Comedy Genres
Comedy may be divided into multiple
genres based on the source of humour, the method of
delivery, and the context in which it is delivered.
These classifications overlap, and
most comedians can fit into multiple genres.
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Type |
Description |
Famous comedians |
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Black comedy or dark comedy |
Black comedy deals with
disturbing subjects such as death, drugs,
terrorism, rape, and war. Some black comedy is
similar to the horror movie genre. Television
examples include Brass Eye. |
Chris Morris, Bill Hicks,
Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Penn & Teller, The
League of Gentlemen |
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Character comedy |
Character comedy derives
humour from a persona invented by a performer.
Much character comedy comes from stereotypes. |
Paul Eddington, Andrew Dice
Clay, Tim Allen, John Gordon Sinclair, Lenny
Henry, Sacha Baron Cohen, Christopher Ryan,
Steve Guttenberg, Bip,Jay London,Larry the Cable
Guy, Kathy Greenwood |
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Improvisational comedy |
Improvisational (sometimes
shortened to improv) comics rarely plan out
their routines. Prime examples of this kind of
comic can be seen on the television show
Whose Line Is It Anyway?. |
Robin Williams, Paula
Poundstone, Paul Merton, Tony Slattery, Josie
Lawrence, Jim Sweeney, Steve Steen, Ryan Stiles,
Colin Mochrie, Greg Proops, John Sessions, Neil
Mullarkey, Kathy Greenwood. |
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Observational comedy |
Observational comedy pokes
fun at everyday life, often by inflating the
importance of trivial things or by observing the
silliness of something that society accepts as
normal. |
Ricky Gervais, Janeane
Garofalo, Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, Chris
Rock, Jeff Foxworthy, Jim Gaffigan, Kathy
Greenwood, Ellen DeGeneres and Peter Kay. |
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Physical comedy |
Somewhat similar to
slapstick, this form of comedy uses physical
movement and gestures. Physical comedy is often
influenced by clowning |
Jim Carrey (pre-fame), Denis
Leary, Norman Wisdom, Jerry Lewis, Robin
Williams, Lee Evans, Max Wall, Dane Cook, Kathy
Greenwood, The Three Stooges |
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Prop comedy |
Comedy that relies on
ridiculous props, or everyday objects used in
humorous ways. The comedian Gallagher is famous
for the "Sledge-O-Matic", a sledgehammer, that
he uses to smash things. |
Carrot Top, Gallagher, Timmy
Mallet |
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Queer/queer friendly comics |
Mostly a hybrid of one or
more of the other genres of comedians, these
comics earn their laughs by drawing on issues
concerning the gay community (coming out,
homophobia, rights, identity crises, etc.) |
Margaret Cho, Lea Delaria,
Elvira Kurt, Ant (comedian) |
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Surreal comedy |
Surreal humour is a form of
humour based on bizarre juxtapositions, absurd
situations, and nonsense logic. |
Eddie Izzard, Ross Noble,
Bill Bailey, The Mighty Boosh, Monty Python |
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Topical comedy/Satire |
Topical comedy relies on
headlining/important news and current affairs.
It dates quickly, but is a popular form of
comedy for late night talk shows. |
Dennis Miller, Jay Leno, Andy
Hamilton, Bill Maher, Ian Hislop, Jon Stewart,
Stephen Colbert |
Featured Genre: Satire
Satire (lat. medley, dish of colorful fruits) is a
technique used in drama and the performing arts,
fiction, journalism, and occasionally in poetry and the
graphic arts. Although satire is usually witty, and
often very funny, the primary purpose of satire is not
primarily humour but criticism of an individual or a
group in a witty manner.
Terminology Satire is one of the most imprecise
literary terms; usually it has a very definite target,
which may be a person or group of people, an idea or
attitude, an institution or a social practice. In any
case the target is held up to a ridicule that is often
quite merciless, and sometimes very angry; ideally in
the hope of shaming it into reform. A very common,
almost defining feature of satire is a strong vein of
irony or sarcasm, in fact satirical writing or drama
very often professes to approve values that are the
diametric opposite of what the writer actually wishes to
promote.
Parody, burlesque, exaggeration and double entendre are
all devices frequently used in satiral speech and
writing – but it is strictly a misuse of the word to
describe as "satire" works without an ironic (or
sarcastic) undercurrent of mock-approval, and an element
at least of anger.
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Alternative
Comedy |
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Alternative comedy is a
style of comedy that originated in the United Kingdom in the late
1970s and 1980s which would... |
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Black Comedy |
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Black comedy is a
sub-genre of comedy and satire where topics and events that are
usually treated seriously... |
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Impressionists |
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impressionist is a
performer whose act consists of giving the "impression" of being
someone else by imitating the... |
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Improvisational
Comedy |
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Improvisational comedy
is comedy that is performed with a little to no predetermination of
subject matter... |
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Prop Comedy |
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Prop comedy is a comedy
genre that makes use of humorous objects, or conventional objects
used in humorous... |
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Stand-Up
Comedy |
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stand-up or
stand-up comic is someone
that performs comedy in an informal way, ie: talking to the
audience... |
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Surreal
Humour |
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Surreal humour is a form
of humour, stylistically related to the artistic ambitions of the
surrealists, based on bizarre... |
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