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Humour Investigation: an Analysis of the Theoretical Humour Perspectives, Cultural Continuities, and Developmental Aspects Related to the Comedy of Dawn French
Humour Investigation: An Analysis of the Theoretical Humour Perspectives, Cultural Continuities, and Developmental Aspects Related to the Comedy of Dawn French Thursday, 10 May 2007 Nationally acclaimed former cartoonist and short story writer for The New Yorker, James Thurber, said that “the wit makes fun of other persons; the satirist makes fun of the world; [and] the humorist makes fun of himself” (Moncur, 2007, p. 1). Despite his misogynistic pronoun usage and the obviously unforgivable atrocity of overly Americanizing the spelling of 'humourist,' he did nicely categorize three of the methodological approaches to comedic targets. What Thurber didn't account for, however, were those comedians and comediennes who pay little to no regard for the socially constructed boundaries in form; he didn't account for the wildly transcendental Dawn French. Dawn French was born in October of 1957 in Wales and since early adulthood she has honed her humour skills through numerous television performances, a largely successful sitcom, and feature-length films with her comedic partner in crime Jennifer Saunders (Wikipedia, 2007). Though she started her career in a non- mainstream vain of comedy in the UK, her first major public debut was her starring role as Geraldine Granger on BBC1's 1990s smash situational comedy, The Vicar of Dibley (Wikipedia, 2007). Thus, the majority of her comedy has taken place in very recent times—the mid-to-late 90s and on into the current decade. While she utilizes many different comedic modes and forms, French's humour largely revolves around a few central themes and consequent philosophies. When investigating those themes, it is necessary to view her career as being dichotomously split into the Vicar of Dibley era and the subsequent post-Vicar epoch. -
Dispatches: Representatives
1 TIMECODE NAME Dialogue MUSIC 00.00.01 NARRATOR This is the BBC academy podcast, essential listening for the production, journalism and technology broadcast communities. Your guide to everything from craft skills, to taking your next step in the industry. 00.00.13 CHARLES Hello, I’m Charles Miller, this week we’re hearing about the world of television comedy from one of its most successful practitioners, Jon Plowman. If you haven’t heard of him don’t worry, he’s a producer not a performer but his work includes plenty of shows you will have heard of. French and Saunders, the Vicar of Dibley, Absolutely Fabulous, The Office, W1A and there are plenty more. At an event for the Media Society, Jon Plowman was interviewed by journalist Phil Harding, Jon offered his take on scripts, stars and what makes a great sitcom. 00.00.47 CHARLES Phil started by asking about Jon’s comic roots, which were back in school, he was no good at sport but he could make people laugh but he never expected that to turn into a career. 00.00.59 JON I didn’t spend my life thinking I want to make people laugh, if I thought anything, particularly a bit later than school, end of school I thought I want to be a theatre director and I was lucky enough to get a job early on at the Royal Court Theatre, with a wonderful guy called Lindsay Anderson, who made, if you’re old enough, movies like If and Oh Lucky Man and was a very, very good theatre director. -
Jennifer Saunders
Profile Jennifer Saunders Jennifer Saunders with Joanna Lumley in a scene from the Absolutely Fabulous film “Turning can’t be that bad” Home is where the heart is for this 6versatile0 comedienne. By Simon Evans T IS the winter of 1980 and replacement. An impatient Alexei Sayle backstage at The Comic Strip, did it for them: “Ladies and gentlemen, London’s trendiest hang-out, French and Saunders”, he told the The Menopause Sisters are boisterous, baying audience. waiting to make their entrance. On this, their first night at the IThe setting is the Boulevard Theatre, Comedy Strip, the previous act had above Soho’s Raymond Revuebar strip been interrupted by a racist heckler. club, an unlikely host for what would Bottles were thrown, a fight broke out turn out to be a comedy revolution. The and the police were called, but Comic Strip had been running at French and Saunders ploughed on. the venue since October, and The “We were complete novices, we’d Menopause Sisters, better known to you come straight from college and had never and me as Dawn come across anything French and “I don’t need to know like this before,” Jennifer Saunders, recalled Saunders had breezed about everything many years later. through the club that’s happening all The profile of both audition largely performers and because of their the time.” audience at The gender. In those Comic Strip in those days female comedians were distinctly days was very male-dominated, but on thin on the ground. that night, and on many more to follow, Getting through the audition was the duo held their own and found an just the start of it, however. -
BBC ONE Spring/Summer 2002 17 Entertainment
