Comedy
The common definition of c
omedy is “any discourse generally intended to amuse,
especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy.” This definition must
be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic
theatre, whose Western origins are found in Ancient Greece. In Athenian
democracy, the public opinion of voters was remarkably influenced by the
political satire performed by the comic poets at the theatres.
“Comedy” as a term for ancient theatre connotes a
dramatic performance that pits two societies against each other in an amusing agon
or conflict. The Canadian writer Northrop Frye famously depicted these two
opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the
Old". Comedy in its ancient sense therefore always involves
struggle. This struggle is thought to
occur between a relatively powerless youth on the one hand, and the societal
conventions that pose obstacles to his hopes on the other; in this sense,
the youth is understood to be constrained by his lack of social authority, and
is left with little choice but to take recourse to ruses which engender very
dramatic irony which provokes laughter.
Much comedy contains variations on the elements of
surprise, incongruity, conflict, repetitiveness, and the effect of opposite
expectations, but there are many recognized genres of comedy. Satire
and political satire use ironic comedy to portray persons or social
institutions as ridiculous or corrupt, thus alienating their audience from the
object of humour. Satire is a type of comedy.
Parody borrows the form of some popular genre, artwork,
or text but uses certain ironic changes to critique that form from within
(though not necessarily in a condemning way). Screwball comedy derives
its humour largely from bizarre, surprising (and improbable) situations or
characters. Black comedy is defined by dark humour that makes light of
so called dark or evil elements in human nature. Similarly scatological
humour, sexual humour, and race humour create comedy by violating
social conventions or taboos in comedic ways.
A comedy of manners typically takes as its subject a particular part of society (usually upper class society) and uses humour to parody or satirize the behaviour and mannerisms of its members. Romantic comedy is a popular genre that depicts burgeoning romance in humorous terms, and focuses on the foibles of those who are falling in love.
Etymology
The word "comedy" is derived from the
Classical Greek komodia, which is a compound either of κῶμος
(revel) or κώμη
(village) and ᾠδή (singing): it is possible that κῶμος itself is derived from κώμη,
and originally meant a village revel. The adjective "comic" (Greek
κωμικός), which strictly means that which
relates to comedy is, in modern usage, generally confined to the sense of
"laughter-provoking". Of this, the word came into modern usage
through the Latin comoedia and Italian commedia and
has, over time, passed through various shades of meaning.
Greeks and Romans confined the word
"comedy" to descriptions of stage-plays with happy endings. In the middle ages, the
term expanded to include narrative poems with happy endings and a lighter tone.
In this sense Dante used the term in the title of his poem, La Divina
Commedia. As time progressed, the word came more and more to be associated
with any sort of performance intended to cause laughter.
History
Aristophanes, a dramatist of the Ancient Greek Theatre
wrote 40 comedies, 11 of which survive and are still being performed. In
ancient Greece, comedy seems to have originated in bawdy and ribald songs or
recitations apropos of fertility festivals or gatherings, or also in making fun
at other people or stereotypes. Aristotle, in his Poetics, states
that comedy originated in Phallic songs and the light treatment of the
otherwise base and ugly. He also adds that the origins of comedy are
obscure because it was not treated seriously from its inception.
The phenomena connected with laughter and that
which provokes it have been carefully investigated by psychologists. They agreed the
predominating characteristics are incongruity or contrast in the
object, and shock or emotional seizure on the part of the subject. It has
also been held that the feeling of superiority is an essential, if not
the essential, factor: thus Thomas Hobbes speaks of laughter as a "sudden
glory." Modern investigators have paid much attention to the origin
both of laughter and of smiling, as well as the development of the "play
instinct" and its emotional expression.
Shakespearean comedy
Traditionally, the plays of William Shakespeare
have been grouped into three categories: tragedies, comedies,
and histories. Some critics have argued for a fourth category, the romance.
"Comedy" in its Elizabethan usage had a very different meaning from
modern comedy. A Shakespearean comedy is one that has a happy ending,
usually involving marriage for all the unmarried characters, and a tone and
style that is more light-hearted than Shakespeare's other plays.
