Exploring Comedy- Differentiating Satire, Farce, Parody, and Character-Based Humor

Exploring Comedy- Differentiating Satire, Farce, Parody, and Character-Based Humor

Comedy is a branch of drama. It takes many forms, but it mainly deals with humorous events in daily life. It can be a play in a theatre that has a happy ending. Comedy has several roles, but the main one is providing entertainment to its audience. It has several sub-genres. Comedy can be high or low, depending on how funny it is at the time. Every type of comedy can be used for entertainment and as a source of humour.

Satire is a genre used in literature, performing, and visual art to humble or discredit something or someone. It raises laughter in situations, hence embarrassing someone. They use both fiction and non-fiction form. Abuses and vices are used to ridicule with the intention of exposing flaws by society, government, or individuals. Mainly, satirical comedy exaggerates the events so as to create humour. It’s humorous, but it has the goal of offering constructive criticism. It draws attention to issues affecting the current society both widely and narrowly. The main features of satire are sarcasm and irony. It can be found in artistic expressions like memes, films, plays, and music.

Comedy of character is a type whose emphasis is on the characterization of an individual and not the lines or plot. A comedian acts as a specific character, generally created by the comedian. It can also be a script written by another person, and the comedian has to take up the character in the script. The character is exaggerated in a particular aspect; for example, it causes trouble for people. Many comedians who perform character comedy are enjoying fame from their work and skills.

Farce comedy entertains through ridiculous, extravagant, improbable, and exaggerated situations. It uses deliberate nonsense and physical humour. It can mock real-life events, situations, and people. Though farce involves itself in absurd characters and situations, it maintains a certain degree of realism. It also has narrative continuity in the midst of irrational situations. Its features distinguish it from the genres that are completely absurd or unbelievable. Typically, farces are short episodes and hence are set to be done in a specific location, like performing on stage.  The humour is more physical or verbal. Farce revolves around miscommunication and deception.

A parody is a comedy work that comments on, makes fun of, or imitates the subject. It uses ironic or satiric imitations. The subject is an original creative work of someone or an aspect of its style, content, and author.  It’s found in literature, games, animation, theatre, and films. Its intent is negative; it seeks to bring attention to a perceived weakness by a writer and ridicule them. However, it can be used for constructive purposes or as a comic exercise of expressing admiration.

Juvenile comedy is also known as sophomoric comedy. It involves gags based on a silly sense of children’s immaturity. The type of humor is called toilet humor. It involves comedy themes that are childish and immature, like name-calling or pranks. While it is presumed immature and silly, it can be a source of humor and fun to all the people in society. Its humour revolves around things that affect children and society at large.

References

Krutnik, F., & Neale, S. (2006). Popular film and television comedy. Routledge.

Janaro, R. P., & Altshuler, T. C. (2016). The art of being human: The humanities as a technique for living. Harper & Row.

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Use the Module 7 Required Readings in your textbook as a resource for writing this discussion post.

Instructions

1. Carefully read the required pages in the textbook.

Exploring Comedy- Differentiating Satire, Farce, Parody, and Character-Based Humor

2. Select ONE of the four Learning Objectives prompts (7.1, 7.2, 7.3, or 7.4) and prepare to write a 400-word (or greater) essay addressing the prompt based on information in the textbook and your own research.

Choose one:

7.1 Compare and contrast classic Greek tragedy and Elizabethan tragedy.
7.2 Differentiate among various forms of comedy, including satire, comedy of character, farce, and parody.
7.3 Discuss the key developments in nineteenth-century theatre (the 1800’s).
7.4 Describe the new theatrical directions and themes in that evolved in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
3. Find and read a research source (BEYOND your textbook – try Google Scholar or the SPC Library) concerning the prompt you selected and be prepared to integrate the research in your essay. Be sure to cite these research sources as well as the textbook.