Humor Flashcards
(41 cards)
Sneak in Some Sarcasm Make funnier comments with understatements or overstatements. Real-life Examples You visit your friend’s house. They have a toddler, Ethan, and you notice blue and red crayon marks all over their living room wall. When presented with any situation, you typically have three choices for offering your observation/opinion:
- Overstate and exaggerate the facts of the situation. 2. State the facts exactly as they are. 3. Understate and downplay or deny the facts of the situation. You visit your friend Abbie, and her dog Ben jumps on you and smothers you with giant slobbery kisses. Literal Observation: Your dog really likes me. Understatement: I have a feeling your dog likes me. Understatement 2: Do you think your dog likes me? Understatement 3: I don’t think your dog likes me very much. Overstatement: I think your dog wants to marry me!
Parody
Parody Parody is making fun of another entertainment or information product. Any piece of writing, type of presentation, or anything intended to be presented to the public in any medium can be the target of Parody. That includes anything from a specific TV show, movie, book, magazine, or anything—all the way down to a church pamphlet, bus schedule or street sign. Beyond specific presentations or creators, overall media like movies, the stage or visual art can also be parodied.
Zynismus : Klaas steht am Pranger, wurde zuvor mit Obst beworfen und wird dann interviewt mit der Frage
wie er es schafft im Showgeschäft seine Würde zu bewahren.
The Power of Irony- In other words, the
words that come from your mouth are the opposite oft he emotion you are feeling. If you´re starving, an ironic statement might be something like „I´m so full I need to unbuckle my belt it is like thanksgiving in July“ Irony is all about contrasting and drawing some interesting and creative judgement out of it.
The Power of Irony- In other words, the words that come from your mouth are the opposite oft he emotion you are feeling. If you´re starving, an ironic statement might be something like „I´m so full I need to unbuckle my belt it is like thanksgiving in July“ Irony is all about contrasting and drawing some interesting and creative judgement out of it:
Word versus tone: I am a people person. People like me! You would yell this in angry and menacing tone!
Words versus Body Language: „I am a people Peron. People like me would be said with huge sowl, and making a knife motion across your neck to indicate that you hate people“
Ironic simple: Make a statement and then compare it to something that ist he exact opposite of what you are feeling. „That person is as flexible as a bridge“
Hyperbole- Something positive about a negative statement and the other way round. Flat Tire, best news of the week
Irony happens when the literal meaning of what you write is the opposite of the intended meaning. “Opposite” is the key word. Irony is all about opposites. If the Subtext you want to communicate is “nuns are weird,” you would use Irony to create a joke by expressing the
the opposite opinion: “Nuns are perfectly sane,” or “There’s nothing strange about dressing in a cumbersome headdress, locking yourself in a church and avoiding sex for the rest of your life.” The trick to Irony is heightening the contrast so that the two things you’re contrasting are truly polar opposites
Sarcasm- You say things
without saying them. If he says somethig is wonderful, he says it wonnnnderful in a tone that immediately lts you know he thinks the opposite. Sarcasm is saying the opposite of an objective fact, a subjective emotion, or thought. Bob plays tetris at work the whole time- Bob deservs a medal for worker oft he year. There is heeps of traffic on your way: What are we going to do when weg et to our destination super early?
without saying them. If he says somethig is wonderful, he says it wonnnnderful in a tone that immediately lts you know he thinks the opposite. Sarcasm is saying the opposite of an objective fact, a subjective emotion, or thought. Bob plays tetris at work the whole time-
Bob deservs a medal for worker oft he year. There is heeps of traffic on your way: What are we going to do when weg et to our destination super early?
- The driving force of a huge chunk of reactionary comedy is identifying and communicating things that are out of place. It sounds ridiculously basic, but that’s observational comedy in a nutshell. Jerry Seinfeld’s billion-dollar empire is entirely based on pointing out things that are a little off. Commit these to memory and make them a habit.
1) Check the background first – everyone will be looking at the focal point, you want to scan the edges first. That’s where the out of place things will be. 2) Be vividly aware of context. Many things are only out of place relative to what is going on. A shout at the devil t shirt isn’t funny at a metal concert, but it is at a baptism. 3) Go the extra mile. Comedian Mitch Hedberg had a great joke about seeing someone throw a tomato at a band who stunk. It’s a dated, but familiar image. He goes the extra mile to state: “who would bring a tomato to a concert?” In this case you can’t spot the dog until you think about how the situation arose. 4) Remove preconceived notions – we accept a lot of things as normal, but if we set aside our biases they might actually be weird. This is why people from other cultures find so much of what we dostrange – it’s unfamiliar to them. Try to see things through an unbiased set of eyes.
