Unit 2: Introduction To Humour

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

Humour

What is humour?

• the quality of being amusing or comic, especially as expressed in literature or speech.
• There are many types of humour, let's take a look at a few examples.

Types of humour: Physical

• Also called: slapstick
• Exaggerated effects, like absurd body movements, exaggerated crying or laughter, and mock bodily harm.
• Also exaggerated sound effects, like: boinks, bonks and boops

Types of humour: Deadpan / Dry humour

• Delivered with a straight face and a neutral tone
• Often requires more thought and perception

Types of humour: Wordplay / Puns

• Relies on the dual meaning of words and phrases
• For example:
  “Are you a parking ticket? ‘Cause you’ve got fine written all over you.” 
  
  
• Often not translatable to another language.

Type of humour: one-liners

• Short, concise, and just one sentence or phrase.
• You need the perfect setup to deliver the punchline.
  
  
• “Evening news is where they begin with ‘Good evening’, and then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.”

Who can explain the first joke?

Type of humour: dad-jokes

• Pun, presented as a one-liner or a question and answer
• Generally inoffensive
• Can also rely on how the joke is presented
  
  
• Child says: "I'm hungry."
  Father says: "Hi Hungry, I'm dad."

Types of humour: Toilet humour

• Also called body bathroom
• Easy subject for jokes
• All about farts, poop and pee

Who do you think enjoys this type of humour most?

1. young girls
2. young boys
3. adolescents
4. adults

Types of humour: dark humour

• Any joke that makes light of a tragic event or subject matter
• Often used as a coping mechanism
• Some people see it as a cheap way of getting laughs
  
  
• When president Ronald Reagan was shot during an attempted assassination, he said it had "ruined one of his best suits"

Self-deprecating humour

• Literally means: to degrade oneself
• Often used as an icebreaker
• Shows you don't take yourself too seriously

Lowbrow humour

• Often just crude, profane or offensive
• Seems easy, but is actally very hard to write

Why is the previous example 'funny'?

• A famous saying in English is:
  "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade."
  
  
• Basically: turn something sour (bad) into something sweet (good)
  
  
• Frank is absolutely rude when he says "shove them down someone's throat"

Why is the previous example 'funny'?

• This does mean that you have to understand certain phrases / idioms in English to fully grasp the humour.

Type of humour: surreal / absurd

• Elements of surrealism or absurdity
• Replaces logic with illogical thoughts
• Humourus because it's either ridiculous or unexpected.
  
  
• “Why did the elephant sit on the marshmallow?
  

He didn’t want to fall into the cup of hot chocolate.”

Continue

Try not to laugh

In pairs / groups:

Try to find as many English jokes as you can (think about puns, one-liners, etc.)

Tell each other the joke. 

Every time you make someone laugh, you score a point.

If no one laughs, they get a point, so choose your jokes wisely.

Create a pun poster

Individually / in pairs:
Find a pun you really like and make a (digital) poster or drawing.

Send or give it to your teacher, they might really like it and want to use it :)!

America vs England

In pairs / groups:
Go online and find American comedians and British comedians.

Compare their styles and types of humour.

Explain to your partner or group which you like more and why. Try to convince them your clip is the best.