Entertainment ENTERTAINMENT Alistair McGowan’s Big Impression Test The Nation – The National IQ Test Master of mimicry Alistair McGowan returns with a new series, aided and abetted by Ronni Ancona. In one of its most ambitious projects to date, the The dextrous duo whip through the world of BBC is giving viewers the chance to discover their showbiz and celebrity to bring viewers their IQ. Test The Nation -– The National IQ Test will unique interpretations of the lives of the rich and be the biggest survey ever conducted to determine famous. Favourite EastEnders faces, Big Brother just how clever the nation is. Every viewer in the lovebirds Helen and Paul and the unforgettable country will be able to join this live national event Richard and Judy make regular appearances, by watching the show, logging onto the internet while Posh and Becks leave the luxury of at www.bbc.co.uk/testthenation, and taking part Beckingham Palace to host daytime TV. through interactive TV. Newsroom tensions between Huw Edwards and Over the course of one evening, this live Jenny Bond reach new heights, but love is in the programme asks viewers at home and a studio air for comedian Alan Davies, who falls in love audience – including celebrities and six defined with black-and-white screen legend Bette Davis. demographic groups – to complete 70 National IQ Test questions. In a matter of hours, results New faces include the riotous Ruby Wax and from across the nation could prove or disprove quiz show Queen of Mean, Anne Robinson, who existing stereotypes and reveal whether are just two of the stars joining Louis Theroux in housewives are smarter than politicians, taxi Louis Potter And The Philosopher’s Scone. -
FUNNY MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD Education Resource
FUNNY MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD Education Resource Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Class Clowns program Melbourne International Comedy Festival Class Clowns and Deadly Funny Kids 240 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, Victoria are proudly supported by Phone: (03) 9245 3700 Email: [email protected] Website: classclowns.com.au Facebook: /MICFClassClowns Website: headspace.org.au Facebook: /headspaceAustralia © Melbourne International Comedy Festival Ltd 2015 Something familiar, something peculiar Something for everyone: a comedy tonight Something appealing, something appalling Something for everyone: a comedy tonight Something convulsive, something repulsive Something for everyone: a comedy tonight Something aesthetic, something frenetic Something for everyone: a comedy tonight Comedy Tonight, from Stephen Sondheim’s “A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum” Why an education resource? Making comedy and making people laugh is the ultimate education. In the process of thinking about and creating a comic routine/show you use critical thinking, you engage with audiences as you try out those ideas. You write, you improvise, you consider intercultural understanding (different cultures can find different things funny…or not), and consider what might offend or be appropriate. You might want to satirise or subvert common understandings, you engage with BIG ideas and consider who you are in this crazy world. You make art and you perform art. But wait, there’s more…when you engage with comedy you actually have to think about your sense of self, your identity, who you are and what you have to say. You ask others to listen to your ideas and stories, you take risks, you build confidence, you dare to fail, dare to be brave, you laugh and you cry with laughter. -
Vocal Persona
Tagg: Music’s Meanings 343 10. Vocal persona HE VOICE is mankind’s primary musical instrument.1 Its impor‐ tance has already been mentioned in conjunction with prosody, with timbre and aural staging, with pitch range and register, [NM10-Vox.fm. 2013-02-13,[NM10-Vox.fm. 23:50] and of course with melody. As we’ll see in Chapter 13, voice is also at the basis of several musical sign types, including transscansions, lan‐ guage identifiers and paralinguistic anaphones. The purpose of this chapter is to suggest ways of denoting perceptions of the nonverbal as‐ pects of voice. Before going any further I need to clarify two points. One is the mean‐ ing of PERSONA, the other an explanation of the mainly vernacular source of ideas presented in this chapter. Persona PERSON, without the final A, means an individual human being and PERSONALITY ‘the distinctive character or qualities of a person’. In Latin, Italian and Spanish PERSONA (with the final A) just means PERSON but in English PERSONA denotes ‘an aspect of the personality as shown to or per‐ ceived by others’.2 Actors, singers and other types of performer aren’t the only ones to present personas2 because we all have to assume different roles in different situations at different times of life. Here are sixteen ex‐ amples from my own life: [1] child in relation to parents; [2] parent in relation to a child; [3] student in relation to teachers and [4] fellow stu‐ dents; [5] teacher in relation to students and [6] colleagues as well as [7] administrators; [8] lover; [9] husband; [10] good friend; [11] reasonably 1. -
Stand-Up, Sketch and Chat
