The Six Styles of Comedy

Making people laugh is very serious work.

TopComedySecrets.com

It isn't easy to get a group of people to follow an act and pay attention to the comedian. It is harder to make an audience laugh than it is to make them cry. Experts and professional entertainers would readily support this statement.

Before getting into the business, it is imperative that an aspiring comedian know the basics about the kind of task he will undergo. Comedy is the business of making people laugh, but it is a very serious one.

Comedians come and go. That is why if you aim to be a good one, and last in the industry, you should be able to hone your skills more and invest in knowledge about the basic styles of comedy.

To start with, there are six basic styles of comedy. However, by knowing each one of them, you will find that those styles have been born out of the early forms of comedy, from past decades, even centuries.

Take note that the original form of comedy branched out from the theaters in early Greece. Those forms of comedy are far different and profound than the form popular in the contemporary modern times. But, they would still be of great help.

Which style is for you?

Black comedy is a style when comedians make fun of serious situations like sickness, terror, rape, war, death and the likes. In the early form of theaters, such style was greatly appreciated by audiences. Nowadays, some people find it distasteful.

Satire is a style of comedy that is somehow profound and is making a serious statement beyond the hilarious antics and dialogues. Political satires are common forms of this style. People surely love to laugh about the funny mannerisms and features of a political personality they love to hate.

Sarcasm is one element always present in this comedy style. Spoofs of personalities also fall under the category satire. When a comedy act is executed to ridicule another work, a novel, movie or television show, the style ceases to be satire but is termed parody.

An adage is a style of comedy that is hard to pull off. Usually, adages contain jargon and are aimed to make fun of ethical guidelines, principles, folk wisdom, proverbs and culture.

Lastly, you should know about alternative comedy, which is undoubtedly the most popular style of comedy.  It is this style of comedy that defines the modern comedy antics popularized by sitcoms and movies.

Alternative comedy makes use of comic situations and languages to be able to tickle the audience's senses. Slapstick also branches out from this style of comedy.

In order to create a good comedy performance, you should mix and match the styles so you can offer a wider range of comedy to your audience.

Remember, to be a good comedian, you should love laughter but you shouldn't make light of the situation because comedy is, indeed a serious business.

Working the Audience