Fine Art Theatre Exam 3

Comedy of Ideas:

Characters represent contrasting ideologies or attitudes, and the comedy comes from the clever interaction of these ideas.

Comedy of Manners:

Characters are stereotypes of personality styles (i.e. the hot-headed son) and the humor comes from making the elite or beautiful look foolish, usually focusing on a class or community for the sake of derision in a mock elevated style and language.

Dark Comedy:

Blends the serious with the comic, but instead of using comedy as a relief valve it uses the serious to interrupt the humorous, leaving the audience disturbed or uncertain while building sympathy for characters and then letting bad things happen to them.

Situation Comedy:

Derives humor from the incongruity between characters and their environs (such as a man pretending to be gay so that he can room with two women, or aliens trying to fit into modern fashion).

Satire:

Based on derision of a person, story, or experience easily recognized by the audience, using exaggeration and ridicule in a range of expressions from playful to purposefully crude and insulting to expose stupidity or vices.

Farce:

Focused on the physical with witty and/or crude language where characters and actions are pushed to the extreme so there is no sympathy, turning violence or deviant behavior comic instead of threatening through constant visual and aural action.

Exaggeration:

Overstating or magnifying a situation, feature, or behavior beyond normal bounds to create comedic effect.

Social:

Humor tied to social norms, group dynamics, or societal commentary.

Variety:

The use of diverse comedic elements across language, episodes, visual, and aural cues.

Spontaneity:

Unscripted, unexpected, or impulsive actions and reactions that surprise the audience.

Correctiveness:

Humor that acts as a corrective measure on human behavior, mocking foolishness or flaws to encourage social conformity.

Derision:

Laughter directed at mocking or ridiculing others, often tied to low stakes, a suspension of the laws of nature, and schadenfreude.

Incongruity:

The blending of mismatched, unexpected, or contradictory elements that violate normal expectations.

Automatism:

Mechanical, rigid, or robotic human behavior and repetitive habits that act without conscious thought.