Types of Humor in shows?

[TGIF]

Posted: 2/15/05 at 9:32pm

Ok, this is something I have been thinking about with all the new shows opening this season. What ARE the different types of humor in shows. Maybe I should rephrase that to what humor do you prefer? What consitutes as intelligent humor rather than it just being jokes that are "dirty" or "cheap laughs"?

There are alot of funny shows on or soon to be on Broadway.

Avenue Q
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
The Producers
Spamalot
Wicked

What makes jokes cheesey, and others dirty, and others just funny?

Posted: 2/15/05 at 10:17pm

OH TGIF this is an easy one! Humor that makes ME laugh is cultured, intelligent and witty. Humor that makes OTHER PEOPLE laugh is coarse, vulgar, dirty and cheap! That's a JOKE people!

Seriously, humor is such a complicated emotion! We laugh at things because we are surprised, or embarrassed, or delighted and that's just the first three that came to mind. A lot of Wicked's humor, for example, gets laughs because it suddenly jerks us out of the moment by invoking a line from The Wizard of Oz, causing us to laugh in recognition.

"The Producers" was lambasted (Often unfairly) for being "coarse" or "Cheap". Sometimes I think that happens because people think they ought not laugh at a sexual reference or "bad" word and so they feel obligated to justify themselves: "Yes I laughed, but it was a cheap joke". Mel Brooks has a particular rythm to his humor that often depends a "punch" in the punchline that emphasises the "dirty" word. ("Who do you have to F*ck in this Town???")

Spamalot seems to be stirring up a lot on controversy on the boards as they are using all the "low" humor tricks in their show- Anachronistic references, breaking the fourth wall, audience interaction- but I think if it makes you laugh, it's a good joke and if it doesn't it isn't!

[wildcat]

Posted: 2/15/05 at 10:32pm

Ah, thank you Joe, that was the word I was waiting for. You could really divide it all into "low" comedy....THE PRODUCERS, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, SUGAR BABIES, The Three Stooges, Milton Berle, people getting hit, fart jokes, Martin Lawrence...and "high" comedy...verbal dexterity, genuine wit, irony, Oscar Wilde, Noel Coward, Patrick Dennis...

Anything in between comes down to personal taste.

[ShuQ]

Posted: 2/15/05 at 10:36pm

The thing about Avenue Q...YES, it's a bit dirty...but it's also incredibly clever and witty. You'd have to be brilliant to think of some of the things that they did.

[bjivie2]

Posted: 2/15/05 at 10:36pm

I would NOT consider Wocked a particularly funny show. The only jokes than land are either stupid blonde jokes or allusions to the movie.

[wildcat]

Posted: 2/15/05 at 10:44pm

Wocked? The Asian cooking musical?

[BroadwayNick]

Posted: 2/15/05 at 10:50pm

Wicked has humor? I haven't seen the show yet, but I didn't think it to be a "funny" musical, a la the Producers...

[Tiny-Toon]

Posted: 2/15/05 at 11:04pm

haha..

[TGIF]

Posted: 2/16/05 at 9:12am

Well I threw Wicked in there because it has alot of "cheesey" lines or references to the movie. I wouldn't say it is a primarily "funny" show, but it was an example of a different type of humor.

What are shows with out the "low humor" or "cheap jokes"? I'd be curious to check out their Cast Recordings or any movies that were made.

[wildcat]

Posted: 2/16/05 at 9:28am

Without the low humour?

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
GUYS AND DOLLS (really!)
THE MUSIC MAN
OKLAHOMA!
ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
SHE LOVES ME
MY FAIR LADY

[lesserworm]

Posted: 2/16/05 at 12:56pm

Humor shouldn't be judged on how vulgar the joke is. It should only be one question: Did it make you laugh, or were you just disgusted. If it made you laugh, be proud of it. You saw a show where the writers were intelligent enough to craft a joke you didn't see coming.