In the world of comedy, there are many differentiations between the different types of ways you can pull off a comedic act.
With proper timing and material, anyone can theoretically make anything funny, with some obvious exceptions that fall under the umbrella of “too soon” or punching down as opposed to punching up.
There are so many different variations of the usual joke or sketch comedy trope. Parody, satire, spoof, comedy, and farce are all forms of humor that often overlap and share similarities, but they also have distinct characteristics and purposes. Here, we’ll break down the most often-used forms of comedy: parody, satire, spoof, comedy, and farce.
Parody
Parody refers to a work that imitates or mocks the style, tone, or characteristics of another work, usually for comedic effect. It often involves exaggerating and ridiculing specific elements of the original work, such as its themes, plot, characters, or writing style. Parodies are intended to entertain by offering a humorous commentary on the original piece.
Often a parody comes in the form of a skit, with scripted comedians running the gamut from zany wildcards to deadpan straight men, but it may also be a larger body of work such as a movie or even a segment of a TV show.
For example, a parody can include a movie making fun of a particular genre or series of franchises within a certain genre, such as the Scary Movie franchise.
What is a Satire
Satire is parody’s close cousin, and many people both in and out of the entertainment industry often don’t know the difference between the two. Satire, unlike parody, is a comedic interpretation of a creative work in any genre, in which the commentary doesn’t cross the line into parody by recreating the exact setting of the original work, but only comments on it.
Satire is a form of humor that uses irony, sarcasm, and ridicule to criticize or mock societal flaws, vices, or individuals. It aims to bring attention to social, political, or cultural issues by exposing their absurdity or hypocrisy.
For example, a satire can be a sketch on a late-night comedy show highlighting the week’s top headlines, or a major story, adding funny commentary and insight. Another famous example of satire that doesn’t quite fall in line with traditional comedy tropes is George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
What is a Spoof
A spoof, while similar to parody and satire, is very similar to both forms of comedy but has one or two elements of the original work exaggerated for comedic effect. With spoofs, the humor may be caricatured and perhaps even cartoonish. In the end, the original work of fiction being spoofed and the spoof will be stylistically different enough to consider both pieces of work individualistic in approach.
While parody imitates and mocks a specific work, a spoof generally takes a broader approach, targeting entire genres, styles, or tropes. Spoofs tend to rely on exaggeration, absurdity, and humor derived from subverting audience expectations.
For example, a spoof could draw some allusions from a popular movie or TV show. The movie may be about the military, for example, but the spoof would include cartoonish elements. Two good examples of spoofs are the movies Airplane! and Spaceballs.
What is a Comedy
Comedy is a broad term that encompasses various forms of entertainment that aim to provoke laughter and amusement. It includes a wide range of genres and styles, such as stand-up comedy, sitcoms, romantic comedies, and slapstick comedy. Comedy can employ various techniques, including wit, wordplay, physical humor, situational comedy, and more. The main goal of comedy is to entertain and evoke laughter from the audience.
Straight comedy is as simplistic as it comes: something that someone else either writes or otherwise creates for a positive, ideally raucous reaction from the audience, whether it’s in the form of stand-up, an online skit or sketch, a full-fledged program like a streaming service special or a regular cable TV program, or a feature length movie. Any one of these can fall under the category of comedy, sometimes without even intending to, as other B movies in any genre can still be seen as lighthearted and silly even to its intended audience.
For example… there are countless examples! Comedy comes in the form of telling a joke around a watercooler, hearing a riff on the radio, a comedy TV special or movie. If it makes you laugh, even unintentionally, it is therefore a comedy!
What is a Farce
A farce, unlike most other forms of comedy including spoof, satire, and parody is a standalone feature of absurdist humor, often slapstick and very lowbrow (toilet humor, jokes about sexuality, etc.) as opposed to highbrow (jokes where you may have to be educated on the subject being joked about to find it funny.)
Traditionally, a farce should cover these three main characteristics: misidentification or an overall confusion of identity, which may be deliberate or accidental, mocking standard societal norms and conventions, and language-based comedy, especially with wordplay, euphemisms, and double entendres.
For example, many farces are included in theatre productions. A good classic example of this is Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, in which identity confusions and wordplay are used to design a comedic tapestry surrounding the life of a young British aristocratic type.
There are many things that make these facets of comedy different from each other, including comedy itself. Much of the time it has to do with the timing, general content, overall presentation, and the material being passed down to the viewers, whether they’re at home or in a live audience with applause cues or otherwise.
While these terms share similarities and often intertwine, understanding their specific characteristics can help distinguish between them. Parody and spoof focus on imitating and mocking specific works or genres, satire criticizes social issues, comedy aims to entertain and provoke laughter, and farce thrives on exaggerated and chaotic situations. Nonetheless, these forms of humor are not mutually exclusive and can frequently overlap in various comedic works, offering a mix of laughter and social commentary.
Subversify Staff