Types of Comedy

Most of the comedy movies that are made fall under the category of one of the three types of comedies. Slapstick, Dark, and Screwball comedies are the three main genres of the comedy movie and i'll give you some definitions, and some of the more successful of each of these comedic categories.
The first type of comedy and one of the earliest styles of comedies used when making movies is called Slapstick Comedy. Slapstick is a comedy used by more physical and visual actions rather then the words or dialogue. The name Slapstick Comedy comes from the use of a "wooden stick which was used for audience applause". The violent actions are very popular and an example of this type of comedy is the cat and mouse hunt called Tom and Jerry.
The next type of comedy is Dark or Black Comedy, which is more of a verbal type of humor. Dark Comedy is shows the "absurdity, insensibility, and cruelty of the world's society". It uses the more controversial and serious topics going on in the world and pokes fun at them. It makes fun of movies around them and are sometimes parodies of serious movies. A good example of this would be the Scary Movie series that is famous for making fun of many movies and actors in the industry.
The final type of comedy is called Screwball Comedy. Screwball Comedy can be shortly described as a stupid or crazy comedy. It uses a mix of the first two types of comedy and uses a lot of "visage jokes, stupid characters, and sex conflict between characters". A lot of the new century comedies could be described as this and an actor of the screwball comedy would be Will Ferrell.
The three types of comedies have a wide variety and all of the types have had success but i would have to be a big fan of the screwball type of comedies.

Jake Olsen

Comedy Film Directors

This week we'll take a look behind the scenes at the brains of the comedy movie operation. The directors are very important in keeping together the comedy film process. We'll look at some of the top comedy directors of all time.
Coming in at number one is Woody Allen. Woody Allen has been making movies for over forty years. Starting in the 1960's and still making movies in the 2000's, Woody has made over 35 comedy movies. Some of his more famous movies include Annie Hall, Manhattan, and Match Point.
The number two comedic director is Terry Gilliam. Just like Woody Allen, Gilliam has been making movies for more than forty years and most of his success occurred in the 1970's and 1980's when he directed the movies Time Bandits, Monty Python and the Holy grail, and Brazil. He had a successful movie in 2005 that starred Matt Damon and Heath Ledger named The Brother's Grimm.
The next director wasn't third on the list but it was a name that caught my name and i did not know he was an actor and a director. You may not recognize the name but Kevin Smith has become one of the more successful comedic directors in the last decade. Many people know him as Silent Bob from Jay and Silent Bob, but he has directed many comedic movies such as Clerks one and two, Dogma, Mallrats, and both Jay and Silent Bob's. A surprise that came to me was that he wrote and directed one of the most successful movies to come out in 2008. He directed the box office money maker Zach and Miri Make a Porno. It was pretty cool to see how successful he was as a director and an actor.

Jake Olsen