Comedy FYW

Although I personally have never see the film, The Big Lebowski, I have certainly heard of it and come in counter with it’s spheres of influence. The movie is certainly memorable to most who have come into contact with it. In preparation for this blog I was speaking to some friends of mine about the film, and every single one had something to say about it even if it was just “yeah that’s my dad’s favorite movie”. Now what is it that makes a somewhat silly drama like this so impactful on a culture? As Zach said, the film is extremely quotable. The “take it easy man” has become a common saying in a sense and even has been used in other works. There’s a quite memorable episode of Drake and Josh , where Drake gets a part in a movie saying the line “take it easy man”, this entire episode was likely a reference to The Big Lebowski. The film is undeniably hilarious, even in the little moments I’ve seen. The whole idea of Jeff Lebowski referring to himself as the dude is laughable in itsel...

I remember many times scrolling through Netflix and coming across Crazy Ex-Girlfriend . I considered watching the show many time but it’s musical elements have me flashbacks to my middle school theater days, and that’s too much for even me to reflect on. Despite it hitting a little too close to home for me, the musical element of the show does add to its dramatic and comic effect. Musicals are often intentionally overdramatic and somewhat spunky, but in all my years in theater I never saw someone laugh at a song from Grease .   Crazy Ex-Girlfriend recognizes the often awkwardness of the musical drama and lightens it up and creates something so strange yet it works. The random break into song not only matches the somewhat insanity of the lead character, but it’s adds a comic element to the show many modern works of television don’t take advantage of. We’ve seen the music and comedy combo work before with The Lonely Island and Bo Burnam, but never directly in a sitcom outside of Di...

One hour and twenty-seven minutes later and I still can’t answer exactly what it is vampires do in the shadows, but  whatever it is, you’re bound to laugh a time or two. The first thing I noticed when watching this film was “The Office” like format. I think being shot as a documentary and making it seem more as if these events were actually accruing added to the absurdity of them, therefore making them funny. I agree that the humor in this film is best described by the incongruity theory. Something about these almost geeky vampire frat brothers living in the age of Myspace and Eggo Waffles, while they continue to wear blouses one can not even purchase anymore, creates a sense of pure absurdity that one cannot help but find amusing. This idea of combining moments in time that would never actually intermingle has been used endlessly in comedy, and here we see it at work. Beyond outdated wardrobe, the expired thought process of these now literally brain dead men is unbelievably bel...

In the modern age of Twitter, Vine and Youtube, still The Office is certainly one of the most iconic pieces of modern comedy. With the colliding of such stand out, yet relatable personality types, The Office allows the viewer to feel both a part of yet superior to its characters. Narcissistic yet almost embarrassing characters, such as Dwight truly explicate the Superiority theory. In their idea of their own superiority, as well as our personal feeling of superiority over him.  For example in one particular episode, Dwight starts a fire in the office, in an effort to teach everyone the importance of fire safety. This act displays Dwight’s idea that he is the one to teach and lead the others, as well as the viewer seeing how ridiculous the whole idea is. One could also look at this exact scene and make the argument that it falls into the category of the incongruity theory due to the pure chaos of the fire. I personally read into the cause of the fire more so in watching this scen...

I personally find Bo Burnahm’s “ Art is Dead” as one of the greatest pieces of not only comedy but art form in general. Bo is able to purge his guilt in an intense yet lighthearted manner. The song invokes a series of feeling as it delves into the failures of modern day artistic integrity, and what it means to be a sell out. The delivery makes you laugh as well as fall into deeper thinking. Although this is not by any means Bo’s funniest work, it is certainly a stand out piece in the message it conveys. Comedy is a tool used to express an often uncomfortable or hard to swallow idea with an audience in more comfortable and enjoyable manor; Bo does exactly this with “Art is Dead”.  He delivers the idea that he, himself as a comedian is selfish, and allows the audience to see the darker underlying reasons in show business without a heavy speech about it. Bo often uses song as a comedic device in delivering his often brutally honest messages, as part of keeping it light and funny. Bo ...