The History Of Slapstick : Summary And Early History

Comedy is a type of entertainment that uses jokes and skits that are intended to make the audience laugh. In the short story, “Priscilla and the Wimps,” Monk Clutter had the school under control with his gang, the Klutters Kobras. Before Priscilla came, the gang would go around the school stealing kids lunch money from students. When Priscilla came, Monk had finally met his match. Richard Peck’s short comedy, “Priscilla and the Wimps” is a high level of comedy that uses comic characters, comic situations, and comic language to convey the importance of treating others the way you want to be treated.

Richard Pryor, arguably one of the greatest stand-up comedians of all time, credits his comedic abilities to many comedians, one being Charlie Chaplin. You may be thinking, “how does Charlie Chaplin, the guy who played The Tramp in silent black and white movies, influence a stand up comedian like Richard Pryor?” Well, you may be surprised to know that all American stand-up comedians are heavily impacted by the performances in the late nineteenth century. During the late 1800’s, vaudeville and burlesque dominated performance venues across the country and developed a new art form that had never been seen before. Although stand-up is one of the only true American art forms, we cannot forget to credit vaudeville and burlesque performers who paved the way for the rise of stand-up comedy. Believe it or not, nineteenth century burlesque and vaudeville play a major role in the evolution of what stand-up comedy is today. After all, how can we respect the art form of stand-up comedy today without fully understanding how it all began?

Vaudeville was a theatrical paradigm in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance consisted of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Types of acts included popular and classical musicians, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, female

Comedy is the most significant form of humorous expression. It is a type of communication used to talk about the social and cultural problems in society. They talk about subjects that would make society defensive but do it in a way that lightens a serious subject.Many people see comedy as humorous but there’s more to it then just laughs in America it talks about a lot of problems in society such as politics and racial profiling. Although comedians try to make jokes and entertain the audience, they make you notice the reality of today’s society and problems. Comedy is offensive and known for talking about stereotypes but put into funny stories therefore making the audience laugh and feeling comfortable. Comedy also has a way of discussing

4. Irony and Satire do contribute to the desensitizing of audiences due to the fact that the meaning of violence is completely abandoned and viewers see only the comedic side of the scene. For example, in Pulp Fiction Jules recites from the Bible before killing his victim, completely turning the attention of viewers from the meaning of the young man’s impending death, and in the scene entitled “The Bonnie Situation,” the cleanup of the killing is focused on more than the senseless, meaningless act itself. Modern violence in movies, in Sobchack’s words, have become “excessive” in violence and that when they elicit screams, they also elicit laughter. Too much violence becomes so outrageous and “over the top” that gore and the quantity of death are expected, and that is considered funny by audiences (432). As a result, violence does not seem real anymore.

Charlie Chaplin film City Lights can be categorized as a comedy. A comedy is defined as a professional entertainment consisting of jokes and satirical sketches, intended to make an audience laugh. In the film he uses jokes and sound effects to add more to the comedy and make it more entertaining for the audience.

Do you know what comedy is? Comedy is jokes or satirical sketches. Dave Barry’s humorous anecdote “Dave Barry teaches his grandson life’s lessons -beginning with the ketchup” is a high level of comedy that uses satire and physical humor to reveal a universal truth about being trendy and being a jerk. Also about making the right decisions in life.

As far as the development and demise of vaudeville, there is much to be said. But to truly understand its rise and fall, first one must understand what vaudeville is. Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of entertainment that was popular in the United States from the early 1880s until the mid 1930s. Each performance consisted of a series of unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Types of acts included classical musicians, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, impersonators, acrobats, illustrated songs, jugglers, scenes from plays, athletes, lecturing celebrities, and movies.

Vaudeville, the forgotten type of theatre. During the mid-1800’s, people from across the world were starting to settle in the United States. The newly found ‘spike’ of the diversity of cultures and population, vaudeville quickly became the central point for the American cultural life.

The comedy combines physical comedy with gags and great one-liners, puns, word play, and more.

First of all, an author must define and identify their audience in regard to their jokes. The essay, "Made You Laugh" by Marc Tyler Nobleman explains in thorough detail the analogy and concept of humor itself. For example, the article states, "Young children prefer slapstick, or silly physical humor" while adults enjoy satirical

Research Question: How does His Girl Friday stay within the bounds of the Hays Code while challenging the culture of censorship in United States?

The Turkish Shadow Theater used crude humor to make fun of society. A great example is “impersonating officials such as watch-men tax collectors and treasure hunters, teased shopkeepers with practical jokes to obtain money from them” – The use of crude humor, often rude, was used to entertain the people. We see this everyday on TV here in the United States. Shows such as Family Guy, South Park, and many more entertain through the use of crude humor.

    According to Aristotle (who speculates on the matter in his Poetics), ancient comedy originated with the komos, a curious and improbable spectacle in which a company of festive males apparently sang, danced, and cavorted rollickingly around the image of a large phallus.  (If this theory is true, by the way, it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "stand-up routine.")

According to the Oxford dictionary “Humor,” is defined as: The quality of being amustic or comic, especially as expressed in literature or speech, but what truly makes something funny? Comedy has been around for hundreds of years; as it is being examined four concrete theories have been developed to understand the idea of comedy: Superiority, Relief, incongruity, and Benign Violation theory.