Observational comedy

Last updated

Observational comedy is a form of humor based on the commonplace aspects of everyday life. It is one of the main types of humor in stand-up comedy. [1] In an observational comedy act, the comedian makes an observation about something which is common enough to be familiar to their audience, but not commonly discussed. [2] Such observations are typically presented with the phrase "Have you ever noticed...?" [3] or "Did you ever notice...?" [4] which has become a comedy cliché. [3]

Contents

Analysis

British comedians Richard Herring and Jo Caulfield wrote in an article that observational comedy relies upon the fact that the observation is "universally familiar" but that it "won't necessarily have been consciously noted by your audience", arguing that the statements can be neither too obvious nor too obscure. [4] Similarly, Eddie Izzard noted that a comedian's observations need to be relatable in order to be successful. [3] Douglas Coupland claims that "it takes a good observational comedian to tell you what, exactly, is the 'deal'" with the phenomenon they are observing, and he describes ideal topics for observational comedy as "those banalities and fragments of minutiae lurking just below the threshold of perception". [5]

Observational comedy has been compared to sociology. [6]

History

Although observational comedy became popular in the United States in the 1950s, [3] one author suggests that even much older jokes commented on human nature in comparable ways. [7] Shelley Berman was one of the pioneers in the field. [3] Other influential observational comics include David Brenner, [8] [9] George Carlin, [10] and Jerry Seinfeld. [4] [11] [12] A 1989 Los Angeles Times article wrote that Seinfeld is "clearly the standard of excellence in observational comedy", [13] while Judd Apatow called Seinfeld "the greatest observational comedian who ever lived". [14]

The British observational comedy tradition began with the Irish comedian Dave Allen's performances in the early 1970s. [15] More recently, James Acaster has developed a form of "uber-trivial" observational comedy, which has been described as a spoof of the traditional observational form. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stand-up comedy</span> Comedy style where the performer addresses the audience directly

Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehearsed scripts but often include varying degrees of live crowd interaction. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, observations, or shticks that can employ props, music, impressions, magic tricks, or ventriloquism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Seinfeld</span> American comedian and actor (born 1954)

Jerome Allen Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. As a stand-up comedian, Seinfeld specializes in observational comedy. Seinfeld has received numerous accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards as well as nominations for four Grammy Awards. In 2004, Comedy Central named him the 12th-greatest stand-up comedian of all time. In 2017, Rolling Stone named him the 7th-greatest stand-up comedian of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Carlin</span> American stand-up comedian (1937–2008)

George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor, and author. Regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of counterculture comedians". He was known for his dark comedy and reflections on politics, the English language, psychology, religion, and taboo subjects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comedian</span> Person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh

A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly, or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audience directly is called a stand-up comedian.

Brian Joseph Regan is an American stand-up comedian who uses observational, sarcastic, and self-deprecating humor. He is known for incorporating body language and facial expressions into his act. His performances are often described as clean as he refrains from profanity as well as taboo subject matter. Regan's material typically covers everyday events, such as shipping a package with UPS, mortgages, and visits to the optometrist. While he does not define himself as youth-oriented, Regan makes frequent references to childhood, including little league baseball, grade school spelling bees, and science projects.

Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe content that was an "alternative" to the mainstream stand-up of the day which took place in working men's clubs, and was characterised by unoriginal gags often containing elements of sexism and racism. In other contexts, it is the nature of the form that is "alternative", avoiding reliance on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines. Patton Oswalt has defined it as "comedy where the audience has no pre-set expectations about the crowd, and vice versa. In comedy clubs, there tends to be a certain vibe—alternative comedy explores different types of material."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judd Apatow</span> American filmmaker (born 1967)

Judd Apatow is an American director, producer, screenwriter and comedian, best known for his work in comedy films. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), Funny People (2009), This Is 40 (2012), Trainwreck (2015), The King of Staten Island (2020), and The Bubble (2022).

American humor refers collectively to the conventions and common threads that tie together humor in the United States. It is often defined in comparison to the humor of another country – for example, how it is different from British humor and Canadian humor. It is, however, difficult to say what makes a particular type or subject of humor particularly American. Humor usually concerns aspects of American culture, and depends on the historical and current development of the country's culture. The extent to which an individual will personally find something humorous obviously depends on a host of absolute and relative variables, including, but not limited to geographical location, culture, maturity, level of education, and context. People of different countries will therefore find different situations funny. Just as American culture has many aspects which differ from other nations, these cultural differences may be a barrier to how humor translates to other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carol Leifer</span> American comedian (born 1956)

Carol Leifer is an American comedian, writer and producer whose career as a stand-up comedian started in the 1970s when she was in college. She has written many television scripts including The Larry Sanders Show, Saturday Night Live and Seinfeld. She has received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for The Larry Sanders Show, Seinfeld, the 82nd Academy Awards and the 84th Academy Awards. Leifer's inner-monologue driven, observational style is often autobiographical, encompassing subjects about her Jewish ancestry and upbringing, coming out, same-sex marriage, relationships and parenting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete Holmes</span> American comedian

Peter Benedict Holmes is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and podcaster. Musings on spirituality and religion are frequent themes in his works.

Joke theft is the act of performing and taking credit for comic material written or performed by another person without their consent and without acknowledging the other person's authorship. This may be a form of plagiarism and can, in some cases, be copyright infringement. A comic who is known to steal jokes may be labelled with the epithet "hack" by other comics. A "hack comic" uses material that is unoriginal or which is blatantly copied from its original author.

