20 Types and Forms of Humor
20 Types and Forms of Humor
Humor comes in many flavors, any
of which may appeal to one person but not to another, and which may be enjoyed
in alternation or in combination. Here are names and descriptions of the
varieties of comic expression:
1. Anecdotal: Named after the word anecdote (which stems from the Greek term meaning
“unpublished”); refers to comic personal stories that may be true or partly
true but embellished.
2. Blue: Also called off-color, or risque (from the French
word for “to risk”); relies on impropriety or indecency for comic effect. (The
name probably derives from the eighteenth-century use of the word blue to refer to morally strict standards — hence
the phrase “blue laws” to refer to ordinances restricting certain behavior on
the Sabbath).
A related type is broad humor, which refers to unrestrained, unsubtle humor
often marked by coarse jokes and sexual situations.
3. Burlesque: Ridicules by imitating with caricature, or
exaggerated characterization. The association with striptease is that in a
bygone era, mocking skits and ecdysiastic displays were often on the same
playbills in certain venues.
4. Dark/Gallows/Morbid: Grim or depressing humor dealing
with misfortune and/or death and with a pessimistic outlook.
5. Deadpan/Dry: Delivered with an impassive, expressionless,
matter-of-fact presentation.
6. Droll: From the Dutch word meaning “imp”; utilizes
capricious or eccentric humor.
7. Epigrammatic: Humor consisting of a witty saying such
as “Too many people run out of ideas long before they run out of words.” (Not all
epigrams are humorous, however.) Two masters of epigrammatic humor are Benjamin
Franklin (as the author of Poor Richard’s Almanackand
Oscar Wilde.
8. Farcical: Comedy based on improbable coincidences and
with satirical elements, punctuated at times with overwrought, frantic action.
(It, like screwball comedy — see below — shares many elements with a comedy of
errors.) Movies and plays featuring the Marx Brothers are epitomes of farce.
The adjective also refers to incidents or proceedings that seem too ridiculous
to be true.
9. High/highbrow: Humor pertaining to cultured,
sophisticated themes.
10. Hyperbolic: Comic presentation marked by extravagant
exaggeration and outsized characterization.
11. Ironic: Humor involving incongruity and discordance
with norms, in which the intended meaning is opposite, or nearly opposite, to
the literal meaning. (Not all irony is humorous, however.)
12. Juvenile/sophomoric: Humor involving childish themes
such as pranks, name-calling, and other immature behavior.
13. Mordant: Caustic or biting humor (the word stems from a
Latin word meaning “to bite”). Not to be confused with morbid humor (see
above).
14. Parodic: Comic imitation often intended to ridicule an
author, an artistic endeavor, or a genre.
15. Satirical: Humor that mocks human weaknesses or aspects
of society.
16. Screwball: Akin to farce in that it deals with unlikely
situations and responses to those situations; distinguished, like farcical
humor, by exaggerated characterizations and episodes of fast-paced action.
17. Self-deprecating: Humor in which performers target
themselves and their foibles or misfortunes for comic effect. Stand-up comedian
Rodney Dangerfield was a practitioner of self-deprecating humor.
18. Situational: Humor arising out of quotidian situations;
it is the basis of sitcoms, or situation comedies. Situational comedies employ
elements of farce, screwball, slapstick, and other types of humor.
19. Slapstick: Comedy in which mock violence and simulated
bodily harm are staged for comic effect; also called physical comedy. The name
derives from a prop consisting of a stick with an attached piece of wood that
slapped loudly against it when one comedian struck another with it, enhancing
the effect. The Three Stooges were renowned for their slapstick comedy.
20. Stand-up: A form of comedy delivery in which a comic
entertains an audience with jokes and humorous stories. A stand-up comedian may
employ one or more of the types of humor described here.
9 Types of Humor Every Aspiring Comic
Should Know
One of the least funny things you can do is explain a joke, and
yet it’s also incredibly important to be able to do so. If you can’t
explain why types of humor are funny, then you’re lacking the fundamental grasp
on that humor that would allow you to wield it properly. Comedy is hard, and
understanding all the different types of humor and why they work is key to both
writing comedy and appreciating it. In this guide, we’ll go over some popular
and well-known types of humor, and deconstruct their mechanics, plus give some
notable examples from each brand. Of course, knowing is only part of the job.
1. Slapstick
Comedy
Slapstick is super easy to identify, because it’s one of the
more physical variations of comedy. The humor in slapstick derives from its
exaggerated physical gesturing, movements, and situations. It’s one of the
sillier, simpler forms of comedy, and can be seen employed by the likes of
Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton in early silent era films, and today in the Jackass movies
and sketch comedy shows.