Shakespearean comedies also tend to have:
ð
A
struggle of young lovers to overcome difficulty that is often presented by
elders
ð
Separation
and unification
ð
Mistaken
identities
ð
A
clever servant
ð
Heightened
tensions, often within a family
ð
Multiple,
intertwining plots
ð
Frequent
use of puns
Several
of Shakespeare's comedies such as Measure for Measure and All's Well
That Ends Well, have an unusual tone with a difficult mix of humour and
tragedy that has led them to be classified as problem plays.
Humour
Humour is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences
to provoke laughter and provide amusement. Many theories exist about what
humour is and what social function it serves. People of most ages and cultures
respond to humour. The majority of people are able to be amused, to laugh or
smile at something funny, and thus they are considered to have a "sense
of humour".
The term derives from the medicinal science of the
ancient Greeks,
which stated that a mix of fluids known as humours (Greek:
χυμός, chymos, literally: juice or sap,
metaphorically: flavour) controlled human health and emotion.
A sense of humour is the ability to
experience humour, although the extent to which an individual will find
something humorous depends on a host of variables, including geographical
location, culture, maturity, level of education, intelligence, and context.
For example, young children may possibly favour slapstick, such as Punch and
Judy puppet shows or cartoons (e.g. Tom and Jerry). Satire may rely more on
understanding the target of the humour, and thus tends to appeal to more mature
audiences. Non-satirical humour can be specifically termed "recreational
drollery".
Understanding humour
Humour
occurs when:
ð
there
is a surprising shift in perception.
ð
there
is a release from a tension that has been built up.
ð
two
very different things are juxtaposed in a ridiculous way.
ð
errors,
bad luck, stupidity, or inferiority in another person are exposed.
Western
humour theory begins with Plato who attributed to Socrates in the Philebus
(49b) the view that the essence of the ridiculous is an ignorance in the
weak who are thus unable to retaliate when ridiculed. Later in Greek
philosophy, Aristotle in the Poetics (1449a p 34-35) suggested that
an ugliness that does not disgust is fundamental to humour.
The
Incongruity Theory originated mostly with Kant who claimed that the
comic is an expectation that comes to nothing.
Evolution of humour
The acceptance of what constitutes humour depends on social demographics and varies from person to person. Some root components of humour are:
ð
appealing
to feelings or to emotions.
ð
similar
to reality, but not real.
ð
some
surprise/misdirection, contradiction, ambiguity or paradox.
Humour can often be created through the use of hyperbole,
metaphor, reductio ad absurdum or farce, reframing, and careful timing.
Rowan Atkinson explains in his lecture in the documentary "Funny
Business", that an object or a person can become funny in three
different ways. They are:
ð
By
behaving in an unusual way
ð
By
being in an unusual place
ð
By
being the wrong size
Most sight gags fit into one or more of these categories.
Humour is also sometimes described as an
ingredient in spiritual life. Some Masters have added it to their teachings in
various forms. A famous figure in spiritual humour is the laughing Buddha, who
would answer all questions with a laugh.
Laughter
Laughter is an audible expression or appearance of
merriment or happiness or an inward feeling of joy and pleasure (laughing on
the inside). It may ensue (as a physiological reaction) from jokes, tickling
and other stimuli. Inhaling nitrous oxide can also induce laughter; other
drugs, such as cannabis, can also induce episodes of strong laughter. Strong
laughter can sometimes bring an onset of tears or even moderate muscular pain.
Laughter helps humans clarify their intentions in
social interaction and provides an emotional context to conversations. Laughter
is used as a signal for being part of a group — it signals acceptance and
positive interactions with others. Laughter is sometimes seemingly contagious, and
the laughter of one person can itself provoke laughter from others as a
positive feedback. This may account in part for the popularity of laugh
tracks in situation comedy television shows. The study of humour and
laughter, and its psychological and physiological effects on the human body is
called gelotology.
