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.
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Language of Comedy - Crafting a joke
Comedian and actor Isy Suttie looks at how language is manipulated to create jokes, especially one-liners.
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Level: 1 Introductory
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Language of Comedy - Creating a character
How do comedians exploit regional variety in comedy? Sheffield comedian Graham Fellows uses his character John Shuttleworth to illustrate.
Video
Level: 1 Introductory
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Language of Comedy - Social class
The Fast Show writer Charlie Higson discusses how social class and dialects are used as a topic for comedy.
Video
Level: 1 Introductory
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Language of Comedy - Innuendo
How do comedians exploit the ambiguities of language in the production of innuendo? Featuring Julian Clary's head-writer, David McGillivray.
Video
Level: 1 Introductory
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Language of Comedy - Cross cultural humour
German comedian Henning Wehn looks at how comedians play with cultural stereotypes as a source of humour.
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Level: 1 Introductory
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Language of Comedy - Catchphrases
The Fast Show's Charlie Higson discusses catchphrases.
Video
Level: 1 Introductory
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