Name ________________________________________________________ Teacher’s Name ______________________________________________ English ____ – Period _____ __________________________________________ Date Month Year Devices of Comedy Part I. DEVICES OF COMEDY. Consider each of the devices of comedy listed below, and then try to come up with examples that you know from television, film, or literature that illustrate these terms. We will go over each term and then try to generate modern examples as a class. ANACHRONISM - Something is anachronistic if it is out of sync with a time period. For instance, if there were a television in the set of an otherwise entirely historical production of a Shakespearean play, that television would serve as an anachronism. In a “Moonlighting Atomic Shakespeare” adaptation of the Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio arrives on his horse with a BMW symbol painted on the rear of his horse just as flying ninjas come bounding through the air (utterly out of place) into the midst of swordplay. ELEVATED LANGUAGE – Language that is overblown, flowery, or lofty (particularly juxtaposed to a more base version of the same language) is said to be “elevated.” Students might think of someone like the brother Nigel on the sitcom “Frasier” who had difficulty speaking to everyday people; in Twelfth Night, the actor playing Malvolio very likely enunciates his words as if he is just a bit more high-brow than his station actually allows. In The Taming of the Shrew, Sly, a drunkard can hardly understand the noblemen who find it hysterical to pretend that Sly is one of them when he so obviously is not—not in station, not in vocabulary, not in diction. FLAWED LOGIC – When a speaker bases an argument upon a faulty premise, then constructs other seemingly logical ideas upon that false assumption, the result may be ridiculously off target even though the steps seem logical. This fallacy might be illustrated by a statement suggesting that “because pigs can fly, and ducks can talk, we know it is reasonable to train dogs to do the dishes and other household chores.” JUXTAPOSITION OF THE TRIVIAL WITH THE MOMENTOUS —When something ridiculously unimportant is paired with something else that is of magnificent scope and importance, the effect is hilariously out of kilter. In Alexander Pope’s Mock Epic The Rape of the Lock, Pope compares Belinda’s stolen lock of hair to rape because it is snipped without permission by an enraptured baron; this comparison is ridiculously disproportionate. IRONY DRAMATIC – The audience realizes truths that the characters grossly misjudge or fail to see, thus creating an “inside joke” between the author and the audience. SITUATIONAL – The circumstances are incongruent with what should be true; when an improbable situation creates a discrepancy between expected and real results, the situation is awkward For instance, if a fire station burned down or if a minister claimed he were an atheist, those instances would be the opposite from what a reasonable person would expect. VERBAL - This is when the words spoken are intended to mean the opposite of what the speaker says; generally the speaker intends the listener to pick up on either All Rights Reserved. Audrey Baylor. 2012 1 exaggeration or understatement. Verbal irony is not interchangeable with sarcasm since sarcasm is used to inflict harm, but verbal irony need not have a hurtful intent behind it. MISTAKEN IDENTITY - This is when one character is wrongly identified, either literally (identical twins may easily be confused resulting in humorous situations) or more loosely defined when a character is misidentified; for example, one character may make a false assumption about another character and then wrongly act on that false assumption. This may mean that the character George believes that Mary is Susan and behaves inappropriately according to this wrong assumption, or it could be that George believes that his future mother-in-law (whom he has never previously met) arrives just as George was expecting a masseuse, and thus he starts removing his clothes for his expected massage. PARODY - A humorous imitation of the original. Students may be familiar with an online magazine like The Onion that uses parody as its primary medium for social and political criticism. They may also be familiar with music video parodies, like recent humorous adaptations of Adele videos. PLAYS ON WORDS/PUNS/MALAPROPISMS - By using words that sound the same or very nearly the same (but have very different meanings), the writer implies multiple meanings to a line. A malapropism mis-uses or mispronounces a word for gross (but hilarious) misapplication of a word. Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing is best known for his prolific use of malapropisms. REVERSAL OF FORTUNE – The economic, social station shift or entire exchange of position occurs when two opposite types exchange roles or places. For instance, someone who is very wealthy becomes very poor, or someone with no education is given an honorary doctoral degree and allowed to run a school. Movies or television shows are sometimes based upon this premise—Trading Places, The Jeffersons, Two Broke Girls; in Shakespeare, sometimes a servant may be asked to impersonate his master, resulting in humorous misunderstandings and chaos, as in The Taming of the Shrew when Tranio becomes Lucentio. It might mean that a character who was once favored falls in station, as when Bianca who was once the favored daughter falls from grace as Katherine’s obedience is shown to be superior to her sister. SCATALOGICAL – Bathroom humor or dirty jokes are called scatological. These were a clear favorite of the groundlings at the Globe, but raucous humor was relished by those seated in the Lord’s chairs were most likely equally entertained by inappropriate ribald innuendo. Shakespearean plays often have scatological humor that modern readers miss without the delivery of professional actors. SLAPSTICK – Physical humor never goes out of style. From Shakespeare to The Three Stooges almost everyone laughs aloud at the exaggerated smacks and antics of actors who fall down. STYCHOMYTHIA – This is the fast-paced exchange of lines with each line building upon puns from the previous line. The initial exchange between Petruchio and Kate in The Taming of the Shrew is ripe and raw with bawdy lines bandied back and forth in quick repartee. INEVITABLE FAVORABLE RESOLUTION – Comedies must end happily—in fact, initially, the term “comedy” referred to the happy ending of a play; today we think of a comedy as a light-hearted romp that makes us laugh, but in its earliest form, a comedy just needed to end well, leaving audiences to experience a pleasant moment perhaps resulting in a smile. Part II. COMEDIC CHARACTER TYPES. Consider each of the comedic character types listed below, and then try to come up with examples from television, film, or literature that you know which illustrate these terms. We will go over each term and then try to generate modern examples as a class. This list is by no means exhaustive of all possible character types. You might want to add to the list as a class. CAROUSER – The party guy who doesn’t know when to stop. More modern productions allow the carouser to be a female as well. All Rights Reserved. Audrey Baylor. 2012 2 CONFIDANT – The sidekick who hears the inside scoop from the protagonist, the person to whom secrets are confessed. A confidant can be of either gender; the term confidante used to be used in reference to women (although this use has become archaic). In early twentieth century comedies, the confidant was also called the “the straight man” – because he listened generally straight-faced to hilarious lines. CLOWN OR FOOL – In the Elizabethan Age, a court Fool was a jester hired by the court to make people laugh, to deliver witticisms and puns, but he was more than just funny: He was expected to offer insightful commentary in a humorous way. He could get by delivering truths that others would have trembled to offer, as long as he did so humorously. A modern age Fool might be someone like Will Ferrell or Chris Rock. CUCKOLD – A man who is clueless that his wife is cheating on him is a cuckold. DIVA – A strong-willed, self-absorbed woman who orders about everyone for her own benefit and pleasure. FOP – A court dandy, a self-absorbed (sometimes overtly effeminate) man who sees himself as quite the ladies’ man, he is often cast as an unwanted suitor who loses out at love. GENTLEMAN-IN-LOVE – He is a naively sweet, young man who falls for the Ingénue. HEIRESS – A wealthy young woman set to inherit a significant portion of an estate. INGENUE – An unsophisticated and naïve young maiden who is generally as sweet as she is gullible and hotly pursued by a variety of smitten suitors. JUDGE OR JUDICIOUS LEADER – The judge might literally be a judge of a court, but he might just as well be the respected ruler, political head, or arbiter for the community, someone who settles disputes between key characters with trusted equanimity MISANTHROPE – He is a crusty, disgruntled character who dislikes people and is irritated with interactions and conflicts, generally expecting the worst of everyone. NURSEMAID OR GOVERNESS – A warm, motherly woman who tends and cares for an ingénue, loves her unconditionally, and offers ceaseless advice. PANTALOON – He is a fussy, old man who pursues young women much to everyone else’s amusement. SHREW – A shrew is an impossibly bitchy woman; in fact, in The Elizabethan Age, the word “shrew” and “bitch” would have been interchangeable—which puts a bit of a spin on the title The Taming of the Shrew since even today most people would find a title like “The Taming of the Bitch” abrasive and offensive.