Laughter in animals
Laughter is not confined or unique to humans,
despite Aristotle's observation that "only the human animal laughs". The differences between
the laughter of chimpanzees and humans may be the result of adaptations that
evolved to enable human speech. However, some behavioural psychologists argue
that self-awareness of one's situation, or the ability to identify
with another's predicament are prerequisites for laughter, and thus certain
animals are not laughing in the "human manner". Laughter is a rich
experience and expression in human beings. Self-awareness and ability to
identify with another's predicament may be prerequisite to intellectual
jokes with specific references and contexts, but not for laughing behaviour
as such. Thus there are several shades of smiling and laughing expressions.
Such laughter is not often seen in animals. Nevertheless, one cannot deny
occurrences of primitive laughter in terms of experience and expression in animals.
Owners of pets can vouch on this point, if they understand when their pet is
happy and how it expresses the same.
An Orangutan "laughing"
Research
of laughter in animals may identify new molecules to alleviate depression,
disorders of excessive exuberance such as mania and ADHD, or addictive urges
and mood imbalances.
Non-human primates
Chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos, and orangutans show laughter-like vocalizations in response to physical contact, such as wrestling, play chasing, or tickling. This is documented in wild and captive chimpanzees. Chimpanzee laughter sounds more like breathing and panting than human laughter. The differences between chimpanzee and human laughter may be the result of adaptations that have evolved to enable human speech. There are instances in which non-human primates have been reported to have expressed joy. One study analyzed and recorded sounds made by human babies and bonobos (also known as pygmy chimpanzees) when tickled. It found that although the bonobo’s laugh was a higher frequency, the laugh followed the same spectrographic pattern of human babies to include as similar facial expressions. Humans and chimpanzees share similar ticklish areas of the body such as the armpits and belly. The enjoyment of tickling in chimpanzees does not diminish with age.
Brown Rat
Rats
It has been discovered that rats emit short, high
frequency, ultrasonic, socially induced vocalization during rough and tumble
play and when tickled. The vocalization is described a distinct “chirping”.
Humans cannot hear the "chirping" without special equipment. It was
also discovered that like humans, rats have "tickle skin".
These are certain areas of the body that generate more laughter response than
others. The laughter is associated with positive emotional feelings and social
bonding occurs with the human tickler, resulting in the rats becoming
conditioned to seek the tickling. Additional responses to the tickling were
those that laughed the most also played the most, and those that laughed the
most preferred to spend more time with other laughing rats. This suggests a
social preference to other rats exhibiting similar responses. However, as the
rats age, there does appear to be a decline in the tendency to laugh and
respond to tickle skin. Although research has yet been unable to prove rats
have a sense of humour, it does indicate that they can laugh and express joy.
Dogs
The dog laugh sounds similar to a normal pant. Dog laughter, when heard
by other dogs, can initiate play, promote pro-social behaviour, and decrease
stress levels. When dogs laugh or hear other dogs laugh, it significantly
reduces their stress behaviours; they wag their tails more, and their facial
expressions change to a “play-face.”
Laughter among dogs increases their pro-social behaviour. Research
suggests exposure to dog-laugh vocalizations can calm the dogs and possibly
increase shelter adoptions.
Humans
Laughter
is a common response to tickling
Recently researchers have shown infants as early
as 17 days old have vocal laughing sounds or spontaneous laughter. Gelotology research shows
that laughter is a mechanism everyone has; laughter is part of universal
human vocabulary. There are thousands of languages, hundreds of thousands of
dialects, but everyone speaks laughter in pretty much the same way. Everyone
can laugh. Babies have the ability to laugh before they ever speak. Children
who are born blind and deaf still retain the ability to laugh. “Even apes have
a form of ‘pant-pant-pant’ laughter.”
Men
and women take jokes differently. A study that appeared in Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences found in a study, 10 men and 10 women all watched
10 cartoons, rating them funny or not funny and if funny, how funny on a scale
of 1–10. While doing this, their brains were scanned by functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI). Men and women for the most part agreed which cartoons
were funny. However, their brains handled humour differently. Researchers
suspect the element of surprise may be at the heart of the study. They
suggested that maybe women did not expect the cartoons to be funny, while men
did the opposite.
