Forms of ComedySTAND-UP
There's nothing wrong with stand-up comedy as a venue, per se. I mean, there are a select few stand-up comics who are brilliantly funny. Your Steve Martins, Lewis Blacks, Louis C.K.s, et al. Trouble is, the other 95 to 99 percent of the rest are horrible. Awful. It's just that it's so disgustingly derivative. It's one thing to discuss the absurdities of everyday life or funny concepts, but once you lapse into 1) how men and women are different, 2) how the races are different, 3) stories about your craaaazy family or 4) your sex/relationship life, you've headed into old and tired territory. And that's most of stand-up comedy. Minus 5 bullets.
SKETCH COMEDY
Sketches are perhaps the best way to get across high-concept ideas that you don't necessarily want to flesh out into a real story. It's unfortunate that just about all of the TV sketch comedy right now is on the cusp of vomit-inducing -- sketches aren't supposed to be 20 minutes long, people -- because sketch comedy probably has the most potential of any other comedy form. A lot of the most cutting-edge stuff from the past 40 years has been sketch comedy from Monty Python to Kids in the Hall to Mr. Show. Hopefully somebody will figure out a way to revive it soon. Plus 6 bullets.
SITCOMS
(CHARACTER 1 enters, audience applauds)
CHARACTER 1: Hey buddy, what's up?
CHARACTER 2: Not much.
(audience laughs hysterically)
CHARACTER 1: Did you hear? Mrs. Loveworth's daughter is getting married!
CHARACTER 2: We have to stop the wedding! But how?
CHARACTER 1: We'll dress as bridesmaids, even though we're actually men!
(audience laughs hysterically yet again)
ANNOUNCER: "Completely Overcomplicated Plans for Problems that Could Be Solved Pretty Easily" will return in a moment!
Minus 4 bullets.
CHARACTER 1: Hey buddy, what's up?
CHARACTER 2: Not much.
(audience laughs hysterically)
CHARACTER 1: Did you hear? Mrs. Loveworth's daughter is getting married!
CHARACTER 2: We have to stop the wedding! But how?
CHARACTER 1: We'll dress as bridesmaids, even though we're actually men!
(audience laughs hysterically yet again)
ANNOUNCER: "Completely Overcomplicated Plans for Problems that Could Be Solved Pretty Easily" will return in a moment!
Minus 4 bullets.
HUMOROUS ESSAYS
I'm probably a little biased on this one, but for my money, there's no purer form of comedy than the humorous essay. They're a little more difficult to deal with, in that you have to establish a voice through what you write rather than what you say, but it's ultimately more satisfying too -- different readers can appreciate a piece in different ways. But, best of all, if an essay really sucks, you can just stop reading it. It's kind of rude to walk out on a stand-up comic or change the channel away from a sketch show if you're watching it with someone else, but with an essay, the second you see it's not going to be funny, you can just move right on. It's beautiful. Plus 7 bullets.
CARTOONS/COMIC STRIPS
The cartoons in The New Yorker and a lot of web strips can be pretty good, but the main example of this format that I really love is Gilded Age-era, American-style political cartoons. As soon as you see a cartoon with a giant man labled "Boss Tweed" kicking a little guy called "Justice" in the butt, you can't dispute the potential of these things. Plus 2 bullets.
COMEDY OF MANNERS
B: Oh dearest, Lord Foppsworth! I do believe I have misplaced my quill pen!
F: Baron Bumblthorpe, I'm afraid I've played the most hilarious of practical jokes! It's been here in my jacket pocket the whole time!
B: Oh my, how terribly droll and clever of you!
F: I do say so! (muttered laughter)
B: I say, Foppsworth, I've also misplaced my handkerchief! How might I laugh coyly into it?
F: Bumblethorpe, I've gotten you again! It was here in my cummerbund all along!
B: Oh my dearest me!
That's how people used to talk. Minus 1 bullet.
Which form of comedy was this opinions piece? None of the above, I think. It's actually pretty dubious that it was comedy at all.
F: Baron Bumblthorpe, I'm afraid I've played the most hilarious of practical jokes! It's been here in my jacket pocket the whole time!
B: Oh my, how terribly droll and clever of you!
F: I do say so! (muttered laughter)
B: I say, Foppsworth, I've also misplaced my handkerchief! How might I laugh coyly into it?
F: Bumblethorpe, I've gotten you again! It was here in my cummerbund all along!
B: Oh my dearest me!
That's how people used to talk. Minus 1 bullet.
Which form of comedy was this opinions piece? None of the above, I think. It's actually pretty dubious that it was comedy at all.
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