their appreciation of humor” (Rappoport 9). Since humor varies from individual to individual, humor lies in the individual. How successful or funny a joke is depends on how the person receives the joke, humor cannot be measured by a statistical
Humor is an essential part of my daily life. Causing someone to laugh and feel amused varies from person to person. What I find funny may not be funny to others. My sense of humor may vary, from watching comedy movies, to late night comedy talk shows. What I find mostly funny are Internet memes or funny Internet videos, because they have both been modified into distinct funny phrases or modified into funny videos that cause humor and they are always new ones being created, you can also share them to give someone else laughter. My sense of humor comes from my dad, growing up we would watch Spanish comedy on television together, though not all humor can be funny, because I believe there is a line that should not be crossed when using humor.
If there is one way to bring a smile to someone’s face, it is laughter. Funny jokes, comical stunts, sarcasm- Every person is different when it comes to what makes them laugh. Some find dry humor comical. Others think sarcasm or joke-filled ranting are the best. ‘Comedy’ is such a broad term, broad enough to allow everyone to find something they find comical. In fact, ‘comedy’ includes a specific type of drama, one where the protagonist is joyful and happy endings are expected. Comedy is like a drug; it allows you to escape reality. When we say the word ‘comedy’ in the present, we are generally referring to a type of performance which provides humor. However, in its broadest sense, comedy has only one purpose: comedy makes people smile and
Humor is the tendency to look at things from the mirthful or incongruous side. It is the quality that makes something laughable or amusing. Humor is the ability to perceive, enjoy, or express what is amusing or comical. It is the source of laughter and the catalyst of smiles. Humor is the spark that lights our eyes as well as the cause of tears that never grows old. Humor is a state of mind.