Gelotology is the study of
physiological effects of humour and laughter. While it is normally only
considered cliché that "laughter is the best medicine,"
specific medical theories attribute improved health, increased life expectancy,
and overall improved well-being, to laughter. Laughter, the intended human
reaction to jokes, is healthy in moderation, uses the stomach muscles, and
releases endorphins, natural "feel good" chemicals, into the brain.
Causes
Common causes for laughter are sensations of joy
and humour, however other situations may cause laughter as well. A general
theory that explains laughter is called the relief theory. Sigmund Freud
summarized it in his theory that laughter releases tension and "psychic
energy". This theory is one of the justifications of the beliefs that laughter
is beneficial for one's health. This theory explains why laughter can be
as a coping mechanism for when one is upset, angry or sad. Philosopher John
Morreall theorizes that human laughter may have its biological origins as a
kind of shared expression of relief at the passing of danger.
Joke
A joke is a short story or ironic depiction of a situation communicated with the intent of being humorous. These jokes will normally have a punch line that will end the sentence to make it humorous. A joke can also be a single phrase or statement that employs sarcasm. The word joke can also be used as a slang term for a person or thing that is not taken seriously by others in general or is known as being a failure. A practical joke or prank differs from a spoken one in that the major component of the humour is physical rather than verbal (for example placing salt in the sugar bowl). Jokes are typically for the entertainment of friends and onlookers. The desired response is generally laughter; when this does not happen the joke is said to have "fallen flat".
Jokes have been a part of human culture since at
least 1900 BCE. A fart joke from ancient Sumer is currently believed to be the
world's oldest known joke.
Psychology of jokes
Why we laugh has been the subject of serious
academic study, examples being:
Immanuel
Kant, in Critique
of Judgement (1790) states that "Laughter is an effect that arises if a
tense expectation is transformed into nothing." Here is Kant's 218-year
old joke and his analysis:
"An Englishman at an Indian's table in Surat saw a bottle of ale being opened, and all the beer, turned to froth, rushed out. The Indian, by repeated exclamations, showed his great amazement. - Well, what's so amazing in that? asked the Englishman. - Oh, but I'm not amazed at its coming out, replied the Indian, but how you managed to get it all in. - This makes us laugh, and it gives us a hearty pleasure. This is not because, say, we think we are smarter than this ignorant man, nor are we laughing at anything else here that it is our liking and that we noticed through our understanding. It is rather that we had a tense expectation that suddenly vanished..."
Henri
Bergson,
in his book Le rire (Laughter, 1901), suggests that laughter
evolved to make social life possible for human beings.
Arthur
Koestler,
in The Act of Creation (1964), analyses humour and compares it to other
creative activities, such as literature and science.
Edward
de Bono
suggests that the mind is a pattern-matching machine, and that it works by
recognizing stories and behaviour and putting them into familiar patterns. When
a familiar connection is disrupted and an alternative unexpected new link is
made in the brain via a different route than expected, then laughter occurs as
the new connection is made. This theory explains a lot about jokes. For
example:
ð
Why
jokes are only funny the first time they are told: once they are told the
pattern is already there, so there can be no new connections, and so no
laughter.
ð
Why
jokes have an elaborate and often repetitive set up: The repetition establishes
the familiar pattern in the brain. A common method used in jokes is to tell
almost the same story twice and then deliver the punch line the third time the
story is told. The first two tellings of the story evoke a familiar pattern in
the brain, thus priming the brain for the punch line.
ð
Why
jokes often rely on stereotypes: the use of a stereotype links to familiar
expected behaviour, thus saving time in the set-up.
ð
Why
jokes are variants on well-known stories (eg the genie and a lamp and a man
walks into a bar): This again saves time in the set up and establishes a
familiar pattern.
Rules
The rules of humour are similar to those of poetry. These common rules are
mainly timing, precision, synthesis, and rhythm. French philosopher
Henri Bergson has said in an essay: "In every wit there is something
of a poet."
