Characteristics of Humor

Hyperbole/Exaggeration
A figure of speech (a form of irony) in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect; an extravagant statement

Satire
Human ridiculousness we want to avoid Can also be called scornful comedy Usually centers around a moral/social injustice to prove how it is wrong Satire doesn't have to be political, but it has to cut to the core of the hypocrisy/idiocy of its real-life target in a way such that the most frequent targets are stupid political or social viewpoints.

Sarcasm
a remark made usually to hurt someone's feelings or show scorn Sarcasm is often used in satire.

Parody
To mock or humorously imitate an existing work Examples:
o Shrek=fairy tales parody o Weird Al Yankovich songs (Beat It Like a Surgeon)

Examples of Parody
Popular movies that fall under the parody category include: Police Academy (spoof on police movies of the 1980s) Austin Powers (spoof on James Bond movies) Blazing Saddles (spoof on American Western movies) Scary Movie (spoof on horror movies)

Irony
(we know it isnt on the notes sheet, add it to the bottom) 3 types: dramatic, situational, verbal Dramatic: audience knows something character does not Situational: audience expectations differ from what actually occurs Verbal: what is said is opposite of what is meant

Pun
oA play on words oSometimes on different senses of the same word oSometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words.

Examples of Puns
To write with a broken pencil is pointless. He said I was average - but he was just being mean. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because it was a weapon of math disruption.

The purpose of puns

The pun-user may play with words in any way necessary to fit purpose:
o Jokes o To fit a theme o To show the archetypal smart character (uses clever sayings, often to provide comic relief in tragedies) o To make an ALLUSION to a well known work (foreshadowing)

Pun Purpose To fit a theme

Opening Scene of Shark Tale City is modeled after New York City Purpose-To make everything in Times Square fit an underwater/ocean theme

Katie Current=Katie Courick Gup Store=Gap Martha Sturgeons Flowers=Martha Stewart Fish King=Burger King Walk of Fame~Cod Stewart=Rod Stewart, Mussell Crowe=Russell Crowe, Jessica Shrimpson=Jessica Simpson, Seal=a seal, the animal, plops onto star Prawn Shop=Pawn Shop Shell Phones=Cell Phones Scallop Poll=Gallup Poll

 Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Episode: I Know Why the Caged Bird Screams puns Angelous I Know why the Caged Bird Sings o Foreshadows that there will be a caged bird in the episode-Carlton, in peacock mascot suit, gets captured by rival school

Pun PurposeTo make an allusion/foreshadow

Simpsons Episode: "The Crepes of Wrath puns Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath o Foreshadows that the setting will be in France (crepes) and that a character (Bart, in this case) will experience Great Depression-like circumstances

Joke
something said or done to provoke laughter or cause amusement, as a witticism, a short and amusing anecdote, or a prankish act

Joke Examples
Can't you retain anything in your head overnight? Of course, I've had this cold in my head for two days! Are you in the top half of your class? No, I'm one of the students who make the top half possible! The picture of the horse is good, but where is the wagon? The horse will draw it

Caricature
a picture, description, etc., ludicrously exaggerating the peculiarities or defects of persons or things

Example of Caricature

Example of Caricature

Anecdote
short account (or narrative) of an interesting or amusing incident, often intended to illustrate or support some point

Example of an anecdote
Here's one: Growing up in California, Kevin Spacey was a difficult child. Years later, he was asked why, at the age of 14, his parents had shipped him off to military academy following an incident. "I won't tell you exactly what the incident was that made my parents send me to military school," Spacey replied. "Let's just say it involved my sister's tree-house and some matches."

What is this?
There was the person who sent an e-mail with ten different puns to his friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.