Reading Response 3:
Ridicule
I really found the ridicule section of Laughing Matters interesting. I think the main reason is that that is almost the only humor my friends and I use. Yes, there are quick witticisms here and there, but for the most part it is blatant assholishness. So, for one the concept of ridicule hits close to home. And second, there are many examples in the text about how ridicule alone can strip the government of its power. Me being a political science student, this interests me.
Government examples: Fidel Castro Cuba, Hugo Chavez Venezuela, Vladimir Putin Russia. What I notice about most of these countries is that they want to have a lot of power, and influence. With humor circling through their country, they feel insecure about people might take it. Also most of these governments were obtained through coup de tats so they might imagine that the same would happen to them, and that the ridicule of humor would prompt it.
Although this may not have much to do with ridicule, the mere chance or opportunity for people to get a joke in edgewise where humor is censored is jumped at by many. Example: Iran. I really like the statement “Every joke is a tiny revolution.” GO. I also found that the Nazis squelched ridicule, but their allies, the Italians and Benito Mousolini did not. So it can be used as an offensive weapon.
Can also be used as a defensive weapon. Used a lot in pop culture in America. Donald Duck’s fuerher’s face. Team America world police. Monty python and the holy grail. All classic movies that inbed ridicule into their scripts. Seems as though a lot are used with war, but some instances have been used to forward elections. Can even turn the tide of battle, as it did with the US colonists against the british.
-More extreme the leader, more susceptible to ridicule.
-Americans don’t dare fuck with Korea, Yet Pakistan does.
-It sticks
- target can’t refute it
-boosts morale
-gets better with each retelling
-spreads on it own.
-more examples, just too long to type them all out.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Reading Response 2
Reading Response 2:
The beginning of chapter three of Comedy Writing Secrets really intrigued me. It boiled down the 6 essential ingredients that make humor, well, humor. I know there are 6, and the explanations are lengthy, but I’ll sum then up as quickly as possible. They are, in order by book, not by importance necessarily, target, hostility, realism, exaggeration, emotion, and surprise. What this chapter draws on are the ways in which these six things make people funny. These ideas really interest me because I consider myself fairly funny, but have never really thought about what I put into my endless one-liners. These topics boil it down for me.
I’ll start off with target. In my opinion, Helitzner has gotten everything in this section correct. His targets of self, sex, celebrities, places, products, and ideas hit the nail on the head. When I think of humor I think of the cruel, quick jabs that my friends and I throw back and forth to each other constantly. You know, if one’s voice cracks, that’s the next ten to twelve jokes. Or if our friend who is extremely self-conscious buys a “girly” hair product, his day is potentially ruined by our incessant jokes. I would never think of making fun of a person with a disability, or person who got in a car accident, although I’m sure I’ve let one of those slip before.
In his next segment, Helitzner speaks of hostility. Although I agree with him on all of his targets of hostility, some of which include family affairs, and authority, I believe there are other things that evoke hostility. For example, bad drivers and stupid are two that top my list. I do however find hostility a large part of humor because if you are dissatisfied with something, then you think about what exactly pisses you off about it. You pick and choose certain things to actually make fun of. Because, as Helitzner says, the more narrow your subject, the better chance you have to surprise your audience.
I do not think I grasped the concept of realism very well. I got through the section without realizing it was over. What I picked up from it was that humor should be as realistic as possible. The example that helped me understand this section was Robert Wohl’s one-liner, “If the world if normal, then how come hot dogs come in packages of ten, and hot dog buns come in packages of eight.” I think this is a good topic to discuss because it really is important. I’m pretty sure that space aliens are not as funny as some of the “normal” stuff in our everyday life.
Exaggeration is a large part of humor, but I think most people know that. It might be good to discuss in class, but it seems that exaggeration is pretty self-explanatory as to why it makes normal occurrences funny.
The fifth element is emotion. Emotion, although all of the aspects are important, seems to be the most important. I mean really, if you think about it, if a comedian did not have emotion, he wouldn’t be very funny. I really like how the book went into detail of how to build and create emotion to be funny. This could be a really good talking point in class.
And finally comes surprise. What is comedy without surprise? Not much. The book doesn’t go into too much detail here because surprise is, well, surprise. However, I did like the phrase “Comedy is mentally pulling the rug out from under each person in your audience.”
The reason I like this part is because, not only does it give specific detail, but Helitzner makes the THREES formula interesting. The other thing I like about this is that all six of these aspects tie in with the MAP formula as well. So undoubtedly, there are many relevant and important talking points here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYCoZhIUtu4&feature=channel
I chose this Dane Cook bit, not because I think it’s his funniest, because he does have some funny material, but because I could find a way to equate all of his actions to the THREES formula.
The beginning of chapter three of Comedy Writing Secrets really intrigued me. It boiled down the 6 essential ingredients that make humor, well, humor. I know there are 6, and the explanations are lengthy, but I’ll sum then up as quickly as possible. They are, in order by book, not by importance necessarily, target, hostility, realism, exaggeration, emotion, and surprise. What this chapter draws on are the ways in which these six things make people funny. These ideas really interest me because I consider myself fairly funny, but have never really thought about what I put into my endless one-liners. These topics boil it down for me.
I’ll start off with target. In my opinion, Helitzner has gotten everything in this section correct. His targets of self, sex, celebrities, places, products, and ideas hit the nail on the head. When I think of humor I think of the cruel, quick jabs that my friends and I throw back and forth to each other constantly. You know, if one’s voice cracks, that’s the next ten to twelve jokes. Or if our friend who is extremely self-conscious buys a “girly” hair product, his day is potentially ruined by our incessant jokes. I would never think of making fun of a person with a disability, or person who got in a car accident, although I’m sure I’ve let one of those slip before.
