Not all humor translates from one culture to another. Early humor was meant to be understood by a lot of people, and this was done by using "physical" humor. In the earliest movies, sound could not be used, so comedians had to use their body to do funny things.
Comedians like Charlie Chaplin are famous around the world because no language is needed to understand what he is doing. Most of the time, he is just acting silly, but he was very good at doing this.
Cartoons often imitated violent, or "slapstick," humor. Like the movies, early cartoons were silent (just with music in the background) and a physical type of comedy worked well.
Slapstick humor was used often by the 3 Stooges. They would resort to very basic forms of comedy, like the "pie-in-the-face" routine. Often, they looked like living cartoon characters themselves.
Television had sound when it first began, so it could use language as comedy. Some television stars still resorted to using physical and slapstick humor, however. Lucille Ball is an example of someone who still used physical humor, although she had the convenience of sound.
But I want to know what you think is funny. What type of humor or comedians do you like and why? What are your favorite funny movies or TV shows and why? What do you think makes something or someone funny? I want to know your opinions.
4 comments:
I think Charlie Chaplin is kind of funny, but I would like to see him get hit in the face with a pie. That would be better than a bread dance.
I like charlie chaplin's kind of humour which all of the world can understand him.
Thank you Wen (or is it Xin?), you are the first person to leave a comment. Facial expression and body language seem to be the two types of things all cultures understand. Maybe movies should still be silent?
I like this kind of humor very much. Physical comedy is the best. I especially like the Marx Brothers.
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