Creating Humor
Situation comedies strive to create entertaining humour based around a
relevant situation. This is done through the exploration of many
topics and application of different characteristics on different
characters. In order to be successful situation comedies need to
exploit the human weakness of humour. Humans are the only species
physiologically capable of laughter. We often judge each other and
ourselves by what we find funny. Laughter also affects us emotionally
acting as a temporary amnesia making us forget or become less aware of
our problems. Most sitcoms use stereotype and conflict of characters
as an aspect of comedy creation. This combined with an emphasis on
contrast, conflict and incongruity. By using incongruity the teller of
a joke or former of comedy can tell the joke as if it were original,
whether we laugh or not depends on if the joke contains some form of
punch line that is in some way incongruous with the linguistic or
physical environment in which it occurs but which at first sight had
not been apparent or in any way anticipated by the audience. Sitcoms
also offer viewers a higher willingness to take risks and say things
other genres wouldn't dare. Varied sitcoms offer different structures
from the farcical structure of FawltyTowersto the slow and spontaneous
method used in The office. The basic character conflict is featured
within all sitcoms to from comedy, within FawltyTowers the
incapability of Basil and mannuel to communicate is a central point to
comedy. Similarly the embarrassing and progressive actions of David
Brent in The Office conflicting with the general mentality of his
colleges are...
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...e on the serious side
although in order to be acceptable each sitcom must yield a point of
sanity and sensibility. The basic structure for humour pivots between
the clash of hopes and characters. Most sitcoms adopt a circular
structure where the main generator of comedy is the lack of
progression having witnessed a gradual build up and a sudden
deflation. The sitcoms capability to use such spontaneity depends upon
other elements that provide it with the grounds to push the
boundaries, by having a sensible and basic setting and theme tune the
sitcom is already based within a realistic and perfectly possible area
leaving no limit to the realism of the acting. The delicate generic
classing of sitcoms allows it to either mock or in list the aid of
other genres and still be within the in expendable boundaries of
comedy.
What is the most common perception held in this country concerning the people and the way they live in the South? The perception most of the country has about life down here in the South is one of slow-paced living, simple-minded people, and stubborn, unwarranted pride. One of the best ways to combat this perception is through the use of humor; Lewis Grizzard was one of the best at this, because he could take the experiences from his own life as well as the lives of others in the South and turn them into humorous semi-fictional stories. He was one of the preeminent fictional authors this country has ever seen because of his ability to connect with people and joke about everyday life in the south, without offending the subjects of those jokes, despite the popular opinion the rest of the country held.
“Morreall argues that, if we want to answer these questions, we shouldn’t focus on whether the joke happens to trade on a stereotype. Instead, he takes the primary problem with some humor to be that it involves disengaging from things with which we ought to be engaged.” (Morreall, 529)
The therapeutic use of humor can be loosely defined as any activities that use the positive emotional responses associated with humor, smiling and laughter to specifically benefit one or more clients’ social, emotional, physical, cognitive or wellness domains. Using humor, therapeutically, involves establishing specific desired outcomes for a client which are facilitated by the use of humor and related techniques. Dattilo & McKenney, (2011) define the therapeutic use of humor when “specialists and others use humor in practice, they play for it to lead to specific therapeutic outcomes”. They emphasize the use of evidence based practice and a goal oriented approach as essential in using humor for therapeutic purposes. Similar to other techniques used, Therapeutic Recreation is using humor to achieve client-established goals requires a systematic approach that harnesses the medicinal benefits of the involved and evoked behaviors.
There are many theories when it comes to humor. The superiority theory of humor argues that people laugh at other’s misfortunes and shortcomings to assert their own superiority (Morreall). Additionally, in the Relief Theory, humor
only can comedy use the subversion of expectation facetiously, but it can comment on the real
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.
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, McMurphy often uses the power of laughter to overcome what is going on in the world around him. Laughter lightens the feeling in the book, and at times gives it a warmer feeling. It also helps develop, and shape the characters throughout the entire story.
The spectrum of therapeutic techniques available within the health care continuum is very complex and varied. From traditional medicine, to holistic remedies, and anything in between, nurses have a rather large arsenal at their disposal when it comes to treating the patients that are under their care. Humor as an alternative therapy has long been understood as a proven means to aid in the recovery process. “With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health” (Smith & Segal, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to discuss situations in which humor would be a viable alternative therapy
First of all, I have learned from my research that laughter is not the same as humor. Laughter is the physiological response to humor. In addition, laughter consists of two parts – a set of facial gestures and the production of a “ha-ha-ha” or a “ho-ho-ho” sound from our mouths. When we laugh, the brain pressures us to conduct both of these activities simultaneously. And, when we laugh heartily, changes can occur in many parts of our bodies including the arm, the leg, and trunk muscles.
lighten the mood and accentuate the comedic theme of the story through his creation of
Without the humor of comedians all of our lives would be a living sinkhole of misery and depression; one of the most relieving comedians of our time was Robins Williams. His comedy was very light, but his acting was very heavy. It could range for audiences of all ages, but yet have jokes only those of a certain age could understand. Without the comic humor of Robin Williams we would be stuck in the comical age of the early fifties.In the Movie Patch Adams the belated actor said the following, "What's wrong with death sir? What are we so mortally afraid of? Why can't we treat death with a certain amount of humanity and dignity, and decency, and God forbid, maybe even humor. Death is not the enemy
Language or the way in which words are used is one of the most important components of a comedy. Through an intelligent use of word play and the ability to add
Throughout my personal narrative, I tried to tell my story in a humorous and at sometimes sarcastic tone. I express the physical harm that I endure from the mere altercation between me and toys with comedy relief to take attention off of my actual pain, and instead focus on the humor of the way the pain was being inflicted. For example, in my writing I used this strategy in situations such as “As I kicked and screamed for my life from the dreadful pain that had erupted in my cheek, my babysitter slowly started to open her eyes and then shut them again as if she had hit the snooze button on my pain.” I’m clearly in a lot of gruesome pain, but in order to help the reader identify with my feelings, I use humor to disregard my pain and focus on
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.
One of the most famous types of television comedy is the sketch comedy style. Greg M. Smith, in his article “Red Skelton, The Crack-up, and the Quick- change” explains how the move of vaudeville acts to television created the template for all sketch comedies. A small number of performers, often only one or two, “depended on interchangeable acts that could be juggled into different configurations for a show, the sketch necessarily is narratively compartmentalized. Plot elements from one sketch do not carry over to the next, necessitating that the performer slip from one role to another as he/she moves from sketch to sketch.” (n pag) Today’s sketch comedies continue to run independent multiple short sketches per episode. Although they may now have recurring characters, frequently still, only a single-time character is played. Just as there is a prevalence of one actor playing multiple roles per episode, so also are the situations, locations, and interactions often differentiated completely from one scene or show to the next. Some or all of these elements can be found in such shows as Monty Python's Flying Circus, Saturday Night Live, The Whi...