Portal:Comedy

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The Comedy Portal

Comedy is an act that is funny. In its popular meaning, the term encompasses stand-up, along with any discourse generally intended to amuse; this differs from the academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins can be found in Ancient Greece. The theatrical genre can be simply described as a dramatic performance pitting two societies against each other in an amusing agon or conflict. Comedy contains variations on the elements of surprise, incongruity, conflict, repetitiveness, and the effect of opposite expectations, and there are many recognized genres.

Satire and political satire use ironic comedy to portray persons or social institutions as ridiculous or corrupt, thus alienating their audience from the object of humor. Parody borrows the form of some popular genre, artwork, or text but uses certain ironic changes to critique that form from within (though not necessarily in a condemning way). Screwball comedy derives its humor largely from bizarre, surprising (and improbable) situations or characters. Black comedy is defined by dark humor that makes light of so-called dark or evil elements in human nature. Similarly scatological humor, sexual humor, and race humor create comedy by violating social conventions or taboos in comedic ways. A comedy of manners typically takes as its subject a particular part of society (usually upper class society) and uses humor to parody or satirize the behavior and mannerisms of its members. Romantic comedy is a popular genre (also known as rom com or romcom) that depicts burgeoning romance in humorous terms and focuses on the foibles of those falling in love.

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Arrested Development was a character-driven American television comedy series about a formerly wealthy, habitually dysfunctional family. The show is presented in a mockumentary format, complete with narration, archival photos, and historical footage. Although set in Newport Beach and Balboa Island, California, it was primarily filmed on location around Culver City and Marina del Rey, California. The show was created by Mitchell Hurwitz (The Ellen Show, The John Larroquette Show, and The Golden Girls). Television veteran Ron Howard is an executive producer and the uncredited narrator. It has aired on broadcast networks around the world, including Fox in the United States, CBC in Canada and BBC Two in the United Kingdom. Since debuting on November 2, 2003, the series received six Emmy Awards, one Golden Globe, copious critical acclaim, a cult fan base, several fan-based websites, and a spot on Time's 100 Greatest Shows of All Time. Despite the thorough approval from critics, Arrested Development never climbed in the ratings. Fox aired the final four episodes of the third season in a block as a two-hour series finale on February 10, 2006, opposite the opening ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics.

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Credit: Artist: Charles Williams; Restoration: Lise Broer

An 1814 engraved cartoon of a double entendre, a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué, inappropriate, or ironic. In this cartoon, the man says to the woman, "My sweet honey, I hope you are to be let with the Lodgins!" To this, she replies "No, sir, I am to be let alone." Here, the word "let" can mean either "to leave" or "to rent", so her response can be read to mean either that she wants the man to stop bothering her, or that she is available for a separate fee from the lodging.

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Did you know...

...that the six episodes of the Japanese original video animation series FLCL were produced by the FLCL Production Committee, which included Gainax, Production I.G, and Starchild Records?

... that Rory and Paddy's Great British Adventure featured Rory McGrath and Paddy McGuinness in "strange but quintessentially British sporting events", such as cheese rolling and bog snorkelling?

... that the Parks and Recreation episode "Sister City" featured Saturday Night Live star Fred Armisen in a guest role as the head of a visiting Venezuelan delegation?

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Sir Terence David John Pratchett, OBE (born 28 April 1948) is a British fantasy and science fiction author, best known for his Discworld series. The Discworld series is a humorous and often satirical fantasy work that uses the Discworld as an allegory for our everyday life. Other works include the Johnny Maxwell Trilogy and The Nome Trilogy. He also closely collaborates on adaptations of his books, such as computer games and plays. Pratchett started to write by the age of 13 and his first work was published commercially at the age of 15. His first novel The Carpet People was published in 1971. The first Discworld novel The Colour of Magic was published in 1983 and since then, he has written two books a year on average. Pratchett was the UK's best selling author in the 1990s. Pratchett's novels hold the record for the most shoplifted books in Britain. Pratchett was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1998 "for services to literature". His novel The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents won the 2001 Carnegie Medal for the best book for children. Pratchett and his work are often described as having a cult following.

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There were two keys to the show [Seinfeld]. Our sense of humor is combustible together. There was no idea he [ Larry David ] would have that I couldn’t immediately get onto and say, ‘Yeah, then we’ll do that and then we’ll do that.’ We’re very combustible together. The other thing, equally as important to me, absolutely, if not more important, is we shared a relentless work ethic, both of us.

— Jerry Seinfeld

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