What Defines Good Comedy?

BubbleBlowingBaby

BubbleBlowingBaby

lol
[Warning: Long :dolphin noise: post incoming. Feel free to skim.]
I usually don't pose questions like this, but I've been going through a series of CN City Bumper Collections. If you don't know what CN City is, allow me to explain. CN City was the third era of Cartoon Network (the first two were Checkerboard and Powerhouse). It housed a series of bumpers that placed Cartoon Network characters (while still in their own original animation) in a Giant CGI animated city. Pretty much like Who Framed Roger Rabbit's Toontown, but as bumpers and with Cartoon Network characters, such as Dexter, The PPG, Lazlo, Hi Hi Puffy, Fosters, Johnny Bravo, and many more. It ran from 2004 - 2007. Now, when I go through the comments of these videos, you can already guess what they say. Things like, "CN is terrible nowadays", or, "This is the Cartoon Network I remember". But the comments I found intriguing were the ones that said, "Cartoon Network just isn't funny anymore". Despite me personally finding this incorrect, it got me thinking. What defines good comedy? Please tell me what you think.
 
It needs to be well-written. That's what I like about The Office- it's unique and smartly written (with some pranks mixed in, of course). The thing that ruins comedy for me is too many sexual innuendos. As much as I love The Big Bang Theory, there are far too many innuendos and it seems like the writers are just dropping them in for the sake of dropping them in. It's corny and childish. Also, the situations themselves should come from real life, and should make sense. They shouldn't just be potty humor all the way through.

I guess what I'm saying is that the best comedy often comes from situations you can relate to. I was never much of a cartoon fan, and I guess that explains why. :P
 
pop_princess said:
It needs to be well-written. That's what I like about The Office- it's unique and smartly written (with some pranks mixed in, of course). The thing that ruins comedy for me is too many sexual innuendos. As much as I love The Big Bang Theory, there are far too many innuendos and it seems like the writers are just dropping them in for the sake of dropping them in. It's corny and childish. Also, the situations themselves should come from real life, and should make sense. They shouldn't just be potty humor all the way through.

I guess what I'm saying is that the best comedy often comes from situations you can relate to. I was never much of a cartoon fan, and I guess that explains why. :P
Click to expand...
I wouldn't say every cartoon is capable of doing this, but some have certainly done humor (among other things) from relatable situations and have done it well. Some examples could be King of the Hill, Home Movies, and (except for when the story goes over-the-top/supernatural) Regular Show; then again, most of those shows are more grounded in reality than most cartoons, so you may have a point. (By the way, are you talking about the UK version of The Office or the American version? I saw the first episode of the UK Office recently and it was flipping hilarious.)

Here's my two cents: have your comedy be unexpected and catch others off-guard but also still make sense within the world and characters you're given, at least for cartoons.
 
It depends on each person's personal opinion. Although people tends to follow other's opinion, we're not a hive mind, each person must have a personal opinion on the. So it's hard to determine what is good comedy.

For example one person may like celevr humor, while other person absolutely hates it and prefer poop jokes. Other example is based on my observation American stand-up have more clever humors and puns, while Indonesian's have more self deprecating and rude jokes. Here not a lot of people like, or even understand Western stand up comedy, while they will laugh at their own. I don't know what American will say about our stand up comedy, but based on my observation they will pribably hate it.
 
SBLaura said:
It's defined by each individual person. Some people may like slapstick humor, some their humor dark, while some may like satires or parodies. There's lots of different kinds of comedy, and each can be done well in different ways. ....Just keep the darn fart jokes out. Who actually likes fart jokes? :P
Click to expand...
This. I like all comedy mentioned except fart jokes :P Seriously, who does like them ?
 
As for me, I love comedy that's witty, like The Office (American, btw) or Parks and Recreation.Shows with multiple quotable lines and snappy dialogue are comedies I can really get invested in. I also enjoy a good satire like The Daily Show that pokes fun at stuff in our daily lives. And when a show pulls off a good parody, I can appreciate that.
 
Well, depends on what type of comedy. For the most part, it needs to either surprise me or be clever and well written. Anchorman and Spongebob are two perfect examples of masterfully crafted comedy. If you resort to slapstick, make sure it's not too realistic and it happens when it's funny to the joke (like the ice cream gag in SpongeGuard on Duty). Fart jokes can be funny if they're well written (Perfect Chemistry, although I don't love the episode, did it right) or if they embarrass the character. Ironic humor often is funny at the most unpredictable times, and random humor can be amazing (24, Finland, Is mayonnaise an instrument, etc.). Sometimes it's also just funny looking at character's faces, where you need to make a visual joke (Face Freeze). Many types of comedy are also great (dark humor, satire, gross out, etc.) but I don't want this too long.
 
It's like deciding how you'd like your steak cooked. For me, I tend to really like that kind of humor that Howard Sterns show used to have back when it was still funny or Louis C.K's earlier raunchy material before he went mainstream. I don't mind cringe humor at all when you have all sorts of great comedians in. It's not for everyone but yeah. I also like slapstick and British humor too but have also gotten a kick out of things like seinfeld and older comedy in the vein of the 3 stooges, the Marx Bros, buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin stuff.
 
Comedy would basically be something that makes you laugh and hooks you in.

Kind of more complex then what I just said, but overall, If you laugh, then it's comedy to you :P
 
Popeye Q. Krabs said:
It's like deciding how you'd like your steak cooked. For me, I tend to really like that kind of humor that Howard Sterns show used to have back when it was still funny or Louis C.K's earlier raunchy material before he went mainstream. I don't mind cringe humor at all when you have all sorts of great comedians in. It's not for everyone but yeah. I also like slapstick and British humor too but have also gotten a kick out of things like seinfeld and older comedy in the vein of the 3 stooges, the Marx Bros, buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin stuff.
Click to expand...
I like comedy that makes you laugh not necessarily with what's happening, but HOW people are doing things. It's hard to explain... comedy that comes from just how people talk and act, and interact with each other.

also, surreal comedy, where the laughs come from a "what the ::dolphin noise:: am I watching and why is this funny?!" sort of place.
 
SBManiac!!!!!! said:
I wouldn't say every cartoon is capable of doing this, but some have certainly done humor (among other things) from relatable situations and have done it well. Some examples could be King of the Hill, Home Movies, and (except for when the story goes over-the-top/supernatural) Regular Show; then again, most of those shows are more grounded in reality than most cartoons, so you may have a point. (By the way, are you talking about the UK version of The Office or the American version? I saw the first episode of the UK Office recently and it was flipping hilarious.)

Here's my two cents: have your comedy be unexpected and catch others off-guard but also still make sense within the world and characters you're given, at least for cartoons.
Click to expand...
I was talking about the U.S. version. I've seen bits from the U.K. version and it just doesn't look nearly as good to me. But people love it anyway, further proving that comedy is really in the eyes of the beholder. Everyone has their preference when it comes to what makes them laugh, I guess.

I haven't seen many cartoons, so I wouldn't know if they'd be good at basing humor off relatable situation, but I'll take your word for it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top