Hello Sam,

I have included a list of different types of comedy categories and attached some explanation notes on all of the types of comedy. I would like you to read the attached document which I have adapted for you from some notes produced by film lecturers for teachers and students. 

You mentioned the film Mrs Doubtfire as a starting point. After reading through the notes decide which category the film comes under. You might think that it falls into more than one of the category. This is fine but I would like you to identify why according to the notes. 

The notion of a man dressed as a women is slightly absurd and has been used a lot in stage and film. Other films you might watch which have a similar theme are Some Like it Hot (old film but you need to include film history too) and Tootsie.     

Investigate some of the films below and decide what category you think they fall into and why. 

American Pie

Ten Things I Hate About You 

Juno 

The Truman Show 

Sweet Home Alabama 

You might also look at spoof, parody some examples below

Airplane

Naked Gun 

Not Another Teen Movie

Complete the following: 

What makes you laugh?

1. Just stop for a moment and think about the things that make you laugh in the cinema. What triggers your laughter? 
2. a joke told by a character? 
3. an accident like someone pouring water over themselves by mistake? 
4. a realisation that something isn’t as it should be – someone has broken the rules or ‘taboos’¹ and you think to yourself, “Oh, no! What’s going to happen” – and when it does, you laugh? 
5. something or somebody is so ‘odd’ or out of place that laughter seems the only response – you laugh to cover up your confusion? 

Watch at least one of the above films

answer the following questions. JUNO

1. Which comedy genres does the film draw on? Teen Comedy RomCom Drama
2. Were there any examples of stereotypes? Give details -  innocent fresh-faced youths - Paulie Bleaker is shown to be slightly shy and innocent, and eveyone finds it as a surprise that he is the father
3. What kinds of comic effect does it hope to achieve? Verbal Comedy - Many gags included
4. Did the film make you laugh? Yes
5. Can you analyse why you thought a particular scene was funny? Once scene which really does make me laugh is where Juno’s dad find out who the father of her unborn child is, and a soon as he hears the name he is very open and says “I didn’t think he had it in him” then it cuts to Juno’s friend who agrees with him. 
6. If you didn’t find the film funny can you explain why? I did
7. Is it a ‘gag’ or a ‘situation’ that you find funny/not funny? Both gag and situation, as her dad makes the joke about Paulie during the serious of the situation makes both the gag and situation funny.
8. Try to find some reviews of the film. look on the Internet Movie Database at uk.imdb.com.
9. What do the critics and fans say? Who likes it, who doesn’t? Juno has had very mixed reviews, some have been 100% positive and many people agree that it is a great film about growing up, and the bumps on the way. Overall it was rated 7.7 out of 10 on IMDb, however other people do not approve of this film whatsoever, the thought of a teenage girl becoming pregnant, and giving the child away to its adopted parents seems to not be appreciated by a large amount of audience, due to things like promoting teenage pregnancy etc, however things like this happen in real life, which is why I believe this film is great and very realistic.
10. Do different reviewers enjoy (or not) different aspects of the film? Some reviewers enjoy the comedy of it, however still do not approve of the actual plot and the occurrences in the film, whereas other, including me believe it is good because this is what is actually happening in the world every day.

Types of comedy 

Gags 

Social situation 

Observational comedy

Character comedy

Gag-related 

slapstick. 

‘gross-out’. 

screwball’. 

farce. 

Gag-related 

slapstick. 

‘gross-out’. (taboos)

screwball’. 

farce. 

Types of comic effect

physical comedy. 

spoof, parody 

‘black’ comedy. 

satire. 

surrealism and the absurd

Comedy and stereotypes

Comedy and national culture