Comedy Devices
description
Transcript of Comedy Devices
Comedy Devices
Disclaimer: These devices do not appear in comedy alone. They appear in many types of other literary works, but they are heavily employed in comedies.
Physical Comedy and Mishaps
• Falling down, running into things• No language is needed• 3 Stooges
Name-calling, mispronunciations, malpropisms
• Verbal errors or simple humor tactics• Malpropisms—misused words
Hyperbole and Understatement
• Hyperbole: an exaggeration• More than what it is• “my head is killing me”
• Understatement: less than what it is• Putting Neosporin on a broken leg
Irony
• Dramatic irony: when the audience knows what is going on but the characters do not• Horror movies
• Situational irony: when the actual outcome is opposite of the expected one• Fire station burning down
• Verbal irony: when one person says one thing but means another• “Lucky me” when you step in mud• Sarcasm: a cutting unkind remark mean to show disapproval
• “Way to go, Einstein”
Puns
• Play on words based on words with multiple meanings• “I’m feeling hoarse today. I think I have a colt.”
Parody
• Imitation of a work that has already been made• Weird Al
Satire
• Comedy of ideas• Highlights a personal, social, or political issue meant to
correct• Saturday Night Live