The more detailed and specific that final painting is, the funnier it becomes. For this reason, saying “I don’t want to end up as a pizza delivery boy” isn’t as interesting or funny as its
detailed specification into “I don’t want to end up as one a Super-Mario-lookinglooking frat boy in a plastic cap driving around in an old, overused red Scooter that hardly breaks 50 so I can deliver sub-par food and cold beverages to people who are partying and enjoying life far more than I am, all the while hoping they will pity me enough to give me a tip that allows me to go home at night and watch Netflix until I fall asleep”
And you can also exaggerate someone’s behavior. Let’s say you’re sitting down at a coffee table and the person you’re interacting with isn’t sure about where she wants to sit, so she touches one chair, moves it back, then gives up and sits on another chair instead. You can now
exaggerate this as if she’s trying to touch every single chair in the coffeeshop and say something like “Hey you haven’t touched that chair over there yet, do you want me to go get it?
Let’s imagine you are at a seminar with some fellow coworkers and currently a boring speaking with a dull, monotonous voice is on the stage. The seminar is supposed to last for the next eight hours, having eight speakers in total and the person currently on stage is the second speaker for the day. How could this situation get worse?
“I hope there is nothing else. I hope it’s just this guy telling us stories about his life for the next seven hours”
Misdirection: when you say one thing and ten proceed with an immediate opposite( That show is great, except everyone in it, It is a secret but let me tell you) You´re stating something in the first part, then
contradicting it immediatelly in the second. „This juice is awsome. Didi t come from the garbage disposal
3- The Six Question approach: In other words, you can´t play with expectations unless you define them and are familiar with their baseline. You can´t bend the rules in baseball if you don´t know what to start with.
Who is involved? What is happening? Why is it happening? When is it happening? Where is it happening? How is it happning? Answer all the questions in an expected manner. Afterwards write a contrary, silly, surprising, or outrageous answer. How can you make the situation unique and shocking? Now insert the wrong answer in the right context
Go watch some old Robin Williams. Robin Williams didn’t tell jokes. he became the jokes. When you talk about his sets, you are describing it like you watched a movie. This man said this or this woman did that. But the only person on stage was Robin. He creates such an incredible visual that you see what he is saying. Maybe you have a bit about going to the store and being frustrated by the cashier. When you tell the joke, you just say what happened.
The joke may hit, but if you added the cashier or someone in line as a character, the visual becomes stronger and the laugh becomes bigger.
Retitling. This is when you reframe an action under a different name, usually in an exaggerated manner. “Raj is walking in and out of traffic” becomes “Wow, Raj is embracing his inner Evil Kinevil.” “Did he just watch that terrible romantic comedy?” becomes
“I guess he is trying to find his feminine side, huh?” “He gets the same coffee every day” becomes “His blood is probably half latte these days.” Stating the opposite. This is when you answer a question or statement with the opposite of the truth in a joking and often sarcastic manner. “Who the hell was that?” “I’m guessing it wasn’t Brad Pitt.” “Where does this road go to?” “Mordor, I think.”
Schlagfert.
Übertreibung
Bedingungsloses zugeben
Unterstell dem gegenüber was der dir unterstellen will
Übertriebene Zustimmung
Blödeleien aufnehmen und einen drauf setzen
False importance
1.Make a big deal out of something small.
2.Misconstrue something tiny to be a huge, exxagerated deal.
3.You can impart false importance by using official terms for silly and small things. (And the other way round)
4.This deals with false insults and compliments. You construe anything that people say a seither a high compliment or a subtle and passive aggressive insult. (Are you going to finish that piece of pie? Are you calling me fat?
5.Vivid and Outlandish Imagery. We use lazy, uninspired language on a daily basis, and a part of being funnier ist o slowly replace those common terms and phrases with more flavorful ones.
The 5 Elements of Humor
- The Element of surprise- Something unexpected is funn
- The element auf audacity- Someone who is inconsiderate(rücksichtslos) or shameless is funny
- The element of obsession. Someone who acts absurd or inflexible is funny
- The element of relief- Making light of a frustration is funny
- The element of ego- Making yourself( or the people and things you like) superior(höhergestellt) is funny
The element of surprise
1) Extend a ridculous conclusion from given facts
(It is proven that celebrating birthdays is healthy. Statistics show that people who celebrate the most birthdays live the longest.)
2) Say something that is obviously false
Look at me, sitting here depressed while im surrounded by the happiest people in the world: Writers
3) Ask an unsusal question
Who collects the tooth fairys(Zahnfee) teeth?
4) Paint an unsual picture
Now I know what youre thinking. But Bill, the profit motive is what sustains capitalism. Yes, and our sex drive is what sustains the human species, but we dont try to fuck everything
5) Describe before revealing(auflösen)
I know a place where you can go, a place where a sadistic men with government experience can feel right home- Department of Motor Vehicles
6) Mislead before revealing
My Parents had a big court battle over who got to keep men. Mom won, she made me live with dead
7) Build false drama before revealing
It happened this morning in the parking lot. I took her tot he hospital. And the doctor tried to save her life, they did the best they could. She is going tob e okay.
