Creating Humor

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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.

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