It’s no secret that the internet is brimming with all sorts of humorous content. But it’s not only in the online world that people enjoy a good giggle; they tend to seek it in real life, too, by engaging in conversations with friends (some of whom might be known for their funny bone), frequenting comedy shows, or going to certain theater performances.
Discussing the latter, Professor of Theatre Studies at the Dalhousie University, an expert in the theory and criticism of comedy, Dr. Jure Gantar agreed that humor can be found in both the internet and theater, though the presentation is not always the same.
“In theater, humor often serves as a counterpoint to the dramatic; think of the English idiomatic expression ‘comic relief’. At the moment of great tension, humor can be used to deflate this tension temporarily and enable the audience to take a breath,” Prof. Gantar explained in a recent interview with Bored Panda.
“If there is one element that can make a performance funny, it’s any exposure of the limits of theatrical representation. A representation of death, for example, can be hilarious if the audience notices the actor is breathing even when the character is supposed to be dead.”
“Humor is designed to make the spectators feel good about themselves,” the expert continued, “either because it makes them feel superior to the silly events on the stage or because it allows them to share their value system very publicly. This is one of the reasons why we occasionally laugh at jokes we didn’t understand; we want to belong to the majority who did get the punchline.”
According to Prof. Gantar, the main difference between internet and theater humor is that in theater, the set-up is often not verbal but visual or even spatial. “For instance, a perpendicular wall on the stage that separates two sets of actors—but can be ignored by the audience—will act as a long-term set-up that doesn’t have to be re-established for every joke. Noises Off or The Play That Goes Wrong are two examples of plays that take advantage of the unique nature of theater as a multi-medium environment.”
Discussing the link between theater and humor—comedy, to be exact—The New York Times comedy critic and theater expert, Jason Zinoman pointed out that comedy “might be eating theater’s lunch”, and that one thing theater can do to ‘fight back’ is to produce more work that makes the audience giggle in their seats.
In a speech given at Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., he pointed out that comedy and theater share quite a lot, which is why many people opt for the latter instead of the former.
“It is a live art form, and the same romantic defenses you often hear of theater, you can also hear from comics—the beauty of its ephemerality, the present-tense nature of the form in a time when everyone is on screens. People who once went into the theater are now going into comedy,” the American Theatre magazine cited the expert saying.
Zinoman suggested that some of comedy’s success is related to the ticket price (which is usually lower for comedy shows than it is for theater performances) and the size of the audience it can reach. “A comedy special on HBO reaches more people than any show at the Roundabout. But that’s no longer quite as true as it once was,” he pointed out in said speech.
“Taped theater is not the same as live theater, just as taped comedy is not the same as live comedy. In both cases something is lost, but that is different than saying everything is lost and nothing is gained. Theater, like comedy, can go digital without abandoning its soul.”
Be it the internet, theater, or comedy shows that make people laugh out loud the most, nowadays they have the chance to choose the medium that they favor the most. So do people on the other side of the barricades, who are eager to produce giggle-inducing content. And while some choose to act it out on stage—be it in a theater or your local stand up comedy venue—others, such as the heroes of today’s list, opt for using X (Twitter) instead.