Stand-up, sketch and chat Laugh and the whole world laughs with you “As far as the big names are concerned the chatty man is fast becoming The Man” NEWS OF THE WORLD Alan Carr: Chatty Man A NICE NATTER ON THE SOFA Series 1-14 (61 x 30-35’ & 99 x 45’) Series 5-14 HD First TX date: 14 June 2009 Bafta-winning comedian Alan Carr presents his irrepressible chat show. Each episode sees three A-list celebrities welcomed onto Alan’s sofa, where the usual rules of the chat show don’t necessarily apply. Alan has interviewed the biggest names in showbiz, from top talent including Sir Ian McKellen, Bette Midler, David Tennant and Benedict Cumberbatch, right through to Hollywood superstars Drew Barrymore, Whoopi Goldberg, Bradley Cooper and Amanda Seyfried, and legendary funnymen Robin Williams, Dan Aykroyd, Ricky Gervais and Russell Brand. The Chatty Man studio also hosts a weekly live perfromance from a musical megastar, with guests so far including Justin Timberlake, Pet Shop Boys, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus and Rihanna, not to mention Katy Perry, The Killers, Lady Gaga, Michael Bublé, One Direction and Taylor Swift. There’s always high jinks, juicy gossip and, with Alan’s gently mocking approach, who knows what the celebrities will reveal about themselves? Awards Bafta Awards 2013 – Best Entertainment Performance National Television Awards 2012 – Most Popular Talk Show Starring Alan Carr Alan Carr: Spexy Beast, Alan Carr: Tooth Fairy Live Executive Producer Andrew Beint Live at the Apollo, Michael McIntyre’s Chat Show An Open Mike production for Channel 4 Distributed by BBC Worldwide SVOD CHANNEL 4 John Bishop’s Britain WHAT’S EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT? Series 1 & 2 (12 x 30’) HD First TX date: 30 July 2011 Welcome to John Bishop’s world! The critically acclaimed stand- up star shares his unique comedic take on a series of universal themes in this feel-good show. -
Article: Comedy Studies 'Women Like Us?' Dr Gilli Bush-Bailey Reader In
Article: Comedy Studies ‘Women Like Us?’ Dr Gilli Bush-Bailey Reader in Women’s Theatre History Department of Drama & Theatre Royal Holloway, University of London Abstract: This article works to excavate the historical depth of representations of working women in comedy, arguing that the construction of women in comedy has deep historical roots which are reflected in cultural understandings and expectations of women in popular performance today. Catherine Tate’s outraged (and outrageous) ‘Nan’ (2004), Mabel Constanduros’ ‘Emily’, a forerunner to her long-running and forthright radio character ‘Grandma Buggins’ (1925-48) and Fanny Kelly’s lovelorn, and lachrymose household servant, ‘Sally Simkin’ (1832), are just three examples among the numerous characters created by female comedy writers and performers over nearly two hundred years. Delighting their audiences with a potent mix of sentimentality undercut by their deliciously shocking observations about life, these characters work to demonstrate a deeply embedded set of constructs that make up the stereotypical representation of the metropolitan working woman. Deploying a deliberately eclectic mix of approaches from the cultural turn in performance theory and feminist revision I use the methodologies of theatre historiography to make connections between the latest women on the comedy sketch scene and their predecessors, arguing for renewed understandings in our critical appreciation of writing and performing ‘funny’ women. The shock of the (not so) new On Monday 20th February, 2012, the BBC broadcast the first of a new six part series by female comedy duo, Watson and Oliver. Lorna Watson and Ingrid Oliver have been regulars on the Edinburgh fringe and comedy circuits but are newcomers to BBC television and early reviews are generally sceptical about press claims that they are poised to take up the baton from British television favourites French and Saunders or from the more recent and current small-screen favourite Miranda Hart. -
Interview: Sophie Muller
Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media no. 19, 2020, pp. 211–218 DOI: https://doi.org/10.33178/alpha.19.19 Interview: Sophie Muller Emily Caston Figure 1: Sophie Muller. © Sophie Muller, Emily Caston This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License 212 Since her early videos for Annie Lennox and the Eurythmics, Sophie Muller has grown to be one of the most prominent pop music video directors in the world. She has shot over three hundred music videos through her prolific and celebrated career. Her work has won numerous awards, including a Grammy, multiple MTV and CMT awards, a Brit Award, a Music Week Award, and the MVPA Director of the Year Award. Muller’s extensive body of work includes music videos for Rihanna, Radiohead, Gwen Stefani, Beyoncé, Bjork, Coldplay, Bebe Rexha, P!nk, The Cure, Kings of Leon, Nelly Furtado, Maroon 5, Alicia Keys, The Killers, Morrissey, Blur and Beck. She has also shot stills campaigns and album covers for artist including Sade, Sophie Ellis Bextor and Gwen Stefani, and art-directed live tours, concert films and commercials. Interview conducted in London on 19 April 2018. I like people to be strong and unapologetic. I like them to be beautiful too, but not passive. I don’t like women to project an “I’m going to be a little girl in your pocket” image. When I started directing videos in the 1980s, women were able to be quite strong without being deemed aggressive. I don’t like the way so many artists are overtly sexual to camera these days, as if they are in a state of sexual arousal while they’re performing—almost everybody does it now as if it’s just normal and no one even bats an eyelid. -
