Defining Different Types of Comedy and Humor

895 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Comedy definition essay

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...

... middle of paper ...

...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.

Show More
Related

  • Why The Ending of Jez Buttersworth's Jerusalem Disqualifies it as a Comedy

    1589 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Comparing Duman's 'Sweet, Sour, And Resentful'

    343 Words  | 1 Pages

    Humour allows other's to understand a difficult situation without feeling the need to feel uncomfortable about it.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Techniques Used by Michael Moore and Niccoló Machiavelli

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Rappoport

    1135 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Steve Almond's Funny Is The New Deep

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • O 'Hara's Article' A Serious Business: What Can Comedy Do?

    1027 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Satire Essay

    536 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Everything’s an Argument by Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz, “Humor has always played an important role in argument…” (38). Humor itself is something that activates amusement or laughter. Moreover, in popular culture satire is a tool that is used to point out things in our society. Satire opens the minds of people to philosophies they might completely deny, using humor. There are many elements of satire that identify flaws within our society. A couple of satire elements that will be discussed are irony and exaggeration. In addition, a parody is used in popular culture as a way to mock or mimic situation or person.

    Read More

  • How to Perform Rhetorical Analysis

    503 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Humor In Alexander Weinstein's Saying Goodbye To Yang

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Free Essays - Comparing Time in Macbeth and As You Like It

    528 Words  | 2 Pages

    Comedy differs in the mood it approaches and addresses life. It presents situations which deal with common ground of man’s social experience rather than limits of his behaviour – it is not life in the tragic mode, lived at the difficult and perilous limits of the human condition.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Political Humor

    1048 Words  | 3 Pages

    Humor, as defined in the Oxford dictionary, is “the quality of being amusing or comic, especially as expressed in literature or speech.” Nowadays, humor has taken a dimension that is beyond entertainment; it became a tool to convey political messages –in the form of political satire- providing a product that is smoother to understand, and getting people to think more critically in the public political sphere. In a world where global problems are still prevailing, few might suggest that humor or political satire is the solution to overcome these problems. However, Political satire is believed to have originated in Ancient Greece in the 4th century BCE, where the blending of serious political and religious topics with humor served as an effective

    Read More

  • Different Genres Of Metal Music

    651 Words  | 2 Pages

    The term genre in music can be used to describe different forms and styles of music all over the world, whether it be country, rock, jazz, pop, and so on. But the terms used for genres can be considered broad and/or vague, so music that is commonly classified in any given genre can be categorized more specifically. For example, jazz can be a broad term for other subgenres such as Cool jazz, Free jazz, Dixieland, Ragtime and numerous other examples. This general rule applies to many different genres of music, and metal music is no exception.

    Read More

  • My Sense Of Humor

    876 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Essay About Comedy

    1048 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Importance of Humor

    354 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Defining Different Types of Comedy and Humor

Open Document