This document outlines topics that will be covered in a Year 10 English elective semester on comedy, including what prompts laughter, definitions of comedy and humor, and different types of comedy such as slapstick, satire, and stand-up. Some of the comedy types and examples that will be discussed are slapstick, physical comedy, social and political satire, sitcoms, and stand-up comedy. The purpose and techniques of satire are also mentioned, such as exaggerating faults to ridicule them.

1. Year 10 English Elective – Semester 2
Mrs Annabel Harris

2.  What is laughter?
 What prompts us to laugh ?
 What is comedy?
 How is comedy performed?

3.  The pretentious

4.  Healing activity to help us feel better

5.  From embarrassment, pain or fear
 E.g. Bawdy humour
 Political correctness

6.  Slapstick
 Physical comedy
 Social and Political Satire
 Daily observational comedy
 Sit-coms
 Stand-up
 One-off jokes

7.  USA Superbowl commercial

8.  "When you look at Australians being funny, being
amused by others, swapping blonde jokes or
talking about their favourite comedies on tv, you
see...their bodies are energised, their eyes are
alight...Faced by a huge continent, so alien and
desolate, knocked around by droughts and
bushfires and floods, early immigrants responded
with comedy. It helped the society to survive and
eventually prosper."
John Marsden

10.  The Chasers

11.  Main purpose to attack some fault,
pretension or hypocrisy by a person, society
or nation. Aims to reveal abuses and ridicule
them.
 Works through exaggeration
 Analogy (ridiculous equivalent to real-life)
 Reversal

12.  Inappropriateuse of confusing words which
look or sound the same
 Kim: I just want to be effluent
 Kath: You are effluent, Kim

13.  Easilyrecognised characters
 The audience pre-judge and will either
approve or disapprove
 View satire of High School stereotypes after
watching “Clueless”

14.  One person with a microphone
 Anecdotes, story with gags, series of jokes
 Relies on charm, skill and confidence of
performer and reaction of audience