Comedy is a genre of film that is produced in order to evoke laughter from the audience due to its humorous nature. Comedy films fall into two main sub-groupings: the comedian-led film which is structured through gags and sketches and the comedic situation film with a more coherent narrative.
These two groups can sometimes overlap and indeed the pure comedy film of any kind is extremely difficult to find. Most so-called comedy films are in reality hybrids (comedy hyphenates) such as comedy-horror, action comedy, comedy-musical etc.
The main problem with comedy seems to be that it is very difficult to pin down and ultimately define. As well as the tension between the gag and the narrative there is a further set of categorisations which refer to the purposes of the comedy and its comedic nature.
Three distinct types
Slapstick is 'visual and vulgar'. It is in one sense primitive yet universal, relying on our almost instinctive reaction to characters subjected to danger, pain, etc. At the same time it requires great timing and all round performance skills. Slapstick comedy can be used as a highly sophisticated exploration of human behaviour when executed correctly.
Observational comedy is gentler and more subtle and presents everyday life as quirky with unusual behaviour in a realist context. One form that observational comedy is a parody mocking existing forms and traditions however one distinctive disadvantage is that this type of comedy may require the audience to have previous background knowledge in order to fully reach its potential.
Satire is comedy used to make political and social commentary. This type of comedy can have a limited appeal as it relies on an educated audience.
Key concepts
The secret of comedy is timing and performance as any joke can be ruined if it is executed poorly.
Representation
Comedy, like drama, depends on conflicts, in particular between weak and strong characters. Much comedy arises from the success of the weak in defeating the powerful. On the other hand, comedy is also a weapon against fear of the unknown so that the basis for comedy can incorporate racism, sexism, etc. Early cinema stars such as Chaplin were hugely popular in every territory across the world, but there are now assumptions that comedy doesn't travel and massively popular films from around the world rarely released in the UK. On the other hand this could be just a matter of language differences.
Audience
The main advantage of comedy is its appeals across all audience groups. However, there are distinct differences in audiences for certain types of comedy such as class or age differences. This is undeniably reflected in different television channels having audience profiles, e.g. both BBC one and two target safer family oriented sitcoms which are unlikely to offend its audience whereas BBC three produces more edgy, controversial and arguably more experimental comedy that may not be widely accepted.
In a "fish out of water" comedy, the main characters (or characters) find themselves in an unusual environment, which drives most of the humour. Typical situations of this genre include magically swapping gender roles and an individual’s struggle to fit into an unfamiliar environment.
A parody or spoof film is a comedy that satirizes other film genres or classic films. These films employ sarcasm, stereotyping, mockery of scenes from other films, and the obviousness of meaning in a character's actions.
Anarchic comedy (also known can wacky comedy) - the gags used in this type of comedy have no narrative context. The gags are often similar to slapstick but with less emphasis on physical violence and more emphasis on comic antics. This genre’s roots lie in the circus and general stage performance.
The black comedy film deals with normally taboo subjects, including, death, murder, suicide and war in a satirical manner.
The romantic comedy sub-genre typically involves the development of a relationship between a man and a woman. The stereotypical plot line follows the "boy-gets-girl", "boy-loses-girl", "boy gets girl back again" sequence. Naturally there are many insignificant variations to this plot, and much of the generally light-hearted comedy lies in the social interactions and sexual tensions between the pair.
Buddy movies rely heavily on mismatched characters where the humor stems from their differing personalities.
Mockumentaries employ the style of a documentary in order to present fictional and generally humorous events or characters. This sub-genre has been known to use exaggeration to a great extent.
Surreal comedy is a relatively new and very experimental sub-gene which typical combines elements of dark humour with elements of fantasy thus leading to very unusual and often disturbing situation.
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