Precision
To reach precision, the comedian must choose the words in order to provide a vivid, in-focus image, and to avoid being generic as to confuse the audience, and provide no laughter.
Synthesis
As Shakespeare said in Hamlet, "Brevity
is the soul of wit". Meaning that a joke is best when it expresses
the maximum level of humour with a minimal number of words; this is today
considered one of the key technical elements of a joke.
Cycles
Folklorists, in particular (but not exclusively)
those who study the folklore of the United States, collect jokes into joke
cycles. A cycle is a collection of jokes with a particular theme or
a particular "script". (That is, it is a literature cycle.) Folklorists
have identified several such cycles:
ð
the
elephant joke cycle that began in 1962
ð
the
Helen Keller Joke Cycle that comprises jokes about Helen Keller
ð
Viola
jokes
ð
the
NASA, Challenger, or Space Shuttle Joke Cycle that comprises jokes relating to
the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
ð
the
Chernobyl Joke Cycle that comprises jokes relating to the Chernobyl disaster
ð
the
Polish Pope Joke Cycle that comprises jokes relating to Pope John Paul II
ð
the
Essex girl and the Stupid Irish joke cycles in the United Kingdom
ð
the
Dead Baby Joke Cycle
ð
the
Dingo Joke Cycle that comprises jokes relating to the Azaria Chamberlain
disappearance
ð
the
Newfie Joke Cycle that comprises jokes made by Canadians about Newfoundlanders
ð
the
Little Willie Joke Cycle, and the Quadriplegic Joke Cycle
ð
the
Jew Joke Cycle and the Polack Joke Cycle
ð
the
Rastus and Liza Joke Cycle, which Dundes describes as "the most vicious
and widespread white anti-Negro joke cycle"
ð
the
Jewish American Princess and Jewish American Mother joke cycles
ð
the
Wind-Up Doll Joke Cycle
ð
Chuck
Norris Facts
Whenever there is a popular joke cycle, there generally is some widespread kind of social and cultural anxiety, lingering below the surface, that the joke cycle helps people deal with.
Types of jokes
Jokes often depend on the humour of the unexpected, the mildly taboo (which can include the distasteful or socially improper), or playing off stereotypes and other cultural beliefs. Many jokes fit into more than one category.
Political jokes are usually a form of satire.
They generally concern politicians and heads of state, but may also cover the
absurdities of a country's political situation. A prominent example of
political jokes would be political cartoons. Two large categories of this type
of jokes exist. The first one makes fun of a negative attitude to political
opponents or to politicians in general. The second one makes fun of political
clichés, mottos, catch phrases or simply blunders of politicians. Some,
especially the you have two cows genre, derive humour from comparing different
political systems.
Professional
humour
includes caricatured portrayals of certain professions such as lawyers, and
in-jokes told by professionals to each other.
Mathematical
jokes are
a form of in-joke, generally designed to be understandable only by insiders.
Ethnic
jokes
exploit ethnic stereotypes. They are often racist and frequently considered
offensive. For example, the British tell jokes starting "An Englishman, an
Irishman and a Scotsman..." which exploit the supposed parsimony of the
Scot, stupidity of the Irish or rigid conventionality of the English. Such
jokes exist among numerous peoples. Racially offensive humour is increasingly
unacceptable, but there are similar jokes based on other stereotypes such as
blonde jokes.
Religious
jokes
fall into several categories:
ð
Jokes
based on stereotypes associated with people of religion (e.g. nun jokes,
priest jokes, or rabbi jokes)
ð
Jokes
on classical religious subjects: crucifixion, Adam and Eve, St. Peter at The
Gates, etc.
ð
Jokes
that collide different religious denominations: "A rabbi, a medicine man,
and a pastor went fishing..."
Self-deprecating
or self-effacing humour is superficially similar to racial and stereotype jokes, but
involves the targets laughing at themselves. It is said to maintain a
sense of perspective and to be powerful in defusing confrontations.
