THEATRICAL COMEDY

Comedy Comedy- is a word that Greeks and

Romans confined 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.

As time passed, the word came more and more to be associated with any sort of performance intended to cause laughter.

Characteristics of Comedy:Why is this funny? The reasons comedy makes us laugh

has been defined with the following characteristics:SurpriseIncongruityConflictRepetitivenessOpposite expectations

Surprise

Incongruity

Conflict

“Conflict usually leads to some sort of physical or emotional pain. Since it's not happening to us then we feel good about laughing at someone else.”- Sterling Barnes

Repetitiveness “OOOh be-have!”

“YEEAAH BABY!”

Opposite Expectations

Other Types of Comedy: Parody Dark comedy vulgar humor, sexual humor, and race

humor (creates comedy by violating social conventions or taboos in comedic ways)

Comedy of manners (basically Seinfeld) Romantic Comedy