Portal:Comedy
The Comedy Portal
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 the 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...)
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![Reconstruction political cartoon](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Lincoln_and_Johnsond.jpg/300px-Lincoln_and_Johnsond.jpg)
A political cartoon of Andrew Johnson and Abraham Lincoln from 1865, during the Reconstruction era of the United States, the period between 1863 and 1877 during and after the American Civil War, when the government attempted to "reconstruct" both the South and the Constitution. The cartoon is entitled "The Rail Splitter At Work Repairing the Union."
More did you know...
- ...that Private Passions, a weekly classical music programme on BBC Radio 3, has occasionally featured interviews with hoax characters played by comedian John Sessions?
- ... that the 1957–1958 CBS sitcom Mr. Adams and Eve featured Howard Duff and Ida Lupino, then married to each other in real life, as a fictitious husband/wife acting duo living in Beverly Hills?
- ... that Jody Trautwein, who attempted to convert Sacha Baron Cohen's character Brüno from his gay lifestyle, recently ran for mayor of Birmingham, Alabama?
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![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Nuvola_apps_filetypes.svg/47px-Nuvola_apps_filetypes.svg.png)
- ... that a revival of the comedy series Lizzie McGuire was ordered in 2019, but canceled mid-production after Disney deemed it not family-friendly enough?
- ... that the proposed third season of teen sitcom Sonny with a Chance was reworked into the sketch comedy series So Random! after the departure of its lead actor Demi Lovato?
- ... that the live-action comedy series Community had a stop motion animated Christmas special?
- ... that a story titled "The Adventures of Mr. Stupidhead in Russia" may have influenced the Soviet silent comedy film The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks?
- ... that a 1955 satirical comedy play by Kasymaly Jantöshev was one of the first signs of the relaxation of Soviet literary restrictions after the death of Joseph Stalin?
- ... that during a comedy routine Reuben Solo drew a graph plotting the audience's reaction to his routine?
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Terms: Black comedy • Comedian • Comedy club • Comedy of manners • Convention (norm) • Irony • Komos • Parody • Political satire • Race humor • Restoration comedy • Satire • Screwball comedy • Surreal humour • Taboo • Toilet humor
Comedy genres: Bouffon • Comedy film • Anarchic comedy film • Gross-out film • Parody film • Romantic comedy film • Screwball comedy film • Slapstick film • Comic novel • Dramedy • Improvisational comedy • Musical comedy • Stand-up comedy • Alternative comedy • Impressionist (entertainment) • One-liner joke • Comedy genres • Sketch comedy • Television comedy • Radio comedy • Situation comedy • Tragicomedy
History of theatre: Ancient Greek comedy • Ancient Roman comedy • Burlesque • Citizen comedy • Clown • Comedy of humours • Comedy of manners • Comedy of menace • Comédie larmoyante • Commedia dell'arte • Face • Jester • Restoration comedy • Shakespearean comedy • Dadaist/Surrealist • Theatre of the absurd
Comedy events and awards: British Comedy Awards • Canadian Comedy Awards • Cat Laughs Comedy Festival • Edinburgh Festival Fringe • Just for laughs • Halloween Howls Comedy Festival • Melbourne International Comedy Festival • New York Underground Comedy Festival
Lists: List of comedians • List of British comedians • List of Canadian comedians • List of Finnish comedians • List of German language comedians • List of Italian comedians • List of Mexican comedians • List of Puerto Rican comedians • List of Indian comedians • List of British TV shows remade for the American market • List of comedies • List of New York Improv comedians
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Cartman Gets an Anal Probe
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Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo
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Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption
Parks and Recreation season 1
Pilot (Parks and Recreation)
Press Gang
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The Riddle of the Sphinx (Inside No. 9)
Road to the Multiverse
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Round the Horne
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School Rumble
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The Simpsons Movie
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South Park season 13
Stark Raving Dad
Starvin' Marvin
Stephen Colbert at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner
A Streetcar Named Marge
Tank Girl (film)
Temperatures Rising
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Trading Places
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George Grossmith as Reginald Bunthorne in Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience (1881)
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John Opie - Winter's Tale, Act II. Scene III
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Lonesome (1928)
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Magistrate 1885 - Weir Collection - Restoration
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Midsummer Night's Dream Henry Fuseli2
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Safety Last (1923)
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Taming of the Shrew
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The Freshman
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The General (1926)
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The High Rollers Extravaganza Co. - Bend Her - c.1900
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W. S. Gilbert - Alice B. Woodward - The Pinafore Picture Book - Frontispiece
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- Place the {{WikiProject Comedy}} project banner on the talk pages of all articles within the scope of the project.
- Copyedit: But I'm a Cheerleader, Victoria Wood As Seen On TV, Green Wing, Green Wing Special, The Simpsons Movie, I Not Stupid Too, Mr. Stain, Red Dwarf, List of Peep Show episodes, Treehouse of Horror V, Episode 210, Tenacious D, David Brenner
- Expand: Goon Show Preservation Society, Grow Your Own (film), Guy Jenkin, Humorist, The Firesign Theatre, Fintan Ryan, Ray's a Laugh
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- Requested articles: Comedybox, Fenton Baily, Tarquin D'Sartio, More...
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