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Anti-comedy
Anti-humor or anti-comedy is a type of alternative humor that is based on the surprise factor of absence of an expected joke or of a punch line in a narration that is set up as a joke, which in turn can have a humorous effect to some. This kind of anticlimax is similar to that of the shaggy dog story.Warren A. ShiblesHumor Reference Guide: A Comprehensive Classification and Analysis (Hardcover) 1998 In fact, some researchers see the "shaggy dog story" as a type of anti-joke. Anti-humor is described as a form of irony or reversal of expectations that may provoke an emotion opposite to humor, such as fear, pain, embarrassment, disgust, awkwardness, or discomfort. Examples The yarn, also called a shaggy dog story, is a type of anti-humor that involves telling an extremely long joke with an intricate (and sometimes grisly) back story and surreal or repetitive plotline, before ending the story with either a weak spoonerism, or abruptly stopping with no real punchline at all, or no s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Clifton
Tony Clifton is a character created by comedian and performance artist Andy Kaufman in the late 1970s. An absurdly foul-mouthed and domineering lounge singer claiming to hail from Las Vegas, the tuxedo-clad Clifton often led unsuspecting audiences through awkward yet elaborate lounge singer performances. Kaufman appeared as Clifton on stage and on television programs ranging from ''The Merv Griffin Show'' to '' The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show''. The character has also been performed on stage by longtime Kaufman friend Bob Zmuda. Clifton was portrayed by actor Jim Carrey (who also portrayed Kaufman) in the 1999 film '' Man on the Moon'' and in the documentary '' Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond''. Origin Kaufman would sometimes claim that Tony Clifton was a real lounge singer whom Kaufman encountered at the International Hotel in Las Vegas in 1969. He said he was waiting for Elvis Presley to arrive so he could meet him. Kaufman may have seen Clifton as the antithesis of the sweet, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alternative Comedy
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." In an interview with '' The A.V. Club'' after his performance in the 2011 comedy-drama film '' Young Adult'', Oswalt stated: I had come up out of that who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stand-up Comedian
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 (crowdwork). Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, observations, or shticks that can employ props, music, impressions, magic tricks, or ventriloquism. Performances can take place in various venues, including comedy clubs, comedy festivals, bars, nightclubs, colleges, or theaters. History Stand-up comedy originated in various traditions of popular entertainment in the late 19th century. These include vaudeville, the stump-speech monologues of minstrel shows, dime museums, concert saloons, freak shows, variety shows, medicine shows, American burlesque, English music halls, circus clown antics, Chautauqua, and humorist monologues, such as those del ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Humour
Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in the human body, known as "humours" (Latin: ', "body fluid"), controlled human health and emotion. People of all ages and cultures respond to humour. Most people are able to experience humour—be amused, smile or laugh at something funny (such as a pun or joke)—and thus are considered to have a ''sense of humour''. The hypothetical person lacking a sense of humour would likely find the behaviour to be inexplicable, strange, or even irrational. Though ultimately decided by subjective personal taste (aesthetics), taste, the extent to which a person finds something humorous depends on a host of variables, including geographical location, culture, Maturity (psychological), maturity, level of ed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norm Macdonald
Norman Gene MacdonaldThe capitalization of Norm Macdonald's surname has been inconsistently reported in publications such as ''TV Guide''. Books that discuss him, such as ''Shales'' (2003) and Crawford' (2000), as well as other sources such as the Game Show Network and Comedy Central's '' Sports Show with Norm Macdonald'', all consistently report "Macdonald" (lowercase "d") as his surname. (October 17, 1959One of the standard references that erroneously gives his date of birth as October 17, 1963, is September 14, 2021) was a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and writer whose style was characterized by deadpan delivery, eccentric understatement, and the use of folksy, old-fashioned turns of phrase. He appeared in many films and was a regular guest on late-night talk shows, where he became known for his chaotic yet understated style of comedy. Many critics and fellow comedians praised his frequent appearances on talk shows, while late-night host David Letterman regarded him as "t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lounge Lizard
A lounge lizard is a man who frequents social establishments with the intention of seducing a woman with his flattery and deceptive charm. The term is reported to have arisen around 1915 in New York. A 1931 book described them as men " nthe habit of lounging in different dance resorts from tea time on, on a chance of picking up a few dollars; or they might be habitués of the place or of an outer room, described as a 'lounge', for the purpose of picking up girls and women. In Europe, he subsequently evolved into what is now known as the gigolo." In the 1919 Charlie Chaplin film ''Sunnyside'' the term appears as a title card, describing a group of men reading newspapers in a hotel lobby. In Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...'s 1924 film '' Sherlock Jr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Performance Art
Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a public in a fine art context in an interdisciplinary mode. Also known as artistic action, it has been developed through the years as a genre of its own in which art is presented live. It had an important and fundamental role in 20th century avant-garde art. It involves five basic elements: time, space, body, presence of the artist, and the relation between the artist and the public. The actions, generally developed in art galleries and museums, can take place in any kind of setting or space, and during any time period. Its goal is to generate a reaction, sometimes with the support of improvisation and a sense of aesthetics. The themes are commonly linked to life experiences of the artist themselves, the need for denunciation or social critic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Surrealism
Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike scenes and ideas. Its intention was, according to leader André Breton, to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality into an absolute reality, a super-reality", or ''surreality.'' It produced works of painting, writing, photography, Theatre of Cruelty, theatre, Surrealist cinema, filmmaking, Surrealist music, music, Surreal humour, comedy and other media as well. Works of Surrealism feature the element of surprise, unexpected juxtapositions and ''Non sequitur (literary device), non sequitur''. However, many Surrealist artists and writers regard their work as an expression of the philosophical movement first and foremost (for instance, of the "pure psychic automatic behavior, automatism" Breton speaks of in the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andy Kaufman
Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. He has sometimes been called an "anti-humor, anti-comedian". He disdained telling jokes and engaging in comedy as it was traditionally understood, once saying in an interview, "I am not a comic, I have never told a joke. The comedian's promise is that he will go out there and make you laugh with him. My only promise is that I will try to entertain you as best I can." After working in small comedy clubs in the early 1970s, Kaufman came to the attention of a wider audience in 1975, when he was invited to perform portions of his act on the first season of ''Saturday Night Live''. His Foreign Man character was the basis of his performance as Latka Gravas on the television show Taxi (TV series), ''Taxi'' from 1978 until 1983. During this time, he continued to tour comedy clubs and theaters in a series of unique performance art/comedy shows, sometimes appearing as h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?
"Why did the chicken cross the road?" is a common riddle joke with the answer being "To get to the other side." It is commonly seen as an example of anti-humor, in that the curious setup of the joke leads the listener to expect a traditional punchline, but they are instead given a simple statement of fact. The joke has become iconic as an exemplary generic joke to which most people know the answer, and has been repeated and changed numerous times over the course of history. History The riddle appeared in an 1847 edition of '' The Knickerbocker'', a New York City monthly magazine: There are ' quips and quillets' which ''seem'' actual conundrums, but yet are none. Of such is this: 'Why does a chicken cross the street? Are you 'out of town?' Do you 'give it up?' Well, then: 'Because it wants to get on the other side!' According to music critic Gary Giddins in the Ken Burns documentary ''Jazz'', the joke was spread through the United States by minstrel shows beginni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Surprise Factor
The surprise factor is a technique used in storytelling to produce a visceral reaction from the audience. It is created by telling a story in a way which creates a certain perception of events which is then revealed to be false often in exact opposition to original perception. The term most often refers to its use in many forms of humour which provides the audience with the twist or punch line, intended to elicit amusement. However it can also be used to elicit a tragic reaction, rather than a comic one. It has been theorised that the essence of humour lies in two elements or factors, the ''relevance factor'', and the '' surprise factor''. First, it is necessary to present something familiar or relevant to the audience. This accounts for gaining the involvement and scrutiny of the audience, who may believe they know the natural follow-through thoughts or conclusion. Next, the actual amusement results from the presentation of some twist on what the audience expected, or else ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
No Soap Radio
"No soap radio" is a form of practical joke and an example of surreal comedy. The joke is a prank whereby the punch line has no relation to the body of the joke, but participants in the prank pretend otherwise. The effect is either to trick someone into laughing along as if they "get it" or to ridicule them for not understanding. The joke became popular in New York in the 1950s. The punch line is known for its use as a basic sociological and psychological experiment, specifically relating to mob mentality and the pressure to conform. The basic setup is similar to the Asch conformity experiments, in which people showed a proclivity to agree with a group despite their own judgments. Execution of the prank This prank usually requires a teller and two listeners, one of whom is an accomplice who already knows the joke and secretly plays along with the teller. The joke teller says something like, "The elephant and the hippopotamus were taking a bath. And the elephant said to the hipp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