In his next segment, Helitzner speaks of hostility. Although I agree with him on all of his targets of hostility, some of which include family affairs, and authority, I believe there are other things that evoke hostility. For example, bad drivers and stupid are two that top my list. I do however find hostility a large part of humor because if you are dissatisfied with something, then you think about what exactly pisses you off about it. You pick and choose certain things to actually make fun of. Because, as Helitzner says, the more narrow your subject, the better chance you have to surprise your audience.
I do not think I grasped the concept of realism very well. I got through the section without realizing it was over. What I picked up from it was that humor should be as realistic as possible. The example that helped me understand this section was Robert Wohl’s one-liner, “If the world if normal, then how come hot dogs come in packages of ten, and hot dog buns come in packages of eight.” I think this is a good topic to discuss because it really is important. I’m pretty sure that space aliens are not as funny as some of the “normal” stuff in our everyday life.
Exaggeration is a large part of humor, but I think most people know that. It might be good to discuss in class, but it seems that exaggeration is pretty self-explanatory as to why it makes normal occurrences funny.
The fifth element is emotion. Emotion, although all of the aspects are important, seems to be the most important. I mean really, if you think about it, if a comedian did not have emotion, he wouldn’t be very funny. I really like how the book went into detail of how to build and create emotion to be funny. This could be a really good talking point in class.
And finally comes surprise. What is comedy without surprise? Not much. The book doesn’t go into too much detail here because surprise is, well, surprise. However, I did like the phrase “Comedy is mentally pulling the rug out from under each person in your audience.”
The reason I like this part is because, not only does it give specific detail, but Helitzner makes the THREES formula interesting. The other thing I like about this is that all six of these aspects tie in with the MAP formula as well. So undoubtedly, there are many relevant and important talking points here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYCoZhIUtu4&feature=channel
I chose this Dane Cook bit, not because I think it’s his funniest, because he does have some funny material, but because I could find a way to equate all of his actions to the THREES formula.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Reading Response 1
Chapter one of Comedy Writing Secrets was not at all what I was expecting. Not only did it teach me how to write funny, but it also gave me tips on how to act funny, and be funny. It gave me all the tools I needed to become a decent “funny writer.” From the “Map to being a successful humorist, to the very basics of “The Benefits of Humor Writing,” and finally to the core problem, “But I Ain’t Funny,” the reading describes, in detail how to hone one’s ability to be funny.
I really found the exercise used in the first section about imagination interesting. I always thought that humor that humor contained a large amount of imagination, but I also believed that the imagination that comedians exhibited was inherent. I never thought of exercises that could help with the imagination needed to be funny, but I guess these comedians use them all the time.
I also found the section, “The Map to Being a Successful Humorist” interesting. This section got down to the “nitty-gritty” of being funny. I found the three most important things to being funny, in order, quite puzzling. I would have never thought that the audience would be the most important aspect. I just assumed that the material was the most important. However, the book put this in a new perspective for me. I had never thought about the audience because I am used to seeing Comedy Central greats like Dane Cook and Dimitri Martin sitting in front of thousands of fans doing the same type of humor. But I guess the people that like their types of humor go to their shows. I never thought of beginning comedians in bars and gigs that weren’t in front of hundreds of fans. These “newcomers” have to make their own fans. And I surely would have thought material came before the performer. However, according to the book, the persona that the comedian embodies is the second most important thing to being funny. The look of the performer is a very important characteristic to the audience.
Finally, I found the amount of time that young and old comedians alike spend gathering and processing new material awing. I had also imagined that they spent a few hours a day trying to gather new material, but I never thought that it was a full-time job. I found the facts presented in this section really interesting too. How much time would it have taken to make 6 million jokes on index cards as Milton Berle and Bob Hope did.
I found, throughout the chapter, that the psyche and imagination of great comedians is something to respect and admire. The time and effort put into their job is something that, although most people may not think of as intensive, is more time-consuming and taxing than most people’s every day jobs.
Question: Are there other exercises, like the one mentioned on page 8 of Comedy Writing Secretes, that help people hone their imagination and help them become funnier?
I really found the exercise used in the first section about imagination interesting. I always thought that humor that humor contained a large amount of imagination, but I also believed that the imagination that comedians exhibited was inherent. I never thought of exercises that could help with the imagination needed to be funny, but I guess these comedians use them all the time.
I also found the section, “The Map to Being a Successful Humorist” interesting. This section got down to the “nitty-gritty” of being funny. I found the three most important things to being funny, in order, quite puzzling. I would have never thought that the audience would be the most important aspect. I just assumed that the material was the most important. However, the book put this in a new perspective for me. I had never thought about the audience because I am used to seeing Comedy Central greats like Dane Cook and Dimitri Martin sitting in front of thousands of fans doing the same type of humor. But I guess the people that like their types of humor go to their shows. I never thought of beginning comedians in bars and gigs that weren’t in front of hundreds of fans. These “newcomers” have to make their own fans. And I surely would have thought material came before the performer. However, according to the book, the persona that the comedian embodies is the second most important thing to being funny. The look of the performer is a very important characteristic to the audience.
Finally, I found the amount of time that young and old comedians alike spend gathering and processing new material awing. I had also imagined that they spent a few hours a day trying to gather new material, but I never thought that it was a full-time job. I found the facts presented in this section really interesting too. How much time would it have taken to make 6 million jokes on index cards as Milton Berle and Bob Hope did.
I found, throughout the chapter, that the psyche and imagination of great comedians is something to respect and admire. The time and effort put into their job is something that, although most people may not think of as intensive, is more time-consuming and taxing than most people’s every day jobs.
Question: Are there other exercises, like the one mentioned on page 8 of Comedy Writing Secretes, that help people hone their imagination and help them become funnier?
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