8) Conclude with a subordinate point
When Steve Jobs acid with his girlfriend, the wheat fields started playing Bach, which is preety unbelievable; a computer Nerd had a girlfriend
9) Trick someone
10) Be a fool
When will I learn? The anwer to lifes problems isnt at the bottom oft he bottle; theyre on TV
Operator give me the nuber for 9-1-1
The Element of audacity
1) Give a sarcastic reponse
„ Am I suppose to laugh now?“
2) Say what everybody else was thinking
Cm Punk to a stripper: „You´re a whore“
3) Say what shouldn´t be said
Erin: „You´re gonna be alright“
Kevin: „No he´s not“
4) Casually(beiläufig) insult( beleidigen) someone
Jerry* concerned after burning Ron´s facial hair*
Ron are you mad at me? Because without eyebrows, I can´t really tell.
5) Swerve concern into selfishness( Selbstsucht)
Where were you Stan? Your mother was worried sick. And i was watching TV.
6) Swerve humbleness( Sanftmütigekeit) into wickedness( Bösartigkeit)
Speaking as one oft he meek, as soon as i inherit(erben) the earth, you a deadmen
7) Be an asshole to someone nice
: „There he is. Got you coffee.“
Dwight takes the coffee: „Oh wow, thank you, that was so kind of you“ Dumps the coffee in the trash
8) Be nice to someone mean
Sergeant: „Oky Simpson, I don´t like you and yyou don´t like me.
Homer: „I like you“
Sergeant: „Oh- okay well, you like me, but i don´t like you
Homer: „Maybe you would like me, if you got to know me“
9) Casually admit hypocrisy( Heuchelei)
I have never taken the high road. But I tell other people to, cause then there´s more room form e on the low road
10) Reveal true intention
Tom to intern: „Welcome aboard, Senator Murphy is an honorable woman who only does good fort he people.“
Intern: „She´s not in“
Tom: „In that case, she´s a convincing bitch who only cares about herself“
The Element Of Obsession
(1) Over- generalize a point
„ You tried your best and you failes miserably. The lesson is: never try!
(2) Neglect morality
Better a thousand innocent men are locked up than one guilty men roam free
(3) Attempt an creative trick
Whoever is growing a small patch of cannabis behind the gymnasium. Congratulations, you have won a criuse! Report ro security to claim your ticket.
(4) Listen to only what you want to hear
Britta to Jeff: „You´re cute, but selfish and narcistic to the point of near delusion
Jeff: „She said I was cute“
(5) Misinterpret friendliness
„Oh Homer, you´re so funny“
„Why? Because I´m Fat?“
(6) Demand something unrealistic
Michael“ after finding out his Ex is pregnant“
„You cheated on me? After i specifically told you not to?
-Hal* after dropping his kids off at therapy*: „You better be cured(geheilt) when I get back
(7) Be oblivious(unbewusst)
Hal spends 2 hours looking for his glasses which are on his head, and keys that are in his hands
The Element of Relief
i. Be cassualy( beiläufig) accepting
I have to make some adjustments(Umstellungen) to my film. Jeff, I think you should play the role of my father.
: „I don´t wanna be your father“
Abed: „That´s perfect, you already know your lines“
ii. Exaggerate fear
In Class: 1+1=2
On the exam: „John has 4 aplles and gives one away. Calculate the mass oft he sun.
iii. Making fun of oneself
iv. Start a speech that seems like it will have a point, and don´t let it have a point
v. Empty threat
vi. Get on the verge(Rand) of doing something, then quit.
Hal is about to confess the accident that costs the company ist database, but then he told, that they didn´t win the lottery.
vii. Go from excitement to depression
: „Halleluljah, I´m still alive! And i´ll appreciate every moment- except the ones that aren´t as good as they used tob e- which are all of themn. Awww, someone kill me!
The Element of Ego
I. Turn the insulted into the insulter.
CM Punk: „Can you-can you say the alphabet backwards.
Stone Cold: „Oh, I can whoop(jubeln) your ass backwards
II. Point out the contradiction in someone
: „You don´t drink, you don´t do drugs, you don´t smoke. Okay neither do I, I don´t look like I´ve been on a week-long crack binge with Amy
III. Scoff at someone´s credibility( Glaubwürdigkeit)
If I wantes to learn anything, i wouldn´t have come to community college“
IV. Hyperbolize(Überziehen) an insult
My Mama is so poor, she waves around a popsicle and calls it air conditioning
- Where are you Angela? I didn´t see you behind the grain of rice
V. Hyperbolize disgust(Ekel)
If i had a gun, with two bullets, and i was in a room with Hitler, Bin Laden and Toby, I would shoot Toby twice“
-Ronto his ex-wife: „An hour ago an entire fireball consumed my entire face an it was preferable to spending another second with you
VI. Swerve(Abweichen) isnult into compliment
You´re the bigggest asshole i have ever met my entire life- keep up the good work
VII. Swerve compliment into insult
I like your shirt, just not on you
You´re obviously a very bright(gescheit) men, would you like to spend the rest oft he hour telling me how bright you´re?
VIII. Swerve goodwill into malice(Boshaftigkeit)
Mizafter winning his first WWE championsship: „If anyone ever says you can´t do something, if anyone ever says you can´t live your dream: believe them, because you can´t
