Let’s think about how comedy has changed since we’ve started consuming digital video on the internet. Prior to the Internet, comedy media was consumed primarily through movies and television. However, the internet has made comedy infinitely more accessible and thus we’ve been laughing a lot harder these days at a lot of different things.

To begin, what is Comedy? The following summarizes a popular book about comedy:

Comedy Writing Secrets by Mel Helitzer

Why We laugh?
The two main motivations:

• We laugh out of surprise.
• We laugh when we feel superior.

There are six additional motivations each which supports the first two.

• We laugh out of Instinct
• We laugh at incongruity
• We laugh out of ambivalence
• We laugh out of release
• We laugh when we solve a puzzle
• We laugh to regress.

Recipe for Humor:

The following six elements must be present for any humor to work:

• Target
• Hostility
• Realism
• Exaggeration
• Emotion
• Surprise

These elements have not changed much, what has changed is the content.

How do I consume great comedy vidoes?

• Tosh.O Blog
• Redit.tv (click Happy)

This is my internet Comedy Highlight real. Since I won’t have time to show all these videos in class, I hope that the other students will visit my blog and watch them on their own time.

Early history:
Star Wars Gangsta Rap: The most popular flash-video of all time

Lenny Bruce, Eddy Murphy, Richard Pryor were all considered vulgar for their time. Now, notice that vulgarity is almost expected in interactions on the internet.

Popular Targets: Technology and Technology Workers

• We didn’t start the flame war
• The Website is Down: Web dude vs Sales Guy


Mac Parody

There is a hostility towards traditional media. Even though we’re consuming more traditional media than ever, it’s easier to make fun of it now:

Charlie Brooker – How To Report The News

Auto-tune the news with Joe Biden singing

Mixing Media:

Star Trek and Monty Python.

Don’t Taze me and MC Hammer.

Kesha/cops parody uses many internet based images.

Target/ Hostility: Popular Movies

Twilight ‘New Moon’ in one minute.

How Star Wars should have ended.

Realism (Fail Videos) Top 100 Fail Clips of 2009:

Tons of Suprises:

Misheard Metal Lyrics.

Digital video can be used to parody how ridiculous Television video is. Does this render Television obsolete or
engage us more in it. For example, before watching the Rap Chop video, I knew very little about the slap chop. Now I always check it out in the “As seen on TV” store.
Slap Chop Video.

Rooftop Comedy introduces us to new comedians in short, easy to consume forms.

Comedy by Consensus? Pride of origination?

So, has comedy changed? Not much. Our tolerance for bad comedy has certainly gone. Nothing is is off limits these days and technology has given comedy infinite more possibilities to expand.