How do we use language in comedy? What is the social importance of comedy? What are the techniques used with language to create different types of humour?
This series looks at how people manipulate language to generate humour, and what this reveals about the naute of comedy and its function in society.
Each video consists of short interviews with leading comedians and writers, each illustrating ideas about the language of comedy with examples of their work.
Language of Comedy - Crafting a joke
Featuring:
Comedian and actor Isy Suttie looks at how language is manipulated to create jokes, especially one-liners. Watch now: Language of Comedy - Crafting a joke
Language of Comedy - Creating a character
Featuring:
How do comedians exploit regional variety in comedy? Sheffield comedian Graham Fellows uses his character John... Watch now: Language of Comedy - Creating a character
Language of Comedy - Social class
Featuring:
The Fast Show writer Charlie Higson discusses how social class and dialects are used as a topic for comedy. Watch now: Language of Comedy - Social class
Language of Comedy - Innuendo
Featuring:
How do comedians exploit the ambiguities of language in the production of innuendo? Featuring Julian Clary's head... Watch now: Language of Comedy - Innuendo
Language of Comedy - Cross cultural humour
Featuring:
German comedian Henning Wehn looks at how comedians play with cultural stereotypes as a source of humour. Watch now: Language of Comedy - Cross cultural humour
Language of Comedy - Catchphrases
Featuring:
The Fast Show's Charlie Higson discusses catchphrases. Watch now: Language of Comedy - Catchphrases
