What Is Comedy?
Comedy is a scientific mix of calamity and surprise
Students, why do we laugh? Is it because the ghosts of sitcom studio audiences are escaping through our mouths? Yes, that’s part of it, but we mostly laugh because of comedy. But what is comedy?
Comedy comes from self-deprecation. Take it from me: it turns out a post-divorce pratfall from grace is a great way to stumble into teaching an eight-in-the-morning Comedic Arts 101 class at a community college.
Comedy is repetition. What is comedy? What is comedy? What is comedy? I’ve been thinking about that question, the question ‘what is comedy,’ ever since Chloe left me, and I’ve found some answers that answer the question, “What is comedy?”
Comedy is anything that evokes a wry smile, a guffaw, a snort, a laugh, a falling-out-of-your-chair paroxysm that leaves you pounding your fist into the only belongings you could grab while she chased you out of the apartment.
Is comedy when your ex-mother-in-law slips on an iRobot Roomba 692 and falls down a flight of stairs? If she suffered only minor injuries, yes, absolutely — but only later on, because comedy=tragedy plus time. How much time? In this case, a few hours.
Words with a ‘k’ sound are comedy: Jack Black was incarcerated for kicking his crazy cat into Kim…
