Comedy Analysis: Wit and wordplay

Old Will was a master of wit and wordplay

“Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's alright now.”

Wit and wordplay are two distinct types of humour which are closely related. Both require some intelligence on both the listener's and the speaker's part. Wordplay is also often considered to be a form of wit, although this is sometimes disputed.

Wit is generally seen as an intelligent form of humour, wherein an intelligent statement of remark is made for comic effect. This may be in a sarcastic form or as a put-down. As such, wit can be outright mean or cruel, yet is still funny.

Wordplay requires some knowledge of language. A word is often used in manner where it gets a new meaning, or the meaning is ambiguous. A well-known example of wordplay is:

“We'll have to rehearse that” said the undertaker as the coffin fell out of the car.

In this case the word 'rehearse' can mean practice, as the undertakers might have to practice handling a coffin without dropping it. I can also be interpreted to be re-hearse, as an undertaker's car would be a hearse, so putting the coffin back into the car, can be called 're-hearsing'. This is funny, since it's unclear which of the two meanings the undertaker is getting at.

Wit and wordplay have been around for hundreds of years. William Shakespeare was famous for both, as was Oscar Wilde. Today word play and wit are still prevalent both with comedians as with other people. Both are often used in advertising and branding. Also puns are increasingly popular, partly due to the rise of the Internet. Puns are also a form of wordplay after all.

With entire websites and Facebook pages dedicated to collecting the best wit and wordplay, this form of humour isn't going anywhere soon. Do a Google search for more, or keep an eye on this blog for more laughing matter!

Comedian Bio: Tina Fey

Tina Fey in 2014

With over 30 awards and in excess of 70 nominations, she has more awards than most series and films. She's an actress, writer and producer and has worked on critically acclaimed hit series Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock as well as several hit films.

Elizabeth Stamatina “Tina” Fey is truly one of the great comedic geniuses of our age. She started doing satire in high school and has been engaged in comedy ever since. She played in Chicago-based comedy collective Second City before being hired as a writer at Saturday Night Live. Although she struggled at first, she quickly found her way and soon had regular sketches air. After only 2 years as a writer she became head writer for the show.

Tina Fey as Liz Lemon in
30 Rock, 2007

After having worked as head writer for Saturday Night Live for several years, she conjured up a sitcom-like variety sketch show loosely based on her work with SNL. This became 30 rock, the wildly popular and critically acclaimed NBC hit show.

Besides her work on the small screen, she has also worked on a number of films. She wrote and starred in Mean Girls, which met critical acclaim and was a box office success. She also had a small acting part in Artie Lange's Beer League, which she did as a favour to the film's director, despite being seven months pregnant. The film was a complete flop and she reportedly received 1000 dollars for it, to pay for her membership of SAG (now SAG-AFTRA). More successful (and sometimes serious) roles she did were a burrito in Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theatres and Nadya in Muppets most Wanted.

With her resume and the amount of awards she won, her quick rise in the comedy world and the fact she's still young enough to keep on creating for years to come, we're eager to see what she'll bring us. Keep on the lookout for this youngest ever winner of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor!

Comedy Series Review: The Office

The Office UK

This is one of the British sitcoms that was successfully adapted to the USA. Nowadays both the British and the American version are well-known and loved around the world. Not only the USA has received its own version, also Israel, Sweden, France, Germany, Chile and French Canada have their own versions. There are distinct differences and common factors between all of these. Here we will focus on the USA and British versions, as these are the best known and otherwise this post wouldn't end.

Both the English and American versions deal with a paper merchant, the British company is called Wernham Hogg, the American company is Dunder Mifflin. The British Wernham is lead by regional manager David Brent, Dunder is at first led by Michael Scott, but later by others including Deangelo Vickers, Robert California, Andy Bernhard and Dwight Schrute. The UK and American version share the same universe, this is not sure about the other series. The American show ran for the longest time, with 9 seasons totalling 201 episodes. The UK series ran for 14 episodes over 2 seasons and a two-parter Christmas special. Both the American and the UK series received several awards. The UK version won 2 golden globes and over 20 other awards, the American version only received 1 golden globe, but won more other awards (including 5 Primetime Emmys) and had nearly ten times as many nominations.

The Office US

Both series were highly critically acclaimed and received high ratings. Although the UK version faced cancellation after the first airing due to low ratings, it has since developed into one of the most successful BBC shows ever made and was sold to over 80 countries.

Both the American and British series followed a mockumentary format, which includes the characters sometimes directly addressing the documentary crew behind the camera. This achieves comic effect, since their requests to cut something from the episode are never honoured.

The Office in both versions is a highly appreciated show, both of which had an incredible impact on the world of humour and comedy. Both have generated many spoofs and have obviously inspired many other series. Both are great shows, go check them out if you haven't seen them yet.

