COMEDY

WHAT'S SO FUNNY?

• No two people have funny bones in exactly the same spot. What some people find hilarious, others find painful or sad. What sends you rolling on the floor might only nudge a smile out of the person next to you. In fact, humor varies so greatly that it can be classified in several different genres.

LOW COMEDY

• The physical and sometimes vulgar, includes outlandish, exaggerated forms of humor

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• Farce stretches common plots to the very edge of believability through exaggera­tion and surprise.
• Burlesque uses a great .deal of exaggeration too—but it’s directed at a person, custom, artifact, or event.
• Travesty pokes fun at respected objects.
• Parody imitates an author's style in a funny way.

MIDDLEBROW COMEDY

• Includes more plot-based, sentimental genres, such as romantic comedy, situation comedy, and sentimental comedy. These genres may provoke chuckles and smiles, but they also encourage weeping and other emotional responses. Characters in these comedies are more realistic, though their situations and responses can still be quite broad.

HIGH COMEDY

• Satire makes fun of individual people and their follies in an attempt to change their foolish behavior.
• Comedy of manners often makes fun of upper-class preten­tiousness and the accepted standards of the wealthy.

Both these genres appeal to the intel­ligence of their audience. They poke fun at political situations, cultural habits, and entrenched attitudes. The more you know about the subject of a satire and how these comedies approach this subject, the more you can appreciate the char­acters’ sly and subtle sarcasm. Characters in these genres must be fairly realistic and restrained, yet quirky and witty enough to provoke laughter.

What do almost all comic actors have in common? Commitment. No matter how ridiculous their situation... they take their acting seriously!

Obviously, drama and comedy have some things in common. However, some necessary techniques are particu­lar to comedy. A comic writer and performer must engage an audience in the comic character, employing at least some of the elements below.

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• Be sure that the audience identifies with your character.
• The audience should feel that it knows something your character doesn’t.
• Help the audience feel superior to your character.
• Throw in the unexpected just when the audience is least expecting it.
• Invert the logic of a situation by doing what seems illogical. For example, two enemies might hug in the middle of an argument.

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• Juxtapose two opposite things to heighten confusion. For example, pair a short, fat person with a tall thin one, or create a character who loves kittens but is full of rage.
• Use rapid-fire dialogue and movement.
• Remember the Rule of Three.

RULE OF THREE

• Once an audience starts to respond, the actor must remember to hold for laughs. This means you must pause a bit to wait until the laughing dies down. If you speak and act over the laughing, the audience will start to restrain their laughter in order to follow the action, or they may lose an important point in the dialogue. If, however, you freeze-—while staying in character and focusing on the situa­tion at hand—you can continue when the laughter subsides. This allows the laughter to build and, perhaps, fill the house.