Stand Up Comedy Research Paper

Kevin Hart’s experience would later prove has a source for his comic genius. “The jokes come from real

When it comes to comedy there are many great comedians. The Original Kings of Comedy is a group of four comedy legends that we can always count on for laughter and fun. In this group, we have Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Bernie Mac and Cedric the Entertainer who are all gifted comedians who can sell out shows at any venue.

People often think that comedians have a straight forward job: they practically just have to joke about a topic and make people laugh. But not many realize the brutality comedians have to face when they are “forced” to change their acts according to the setting and diverse range of their audience. In the article “That’s Not Funny”, the author Caitlin Flanagan, explains on how comedians face an uphill talk when they perform in colleges and how they have to change their scripts to make sure they don’t offend students on the basis of gender, religion etc. Colleges are paying comedians big money and that’s the main reason comedians still perform even when they can’t express themselves freely through comedy. In this essay, I will explore how Caitlin argues about the unjust conditions interested comedians face who want to perform in college campuses. Caitlin builds the credibility of her work by stating strong and valid points, different types of arguments and rhetoric situations.

Comedians are not always the funny personality on stage or on screen. Such a case can be observed with comedian and actor Jim Carrey. As well as many other comedians Jim Carrey struggled with depression. According to a 2004 interview with CBS, Jim Carrey’s parents struggled with financial problems and the problems made him dislike human interaction at a young age (2004). It was during this time Jim Carrey felt angry with the world for making him live in poverty. However, he told CBS that he developed his sense of humor by trying to make his mother laugh when she was very sick (2004). When he eventually came to rise to fame, when money was no longer an issue his mental health became one. Jim Carrey would use various ways to cope with his depression and keep up with his mental health.

From the very beginning, Smith introduces her father’s favorite hobby; comedy. As it says, “my father had few enthusiasms, but he loved comedy” (1). She then goes on explaining the uniqueness of comedy, how it gave her father freedom and that their is no division of social status when it comes to comedy; comedy was and will always be true freedom. She informs the reader of several British comedians and comedy history, mentioning how they all had different styles. For example, one comedian would continuously make fun of himself, other would make fun of their culture, and social status. On the other hand, she also mentions that people do not have to be funny to go on stage. “In the world of comedy, if you are absolutely determined to stand on a stage for five minutes with a mike in your hand, someone in London will let you do it, if only once” (7).

Throughout time, humorists have been able to pull off a phenomenon, which allows for others to laugh about sensitive, stressful topics. With talent, humorists are able to captivate positive emotion from their audience and allow for society to see delicate issues in an unbiased view. Although humorists are commonly seen as people who only intend to entertain, humorists purposefully say things through their work that allow for hard issues to be spoken or illustrated.

Dave Chappelle was the king of comedy. He had his own show on Comedy Central, did many stand ups and guest starred in many SNL skits. His works were filled heavily with racial satire with the intent to attack and expose racism throughout America in a non-threatening way. Dave Chappelle’s masterful delivery and extreme horatian satirical techniques allow for top-shelf entertainment with an underlying, thought provoking message.

Kevin Hart was born on July 6, 1979 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is known for being a comedian doing stand-up comedy and for being an actor. He was raised by his mother, Nancy, and is the youngest of two boys. His father, Henry Hart, battled with cocaine addiction and was in and out of jail, so he was rarely around during Kevin Hart’s childhood. However, since Kevin’s childhood, his father has cleaned himself up and the two of them have reconnected. Kevin Hart took to comedy as a way to relieve himself from all of his pain that he endured during his childhood. He used humor as a coping mechanism to make everyone laugh about the situations that he has been through. “The jokes,” he has said on his stand-up, “come from a real experience” (biography.com editors). As a kid, he was really into stand-up comedy and comedians. Hart named Chris Tucker and J.B. Smoove as the most influential comedians to him. Soon after he graduated from high school, he had begun to work as a stand-up comedian. He traveled to New York City, Brockton, Massachusetts and Los Angeles. He started off doing stand-up comedy in small clubs with his stage name as ‘Lil’ Kev the Bastard’. He won several amateur stand-up performances, which encouraged him to perform in clubs around the country. ABC gave Hart his own sitcom called The Big House, which was cancelled after only six episodes. Hart did not sit with that loss, instead he rebounded quickly. He starred in various movies such as Soul Plane, The

Richard Pryor was born December 1st 1940 to Gertrude L. Thomas and Leroy “Buck Carter” Pryor. Richard was born into a family business of what is known to be the world’s oldest profession. Richards family own a brothel, this is where men come pay for intimacy or sex. His mother a working girl and father a bartender in the brothel owned and operated by his mother Marie Carter. At the age of three his parent married, but sadly their union did not last long and at the year age of ten his mother abandoned him leaving him in custody of his grandmother Marie that was a violent woman and ruled her home with an iron fist and never spared the rod to spoil the child. Gertrude left due to the violence present in their marriage and ultimately knowing

From rock bottom poverty to bottomless fame and fortune. From abandonment from his primary family to love from millions of fans. From a neglected childhood to a bountiful family of his own. From calamity to celebration, in frequent repetition, Richard Pryor has earned the title of Legend as a result of his deft narrative, brilliant wit, and selfless survival, (“Richard Pryor,” richardpryor.com).

Often calling upon recent events or common stereotypes of different people, Dave Chappelle, standup comedian, uses the stereotypes of African Americans and blacks

the real kicker is, one was and is a "comedian." Most of the other 24 are life

Research Question: How does His Girl Friday stay within the bounds of the Hays Code while challenging the culture of censorship in United States?

The world is composed of millions of people that come from different locations, are part of different races, believe in different religions, and have developed different cultures to those of everyone else. Over the course of human history, the differences that we have developed have played an enormous role in dividing us. Perhaps the chief problem that has plagued society in the past, and continues to do so to this day, is the idea that one’s race is superior to that of others; in other words: racism. Racism has led to the discrimination, oppression, and deaths of countless numbers of people. In the present, racism is often closely associated with stereotypes. In today’s society, being stereotypical often gets you the criticism that “you

Manbearpig: Half Man, Half Bear, Half Pig, but All Global Warming? South Park is a popular animated comedy series written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. While the episodes of South Park are always humorous on the surface, each show usually has a deeper, much more profound meaning and moral. One episode of South Park entitled Manbearpig, named after the monster in the episode, has a particularly potent deeper meaning. On the surface, the episode pokes fun at monster stories, politics, and specifically Al Gore. Deeper down, however, this monster story can be read as a national allegory alluding to the dangers of global warming, the problems with the politics behind global warming, and the eventual doom we will all face