Comedy

COMEDY

Comedy should have the view of a “comic spirit” and is physical and energetic. It is tied up in rebirth and renewal, this is the reason most comedy end in weddings, which suggest a union of a couple and the expected birth of children. In comedy there is absence of pain and emotional reactions, as with tragedy, and a replaced use of mans intellect. The behavior of the characters presented in comedy is ludicrous and sometimes absurd and the result in the audience is one of correction of behaviors. This correction of behaviors is the didactic element of comedy that acts as a mirror for society , by which the audience learns “don’t behave in ludicrous and absurd ways.” The types of comedies can vary greatly; there are situation comedies, romantic comedies, sentimental comedies, dark comedies, comedy of manners, and pure farce. The comic devices used by playwrights of comedy are: exaggeration, incongruity, surprise, repetition, wisecracks, and sarcasm.

Comedy is the oldest of theatrical genres. Originally derived from the commedia dell’arte and the burlesque, circus and vaudeville traditions, comedy found a more natural home in silent cinema than tragedy, the reverse mask. Slapstick features visual gags. Screwball comedy was a unique creation of Hollywood in the 30s, its main elements were irreverent humour, fast-paced action and dialogue, eccentric characters, and the improbable plot commonly focuses on the battle of the sexes (It Happened One Night, Bringing Up Baby). The battle of the sexes comedy evolved into romantic comedy (When Harry Met Sally, Pretty Woman, As Good As It Gets, Four Weddings and a Funeral). Parralel to Hollywood’s romantic comedies were black satires, such as Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove (1964), Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H (1970). The more genial genre spoofs of Mel Brooks (Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein), the wacky humour of Him Abrahams and the Zucker brothers (Airplane and the Naked Gun series), the deliciously silly Mike Meyers’ Austin Powers parodies of James Bond films; the naughty French comedies (La Cage aux Folles (1978), Three Man and A Cradle (which became Three Men and a Baby).

This genre divides into several Sub genres, all differing by the focus of comic attack

Sub genres: Parody, satire, sitcom, romantic, screwball, farce, black comedy

What to Watch: The Pink Panther (1963), Annie Hall (1977), The Full Monty (1997), Meet the Parents (2000); Borat (2006), Bruno (2008)