Comedy at the BBC an Introduction to Comedy Writing What to Do Next
Comedy at the BBC Ever since the BBC began broadcasting to the nation, the word ‘entertain’ has been pretty high up on the STAND-UP agenda. As the UK blinked its way out of the darkness after the Second World War, it turned to the fledgling BBC to bring a smile back to the nation’s faces. With early radio programmes such as The Goons or Hancock’s Half Hour proving to be a huge success with the nations, the stage was set for comedy writers to bring us a huge range of television comedy programmes, from sketch shows like Monty Python’s Flying Circus, French and Saunders and That Mitchell and Webb Look to shows featuring stand-up comedy Russell Howard, Kevin Bridges, Sarah Millican, Omid Djalili, Michael McIntyre such as Mock the Week, Live at the Apollo and Russell Howard’s Good News. – some of Britain’s most popular TV celebrities are stand-up comedians. An introduction to comedy writing In the Class Joker activities, look out for the funniest people in your classroom. One of the most important ways we communicate is by making each other laugh. Telling someone This style of writing can encourage them to get their best jokes down on a funny joke is brilliant for everyone: the person who hears the joke feels good, and the person who paper before turning them into a filmed performance. Does your tells it does too. We share jokes among our school friends, at home with our family and as adults in the workplace. school contain some budding stand-ups? Comedy writing is all about using words and language to make people laugh. -
Explanations
Tagg: Music’s Meanings— Index 653 Index Explanations CONTENTS. This index contains: [1] proper names occurring in the main text and in the footnotes; [2] principal topics in main text and footnotes; [3] selected technical and theoretical terms; [4] other terms marked for indexing on at least three separate pages. The acknowledgements and reference appendix have not been indexed for this book. To find items not included in this index please use the e‐book version (PDF), obtainable via tagg.org/mmmsp/NonMusoInfo.htm. SYMBOLS. q = See another main entry; ! = See subentry under another main entry; = See also another main entry or other entries; ˆ = in relation to or as opposed to. Note that main entries referred to are always in THIS FONT, subentries in this font. EXAMPLES. [1] ‘q GUITAR’ under ACOUSTIC means See under GUITAR for page numbers relating to ACOUSTIC GUITAR. [2] ‘q MODE!maqām’ under ARAB means See the subentry MAQĀM un‐ der the main index entry MODE to find the pages where the modes of Arab music are men‐ tioned. [3] To find more page references to topics relating to ACCOMPANIMENT, See also un‐ der BACKGROUND (‘ BACKGROUND’). [4] The subentry ‘ˆ female’ under the main entry MALE means that the two concepts MALE and FEMALE are considered in relation to each other (on pp. 18, 86, 357, etc.) rather than separately. [5] ‘ˆ male q MALE ˆ FE‐ MALE’ under FEMALE means See the subentry ‘ˆ FEMALE’ under MALE for the same page references (pp. 18, 86, 357, etc.). ABBREVIATIONS. def. = definition; mus. = music[al]; repres. -
Josh Returns to Bbc Three for a Returns to Bbc Three
JOSH RETURNS TO BBC THREE FOR A SECOND SERIES THIS AUTUMN Coming to BBC Three, September 2016 6 x 30 min Episodes After a successful debut first series in 2015, hugely popular stand-up Josh Widdicombe returns for a second series of JoshJosh,,,, a quirky comedy about the highs and lows of life as an anxious old man trapped in an anxious young man’s body. Written by Josh Widdicombe and Tom Craine with Henry Paker and directed by David Schneider (I'm Alan Partridge and The Day Today), the 6 x 30 minute series will air on BBC Three this September (date to be confirmed). Josh is back and he’s nerdier and more awkward than ever. And his hopelessly selfish flat-mates aren’t helping matters. Welsh charmer and football shirt aficionado, Owen (ElisElis JamesJames) is sabotaging Josh’s love-life – again – and disaster-prone Kate (BeattieBeattie EdmondsonEdmondson)Edmondson is scoring more own-goals than Josh’s beloved Plymouth Argyle. Not to mention over-familiar landlord, Geoff (JackJack DeeDee), who always seems to be popping round and getting in the way. Things don’t run smoothly for Josh as he gets embroiled with a sexually-voracious cougar, attempts to evict a drug-taking squatter from his flat and tries to end ten years of friendship with the world’s most boring man, a.k.a. Pete The Depressed Potato. Expect plenty of exasperated grumbling, a glossary of nostalgic nineties references and a host of brilliant guest-star cameos, including Tamzin OutOuthhhhwaitewaite (Eastenders, New Tricks), Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous, French and Saunders, Comic Strip), Michael Ball (singer, theatre star and Radio 2 DJ), Emma Bunton (The Spice Girls), Miles Jupp (Rev) and Mike Wozniak (Man Down ).