The Comedy Portal

Caricature

Caricature


Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term originated in ancient Greece: in Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by political satire performed by comic poets in theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing agon or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old". A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses which engender dramatic irony, which provokes laughter.

Satire and political satire use comedy to portray people or social institutions as ridiculous or corrupt, thus alienating their audience from the object of their humor. Parody subverts popular genres and forms, critiquing those forms without necessarily condemning them.

Other forms of comedy include screwball comedy, which derives its humor largely from bizarre, surprising (and improbable) situations or characters, and black comedy, which is characterized by a form of humor that includes darker aspects of human behavior or human nature. Similarly scatological humor, sexual humor, and race humor create comedy by violating social conventions or taboos in comic ways, which can often be taken as offensive by the subjects of said joke. A comedy of manners typically takes as its subject a particular part of society (usually upper-class society) and uses humor to parody or satirize the behavior and mannerisms of its members. Romantic comedy is a popular genre that depicts burgeoning romance in humorous terms and focuses on the foibles of those who are falling in love. (Full article...)

Show new selections below (purge)

Selected article

Ricky Gervais, creator of the UK version
The Office is an award-winning American television comedy which deals with the daily lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictitious Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. Although fictional and scripted, the show takes the form of a documentary, with the presence of the camera openly acknowledged. Based on the British series of the same name, it was adapted for U.S. audiences by executive producer Greg Daniels, a veteran writer of Saturday Night Live, King of the Hill and The Simpsons. Original series creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant have production credits on the show, and wrote an episode for the show's third season. It is co-produced by Greg Daniels' Deedle-Dee Productions and Reveille Productions, in association with NBC Universal Television Studio. The show debuted on NBC as a midseason replacement on March 24, 2005 and is broadcast on that network in the United States and other television stations around the world. It will be available for syndication in late 2009. In Fall 2007 TBS started broadcasting episodes once a week, and will begin broadcasting the series five days a week in Fall 2009. The Fox Television Stations group have also obtained syndication rights starting in late 2009.

Selected picture

Truthiness
Credit: ReignMan

A church sign stating, "Truthiness and Consequences", taken March 10, 2007, in Cape Coral, Florida. Truthiness is a quality characterizing a "truth" that a person making an argument or assertion claims to know intuitively "from the gut" or because it "feels right" without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts. American television comedian Stephen Colbert coined the word in this meaning as the subject of a segment called "The Wørd" during the pilot episode of his political satire program The Colbert Report on October 17, 2005. By using this as part of his routine, Colbert satirized the misuse of appeal to emotion and "gut feeling" as a rhetorical device in contemporaneous socio-political discourse.

More did you know...

Did you know?

Selected quote

Comedy is the art of making people laugh without making them puke. — Steve Martin

Selected biography

Ben Stiller photographed by Jerry Avenaim
Benjamin Edward Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an Emmy-winning American comedian, actor, film producer and director. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. After beginning his acting career with a play, he wrote several mockumentaries, and was offered two of his own shows, both entitled The Ben Stiller Show. After acting in a few films, Stiller had his directional debut with Reality Bites, and has since written, starred, directed, and produced over fifty films and television shows. Stiller's films have grossed $1.38 billion. Stiller is a member of the comedic acting brotherhood known as the Frat Pack. With multiple cameos in music videos, television shows, and films, he may be best known for his roles in There's Something About Mary, Zoolander, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Meet the Parents, its sequel Meet the Fockers, and Night at the Museum. Throughout his career, Stiller has received several awards and honors including an Emmy Award, several MTV Movie Awards, and a Teen Choice Award. Stiller's most recent role was in the film The Heartbreak Kid.

Did you know (auto-generated)

Nuvola apps filetypes.svg

Categories

Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories

Related portals

Main topics

Main topics

Terms: Black comedyComedianComedy clubComedy of mannersConvention (norm)IronyKomosParodyPolitical satireRace humorRestoration comedySatireScrewball comedySurreal humourTabooToilet humor

Comedy genres: BouffonComedy filmAnarchic comedy filmGross-out filmParody filmRomantic comedy filmScrewball comedy filmSlapstick filmComic novelDramedyImprovisational comedyMusical comedyStand-up comedyAlternative comedyImpressionist (entertainment)One-liner jokeComedy genresSketch comedyTelevision comedyRadio comedySituation comedyTragicomedy

History of theatre: Ancient Greek comedyAncient Roman comedyBurlesqueCitizen comedyClownComedy of humoursComedy of mannersComedy of menaceComédie larmoyanteCommedia dell'arteFaceJesterRestoration comedyShakespearean comedyDadaist/SurrealistTheatre of the absurd

Comedy events and awards: British Comedy AwardsCanadian Comedy AwardsCat Laughs Comedy FestivalEdinburgh Festival FringeJust for laughs • Halloween Howls Comedy Festival • Melbourne International Comedy FestivalNew York Underground Comedy Festival

Lists: List of comediansList of British comediansList of Canadian comediansList of Finnish comediansList of German language comediansList of Italian comediansList of Mexican comediansList of Puerto Rican comediansList of Indian comediansList of British TV shows remade for the American marketList of comediesList of New York Improv comedians

Featured content

Featured article star.png

Featured articles

Featured lists

Featured pictures

  • Bon-Ton Burlesquers2
    Bon-Ton Burlesquers2
  • Busterkeaton edit
    Busterkeaton edit
  • George Romney - William Shakespeare - The Tempest Act I, Scene 1
    George Romney - William Shakespeare - The Tempest Act I, Scene 1
  • John Opie - Winter's Tale, Act II. Scene III
    John Opie - Winter's Tale, Act II. Scene III
  • Magistrate 1885 - Weir Collection - Restoration
    Magistrate 1885 - Weir Collection - Restoration
  • Midsummer Night's Dream Henry Fuseli2
    Midsummer Night's Dream Henry Fuseli2
  • Taming of the Shrew
    Taming of the Shrew
  • The High Rollers Extravaganza Co. - Bend Her - c.1900
    The High Rollers Extravaganza Co. - Bend Her - c.1900
  • Utah Desert Monolith
    Utah Desert Monolith
  • W. S. Gilbert - Alice B. Woodward - The Pinafore Picture Book - Frontispiece
    W. S. Gilbert - Alice B. Woodward - The Pinafore Picture Book - Frontispiece
  • Webcomic xkcd - Wikipedian protester
    Webcomic xkcd - Wikipedian protester

Featured portals

Featured topics

Good topics


WikiProjects

WikiProjects

WikiProject Culture
WikiProject Comedy
WikiProject Dad's Army • WikiProject Fawlty Towers • WikiProject Futurama • WikiProject Gilbert and Sullivan • WikiProject Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy • WikiProject Monty Python • WikiProject The Office (US) • WikiProject Red Dwarf • WikiProject Seinfeld • WikiProject The Simpsons • WikiProject South Park

Things you can do

Things you can do

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Discover Wikipedia using portals
SMirC-laugh.svg