Kliph Nesteroff is a Canadian author, best known for his 2015 history of American comedy, The Comedians.

American-Jewish comedy is, in part, a continuation of the traditional role of humor in Jewish culture among historical and contemporary American performers. It has appealed to both Jewish and wider mainstream audiences. At various times in American history, the field of comedy has been dominated by Jewish comedians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Acaster</span> English comedian (born 1985)

James William Acaster is an English comedian. As well as the stand-up specials Repertoire and Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999, he is known for co-hosting the food podcast Off Menu and the panel show Hypothetical. Acaster makes use of fictional characters within his stand-up comedy, which is characterised by frequent callback jokes, offbeat observational comedy and overarching stories. He has won five Chortle Awards, a Just for Laughs Award and International Comedy Festival Awards at Melbourne and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nate Bargatze</span> American comedian (born 1979)

Nathanael Bargatze is an American stand-up comedian.

Modern stand-up comedy began around the turn of the century, evolving from a variety of sources including minstrel shows and vaudeville. Early stand-up comedians spoke directly to the audience as themselves without props or costumes, which distinguished these acts from vaudeville performances. These comics stood in front of the curtain during their shows, like early 20th century "front cloth" stand-up comics in Britain and Ireland whose numbers allowed the stage behind them to be re-set for another act.

James Acaster: Repertoire is a serialised stand-up comedy special by British comedian James Acaster. All four parts were released on Netflix in 2018. Repertoire was followed by Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999 (2020).

The Hall: Honoring the Greats of Stand-Up is a 2022 stand-up comedy film honoring four standup comedy legends, George Carlin, Robin Williams, Joan Rivers, and Richard Pryor. They were honored by Jon Stewart, John Mulaney, Chelsea Handler, and Dave Chappelle. Pete Davidson opened the show. The special was a part of Netflix is a Joke Fest comedy festival which was recorded live on May 1, 2022, at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oliver Double</span> British comedian

Oliver Double is a British stand-up comedian, author and academic. Since 1999, he has taught comic and popular performance at the University of Kent. His current roles at the university are Reader in Drama and Theatre, and Head of Comedy and Popular Performance.

References

  1. ↑ Sankey, Jay (1998). Zen and the Art of Stand-Up Comedy. Routledge. p. 53. ISBN   9781136555633. One of the most popular styles of contemporary stand-up is that of "observational humor."
  2. ↑ Double, Oliver (2014). "Observational comedy". Getting the Joke: The Inner Workings of Stand-Up Comedy (2nd ed.). London: Methuen Drama. p. 208. ISBN   978-1408174609.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Double, Oliver (2014). "Observational comedy". Getting the Joke: The Inner Workings of Stand-Up Comedy (2nd ed.). London: Methuen Drama. p. 208. ISBN   978-1408174609.
  4. 1 2 3 Herring, Richard; Caulfield, Jo (21 September 2008). "The comedian's toolbox". The Guardian .
  5. ↑ Grassian, Daniel (2003). Hybrid Fictions: American Literature and Generation X . London: McFarland. p.  182. ISBN   978-0786416325.
  6. ↑ Galea, Patrick (30 January 2012). ""So what's the deal with that?" – Observational Comedy and Sociology". Electronic Journal of Sociology .
  7. ↑ Byrne, John (2012). Writing Comedy (4th ed.). London: Methuen Drama. p. 10. ISBN   978-1408146453.
  8. ↑ Elber, Lynn (16 March 2014). "Comedian David Brenner, 'Tonight' favorite, dies". Associated Press. ...whose brand of observational comedy became a staple for other standups, including Jerry Seinfeld and Paul Reiser...
  9. ↑ Platt, Larry (15 June 2011). "David Brenner will perform at the Sellersville Theater". Brenner gave birth to a generation of "observational" comics - funny men who examined small moments closely and poked fun at life's minutiae. To borrow the now-infamous "Seinfeld" phrase, Brenner's act was the first to be about nothing.
  10. ↑ Zoglin, Richard (23 June 2008). "How George Carlin Changed Comedy". TIME . His influence can be seen everywhere from the political rants of Lewis Black to the observational comedy of Jerry Seinfeld.
  11. ↑ "Here are Jerry Seinfeld's 10 funniest jokes". New York Post . 17 April 2014.
  12. ↑ Zinoman, Jason (14 October 2012). "On Stage, a Comic's Still at Home". The New York Times .
  13. ↑ Gould, Steven (18 February 1989). "Seinfeld Fans Scratch Heads". Los Angeles Times .
  14. ↑ Weiner, Jonah (20 December 2012). "Jerry Seinfeld Intends to Die Standing Up". The New York Times . Judd Apatow, who as a kid in the late '70s became obsessed with Seinfeld's stand-up, told me, "From the get-go he was the greatest observational comedian who ever lived—nobody was, or is, as funny as him."
  15. ↑ Double, Oliver (1997). "Dave Allen". Stand-Up! on being a comedian. London: Methuen Publishing. p.  140. ISBN   978-0413703200. This was quite an innovation, because up to this point there had been no tradition of observational comedy in British stand-up.
  16. ↑ "James Acaster: the Leonardo DiCaprio of standup". the Guardian. 2016-08-06. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.