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Comedy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Comedy has a classical meaning (comical theatre) and a popular one (the use of humour with an intent to provoke laughter in general). In the theater, its Western origins are in ancient Greece, like tragedy, a genre characterised by a grave fall from grace by a protagonist having high social standing. Comedy, in contrast, portrays a conflict or agon (Classical Greek ????) between a young hero and an older authority, a confrontation described by Northrop Frye as a struggle between a "society of youth" and a "society of the old". A more recent development is to regard this struggle as a mere pretext for disguise, a comical device centered on uncertainties regarding the meaning of social identity. The basis of comedy would then be a plot mechanism conceived to engender misunderstandings either about a hero's identity or about social being in general.

Returning to the popular term comedy, it is known to be difficult to describe. Humor being subjective, one may or may not find something humorous because it is either too offensive or not offensive enough. Comedy is judged according to a person’s taste. Some enjoy cerebral fare such as irony or black comedy; others may prefer scatological humor (e.g. the "fart joke") or slapstick. A common gender stereotype that plays on this convention is that men love the comedy of The Three Stooges, while women do not.

While hard to pin down, it can safely be said that most good comedy, as with a good joke, contains within it variations on the elements of surprise, incongruity, conflict, and the effect of opposite expectations. The audience becomes a part of the experience, if it is to be successful. Sometimes, it is the fulfillment of the expectation which is part of the experience, such as the long "take" of a Jack Benny, resolved, paradoxically, when the expected happens. Comedy is a serious business, and one only knows it when one sees it or hears it.

Forms
Improvisational comedy
Stand-up comedy
Alternative comedy - a largely British term relating to comedians in the ascendant throughout the 1980s and beyond.
Impressionists
One-Liner - a type of standup comedy where the comedian will tell many jokes that are one or two sentences long. Example: Mitch Hedberg
Comedy genres - different forms of Stand-up comedy.
Sketch comedy - short comedy scenes as in contrast to sitcom.
Television comedy and Radio comedy
Situation comedy
Comedy film
gross-out film
Parody film
romantic comedy film
screwball comedy film
slapstick film
anarchic comedy film
Comic novel
Musical comedy
Tragicomedy
Dramedy (AKA Comedy-drama)

Elements of Comedy
Comic timing
Slapstick
Pregnant pause

Styles
Black comedy
Satire
Parody
Political Satire
Adage
Irony
Alternative Comedy