2. Deadpan
Deadpan is also called dry humor, and is defined more by its
delivery than the actual content, though there are definitely certain types of
jokes that work better delivered deadpan over others. Deadpan is exactly what
it sounds like: delivering jokes without any noticeable change in emotion. In
fact, the comedian should keep a rigid, monotonous, bored sounding tone, making
the joke or observation come off as scathingly blunt or sarcastic. The humor in
deadpan comes from the audience’s connection between the joke and the
contradicting tone of its delivery. Some examples include the television
show Curb Your Enthusiasm.
3.
Self-Deprecating
Self-awareness can be comedy gold if it’s done correctly, and
this is exactly where self-deprecating humor stems from. It’s a type of humor
that relies entirely on belittling oneself. The humor comes in how mundane and
relatable the topics of its jokes can be, with the comedian joking about things
like their own bad habits, being socially awkward, how they always mess up
dates, and so on. These are things that most common people can relate to, and
so it becomes a tension reliever to laugh at our own problems encompassed by
another. Louis C.K. is a stand-up comedian who uses self-deprecating humor very
often.
4. Potty Humor
Maybe the lowest of the low brow types of humor, potty humor
relies entirely on being gross. Also called toilet humor or scatological humor,
for obvious reasons, it’s a type of humor that focuses on making the audience
cringe. It’s often in poor taste, vulgar, and “crosses the line” for the sake
of making people laugh. This type of humor can most often be found in
children’s cartoons, or for the more risqué material, “adult” comedies.
5. Topical
Humor
The go-to form of humor for many late night talk shows, topical
humor is exactly what it sounds like: humor that focuses on topical events.
This is the kind of humor you’ll see on The Daily Show or The
Onion. It’s easy and accessible humor that makes fun of current events. The
way it’s delivered, of course, can overlap with any of the types of humor on
this list. The key is that it’s chock full of relevant pop culture references
and nudge-winks to recent goings-on. Learn great public speaking skills – vital
for a comedian.
6. Satire
Often related to topical humor, but not required to be so, is
satire. Satire is one of the most misunderstood and difficult types of humor,
because it needs to be “smart.” Satire is not just the art of mocking
something; it’s about using irony, sarcasm, and caricature to highlight the
real-life vices and flaws about the thing you’re satirizing, while still making
relevant social commentary about that thing. Perhaps the most famous example of
satire is Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal, a fake political pamphlet
that used extreme hyperbole to point out his society’s poor treatment of the
impoverished. The Onion is a popular modern day example of
satire and topical humor, as it is a fake news site that mocks current events.
Writing good satire can be tough, especially if you’re not an excellent writer!
7. Parody
Parody is not satire, but it uses elements of satire such as
sarcasm and irony. Parody is about mocking something through imitation. This
can be done out of a distaste for the thing being parodied, or as a playful
tribute. The mockumentary is a good example of parody. Mockumentaries are films
done in the style of documentaries, but the things and people they document are
not real. One example of this is Spinal Tap, a mockumentary about a
fictional 80s metal band (who is portrayed as real in the “documentary”), which
mocks the conventions of rock documentaries and the ridiculous culture
surrounding rock groups.
8. Black Comedy
Black comedy, also called dark comedy or gallows humor, is a
type of humor that focuses on serious, dark, and often morbid subject matter.
It’s of the philosophy that when things are bad, sometimes the only thing you
can do to maintain your sanity or faith in the world is laugh. “Good” black
comedy should not make humor out of the devastating situations themselves, but
use a combination of deadpan, self-deprecation, or satire to point out, mock,
and ultimately laugh at terrible situations. Gallows humor is hard to do
meaningfully, and can sometimes border on “shock value,” which is humor that
aims to offend its audience just because it can. Daniel Tosh of the television
show Tosh.0 is known for this kind of shock-based humor.
9. Surreal
Comedy
Surreal comedy is about defying logic and using nonsensical
situations and non-sequiturs to get a laugh out of people. It’s easy to equate
it to slapstick, as the two can sometimes overlap, but surreal comedy leans
much more towards the bizarre. Monty Python’s Flying Circus is
an example of surreal comedy. Another thing some surreal comedy aims to do is
zero in on a ridiculous aspect of something to the point of absurdity, seen in
the sketch comedy show Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! This
show satirizes and hones in on the already bizarre nature of public-access
television and 90s commercials until it enters the realm of the surreal.
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