Comedian Bio: Rowan Atkinson

Rowan Atkinson in 2009

Rowan Sebastian Atkinson, CBE, M.Sc. is one of the most famous British comedians of our time. His best known work is centred around the Mr. Bean character. This act is mainly focused on physical and somewhat childish humour. Mr. Bean doesn't talk much and mainly communicates by uttering sounds as well as using body language. Whenever he does speak it is usually in a mumbled, low-pitched voice. The character seems to be somewhat impaired in the sense that he doesn't seem to have outgrown childhood mentally. He does seem to appreciate art and in his first film is shown to work as a guard in an art museum. He consistently introduces himself as 'Bean' to others and until the film Mr. Bean on holiday his real name is never revealed. In the film however, his first name is shown to be 'Rowan', as is the actor's first name.

The humour in Mr. Bean comes from the character's ineptness at performing simple, day-to-day tasks. The episodes generally show him trying to go swimming, use a television set, drive a car, etcetera. His solutions to the problems, although creative and often absurd are often with total

Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean

disregard for others and for the norms in society. This usually results in hilarious situations where Mr. Bean himself is often a victim at first, but always comes out on top.

Besides Mr. Bean Atkinson has worked on several other wildly successful series, including Not the Nine o' Clock News, Blackadder and The Thin Blue Line.

Not the Nine o' Clock News was a comedy sketch show produced by BBC2. It was intended as a funny alternative to the Nine o' clock news on BBC1 which was a serious news show. It features comic coverage of news stories, parody songs, sketches and much more. It was hilarious and launched Rowan Atkinson's career.

Blackadder is discussed elsewhere on this blog, so I'll keep it short here. Blackadder is a comedy sitcom produced for the BBC. It consists of 4 series, each focusing on a different period in English history, starting in the Late Middle Ages and ending in the Great War (World War I). Each series has a member of the Blackadder lineage, who is accompanied by his servant Baldrick. There is also in every series at least one twit, in the first to series portrayed by Lord Percy, in the third season by Prince George of Wales and in the final series by Lt. The Hon. George Colthurst St Barleigh. It is a true masterpiece of British comedy and if you haven't seen it yet, you should go watch it NOW.

Rowan Atkinson in The Thin Blue Line

“I don't want to buy the Queen a present sir, she's an Antichrist”. The Thin Blue Line features marvellous quotes, absurd humour and over-the-top ridicule of British law enforcement. Full of innuendo, satire and wit, this is a thoroughly enjoyable sitcom, although it is not as fast-paced as Blackadder or indeed, most modern sitcoms. It did help boost Atkinson's career though and it did the same for Ben Elton, who earlier wrote Blackadder, and went on to work on his own show, The Ben Elton Show and he worked on musicals including Love Never Dies and We Will Rock You.

Besides his work on television, Atkinson has also worked on several films. He starred in Never say never again and he took on the role of Johnny English in Johnny English and Johnny English Reborn. Both film were not written by Atkinson and received mixed reviews. Both were box office successes though.

Rowan Atkinson has become one of the best-loved comedians of our time. He has been compared with the likes of John Cleese and he is often seen as the embodiment of contemporary British humour. He remains popular and humour has brought him great wealth and fame, although he is remarkably skilled at separating his private life from his fame. He is a force to be reckoned with and well worth the time viewing. 

Comedy Series Review: The Simpsons

The Simpsons on their signature couch

The longest running American prime-time, scripted television series, longest running American sitcom and longest running American animated series, the Simpsons have managed to captivate their audience for over 20 years. Over this impressive run time over 500 episodes have been aired, the series received a star on the Hollywood star of fame, countless awards, a 9/10 rating on IMDB and a solid world-wide fan-base.

At the start of the series it distanced itself from other series by producing strong, character-focused stories as well as a unique style of animation. It was clever, witty and in many ways a classic American sitcom, which utilised the possibilities animation offers over live-action.

Later in the series, many people agree it was around or just after season 9, the story shifted from character-based to more situational and focused on antics, rather than character. Many people and critics feel this has negatively impacted the shows quality. Sydney Morning Herald's reviewer Jim Schembri summed up most of the criticism in one quote:

"The central tragedy of The Simpsons is that it has gone from commanding attention to merely being attention seeking. It began by proving that cartoon characters don't have to be caricatures; they can be invested with real emotions. Now the show has in essence fermented into a limp parody of itself. Memorable story arcs have been sacrificed for the sake of celebrity walk-ons and punchline-hungry dialogue."

Matt Groening, the show's creator, in 2010

Matt Groening, the shows creator, doesn't agree. He has stated the show is still new, as good or better than it's ever been and there is no creative reason to quit. As the show is still being watched by over 7 million people per episode and even more people watch episodes on-line, there is still a strong backing from the fan-base.