Probably the best-known and most common example is Jewish humour. The
egalitarian tradition was strong among the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe
in which the powerful were often mocked subtly. Prominent members of the
community were kidded during social gatherings, part a good-natured tradition
of humour as a levelling device. A similar situation exists in the Scandinavian
"Ole and Lena" joke. Self-deprecating humour has also been used by
politicians, who recognize its ability to acknowledge controversial issues and
steal the punch of criticism - for example, when Abraham Lincoln was accused of
being two-faced he replied, "If I had two faces, do you think this is the
one I’d be wearing?".
Dirty
jokes are
based on taboo, often sexual, content or vocabulary. Other taboos are challenged
by sick jokes and gallows humour; to joke about disability is
considered in this group.
Surrealist
or minimalist jokes
exploit semantic inconsistency, for example: Q: What's red and invisible? A:
No tomatoes..
Anti-jokes are jokes that are not
funny in regular sense, and often can be decidedly unfunny, but rely on the
let-down from the expected joke to be funny in itself.
An
elephant joke is a joke, almost always a riddle or conundrum and often a
sequence of connected riddles, that involves an elephant.
Jokes
involving non-sequitur humour, with parts of the joke being unrelated to
each other; e.g. "My uncle once punched a man so hard his legs became
trombones", from the Mighty Boosh TV series.
Styles
The
question / answer joke, sometimes posed as a common riddle, has a supposedly
straight question and an answer which is twisted for humourous effect; puns are
often employed. Of this type are knock-knock joke, light bulb joke, the many
variations on "why did the chicken cross the road?", and the class of
"What's the difference between..." joke, where the punch line is
often a pun or a spoonerism linking two apparently entirely unconnected
concepts.
Some
jokes require a double act, where one respondent (usually the straight
man) can be relied on to give the correct response to the person telling
the joke. This is more common in performance than informal joke-telling.
A
shaggy dog story
is an extremely long and involved joke with an intentionally weak or completely
non-existent punchline. The humour lies in building up the audience's
anticipation and then letting them down completely. The longer the story can
continue without the audience realising it is a joke, and not a serious
anecdote, the more successful it is. Shaggy jokes appear to date from the
1930s, although there are several competing variants for the
"original" shaggy dog story. According to one, an advertisement is
placed in a newspaper, searching for the shaggiest dog in the world. The teller
of the joke then relates the story of the search for the shaggiest dog in
extreme and exaggerated detail (flying around the world, climbing mountains,
fending off sabre-toothed tigers, etc); a good teller will be able to stretch
the story out to over half an hour. When the winning dog is finally presented,
the advertiser takes a look at the dog and states: "I don't think he's so
shaggy."
'World's oldest joke' traced back to 1900 BC
Posted
The world's oldest
recorded joke has been traced back to 1900 BC and suggests toilet humour was as
popular with the ancients as it is today, British academics say.
The joke is a
saying of the Sumerians, who lived in what is now southern Iraq, and goes:
"Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman
did not fart in her husband's lap."
It heads the
world's Oldest Top 10 joke list published by the University of Wolverhampton.
A 1600 BC gag
about a pharaoh, said to be King Snofru, comes second. "How do you
entertain a bored pharaoh? You sail a boatload of young women dressed only in
fishing nets down the Nile and urge the pharaoh to go catch a fish."
The oldest British
joke dates back to the 10th century and reveals the bawdy face of the
Anglo-Saxons. "What hangs at a man's thigh and wants to poke the hole that
it's often poked before? A key."
"Jokes have
varied over the years, with some taking the question and answer format while
others are witty proverbs or riddles," said the report's writer, Dr Paul
McDonald, a senior lecturer at the university.
"What they
all share however is a willingness to deal with taboos and a degree of
rebellion. Modern puns, Essex girl jokes and toilet humour can all be traced
back to the very earliest jokes identified in this research."
The study was
commissioned by UK television channel Dave.
-
Reuters
http://www.bananasinpyjamas.com/news/stories/2008/07/31/2319872.htm