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The Language of Comedy: Track 5

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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 entertainers manipulate language to generate humour, and what this reveals about the nature of comedy and its function in society. Featuring Henning Wehn, on cross cultural humour, Isy Suttie, on crafting a joke and Graham Fellows on creating his character John Shuttleworth.

By: The OpenLearn Team (The Open University)

  • Duration 26 minutes
  • Updated Monday 11th August 2014

Track 5: Catchphrases with Charlie Higson

Charlie Higson discusses Steve Martin's catchphrases and introduces clip from Fast Show's Downton Abbey spoof



Tracks in this podcast:

Track Title Description
1 Creating a character with Graham Fellows In what ways do comedians exploit regional variety in the creation of comedy? Play now Creating a character with Graham Fellows
2 Social Class with Charlie Higson How is social class used as a topic for comedy, and what part do social dialects play in the generation of humour? Play now Social Class with Charlie Higson
3 Innuendo with David McGilivray How comedians exploit the ambiguities of language in the production of innuendo and similar forms of language play. Play now Innuendo with David McGilivray
4 Cross Cultural Humour with Henning Wehn How comedians play with cultural stereotypes as a source of humour, Play now Cross Cultural Humour with Henning Wehn
5 Catchphrases with Charlie Higson Charlie Higson discusses Steve Martin's catchphrases and introduces clip from Fast Show's Downton Abbey spoof Play now Catchphrases with Charlie Higson
6 Crafting A Joke with Isy Suttie This video focuses on the structure of one-liners, and the properties of language that comedians play with in the creation of jokes. Play now Crafting A Joke with Isy Suttie
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