In 2007 the Simpsons Movie premiered and became a huge success. The film focused on the family having to leave Springfield after Homer causes the Springfield lake to become so polluted the government decides to cover the town under a giant glass dome, and later to destroy the town. It made over $500,000,000, with only a $75,000,000 budget.

Although there is a lot to be said for the criticism, the Simpsons is still a very enjoyable show. It is no longer the sharp and witty series of the 90s but is has evolved into the funny animated comedy series it is today. Still worth a look, the Simpsons are entertaining for the whole family.

Comedy Analysis: Humour in ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was more than gladiators and soldiers

The Romans, although not as funny as the Greeks, certainly did have humour and comedy played a part in Roman culture. There is a distinct difference though: where the Greeks had jokes that were rather similar to today's jokes, Roman jokes were a lot different. A joke that was wildly praised in Roman times went as follows:

The scenario for the joke is the trial of Milo, accused of killing the infamous, wildly unpopular, controversial aristocrat Clodius.

Milo's defence lawyer (Cicero) was asked this question: What time did Clodius die?

Cicero answered: "Sero."

The punchline “Sero”  it a Latin word with two meanings. It can be either 'late' or 'too late'. In this scenario therefore, Cicero answered both that Clodius died late in the day, probably late afternoon or in the evening, but also that he should have gotten rid of long ago, as he died 'too late'. This was considered a hilarious joke in Roman times as it connected to a true story, supported many Roman's views on Clodius and had what was considered to be a strong punchline. Roman jokes were very different from ours and most people nowadays wouldn't enjoy Roman jokes. Some words were by themselves considered to be hilarious, like the word stomach. Nowadays most people wouldn't laugh when you just say stomach.

Roman comedy plays however were much like sitcoms today. Their plays intended to give a humorous image of the everyday life. Some situations were exaggerated, or absurd situations were introduced for humorous effect. Some recurring themes were the family’s father falling in love with the same woman as his adolescent son. Usually this woman was a prostitute which resulted in dealings with the brothel owner, who had no morals whatsoever. The family mother would become irate as soon as she found out about her husband’s love interest, resulting in him being dragged off stage by the wife. This was a form of entertainment most people nowadays would find humorous and it has aged much better than the normal stand-alone jokes.

Although Roman humour as a whole didn't age nearly as well as its Greek counterpart, they did make an admirable attempt and perhaps it's just due to our lack of understanding of the sophisticated Roman culture that we don't find it that amusing. Its still interesting to see though, that even in a humour-climate as different from ours as the Romans, there still are links and similarities. Maybe we will learn to appreciate the jokes as our society and culture matures, we'll see. 

Comedian Bio: Robin Williams

Robin Williams in 2011

Although this Oscar winner was not only a comedian, but also a serious actor, we can't in good consciousness leave him out of this blog. Therefore, we will now discuss Robin Williams, (not to be confused with Robbie Williams).

With over 50 awards won and even more nominations, Robin Williams undeniably has a strong track record. He has played in over 100 films and TV-series and has appeared on stage countless times. Some of his most notable works include Good Will Hunting, which is not a comedy, but it is a very good film, Aladdin, where he plays the hilarious Genie, and his most recent television series The Crazy Ones.

In The Crazy Ones, Williams played the advertising genius Simon Roberts. He runs a powerful advertising company together with his daughter Sydney. Sydney and Simon are opposites in nearly everything: where he is unpredictable and somewhat childlike, she is focused, organized and eager to make a name for herself. She is however often parenting her dad, which she resents to a certain level, but as her dad is as good as he is, she accepts it. The series is still in its first season and has already received its first award and a further two nominations. The pilot was the best viewed pilot in the season and rightly so.

In general Robin Williams was known for his skill at portraying an optimistic character with a lot of goofy humour, both visual and verbal. His work often involves a lot of improvisation, which results in hilarious material. His work is inspired by his idol Jonathan Winters, who was also known for his

Robin Williams in 1979

improvisational skills.

Besides his acting work Williams is known for his extensive contributions to charity. He started the Windfall fund together with his former wife and he has collaborated with Comic Relief on countless occasions. He has also donated to the rebuilding efforts in Canterbury after the devastating earthquake of 2010. Furthermore he has performed for US troops several times.

His recent death shocked the world. Everybody commented on it, from US President Barack Obama to the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, to everybody on the internet and in the media. His death also sparked several debates on suicide, its treatment and the media coverage of celebrity deaths. He was mourned worldwide, and is still missed by many.

Robin Williams was one of the few truly multi-talented actors of our age, who will certainly be remembered for years to come. A great loss to the world and comedy, he really deserves the acclaim he received.