Here is the link to the new edit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by3l6E7SjLk
Monday, May 3, 2010
Here is some info about the Comedians:
Jason Underwood is from Greenville, SC. He's been doing stand up for six months, and performing improv comedy since 2002. Jason usually performs at Coffee Underground's "No Expectations Comedy" Monday nights. He's currently performing with the Laughing Stock Improv group.
Here's a stand up link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWm8nMOYyzg
The next Laughing Stock show is May 14th and 15th at the Greenville Little Theatre.
There once was a young man named Ben
A comedian from Clemson
Did improv and sketch
Then stand-up for a stretch
Boy he sure is a man among men
Boom, Lymmerick Bio.
But seriously, I'm Ben, 6'3", 167 pounds. True Junior. Started with improv and sketch comedy with Mock Turtle Soup in Clemson, then branched out and started writing stand-up bits which I've performed in Clemson, Greenville and most recently Moonville, South Carolina.
I will be performing a couple times at Coffee Underground throughout the month of May, then I'm in Myrtle Beach for a mission trip all summer. No youtubes yet.
Dylan Schettina is a stand-up comedian from Kennesaw, GA. He has performed several times locally and in Atlanta.
Jeff Dearman is a singing comedian. He has performed locally in Kennesaw, GA and recently took 3rd place in the Dagwood Comedy Festival.
Jason Underwood is from Greenville, SC. He's been doing stand up for six months, and performing improv comedy since 2002. Jason usually performs at Coffee Underground's "No Expectations Comedy" Monday nights. He's currently performing with the Laughing Stock Improv group.
Here's a stand up link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWm8nMOYyzg
The next Laughing Stock show is May 14th and 15th at the Greenville Little Theatre.
There once was a young man named Ben
A comedian from Clemson
Did improv and sketch
Then stand-up for a stretch
Boy he sure is a man among men
Boom, Lymmerick Bio.
But seriously, I'm Ben, 6'3", 167 pounds. True Junior. Started with improv and sketch comedy with Mock Turtle Soup in Clemson, then branched out and started writing stand-up bits which I've performed in Clemson, Greenville and most recently Moonville, South Carolina.
I will be performing a couple times at Coffee Underground throughout the month of May, then I'm in Myrtle Beach for a mission trip all summer. No youtubes yet.
Dylan Schettina is a stand-up comedian from Kennesaw, GA. He has performed several times locally and in Atlanta.
Jeff Dearman is a singing comedian. He has performed locally in Kennesaw, GA and recently took 3rd place in the Dagwood Comedy Festival.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Responses From Class
Got an overall good response, I'm really glad the beginning hooked people like I had hoped it would!
I'm going to work on the subtitles so that people will know who is who- I plan on cutting it down a bit more- I'm going to try and add in some stand up material so that people can get a sense of their comedy style-
I'm going to work on the subtitles so that people will know who is who- I plan on cutting it down a bit more- I'm going to try and add in some stand up material so that people can get a sense of their comedy style-
Bibliography/Works Cited
Bibliography
Ajaye, Franklyn. Comic insights the art of stand-up comedy. Los Angeles: Silman-James, 2002. Print.
Greengross, Gil, and Geoffrey F. Miller. "The Big Five personality traits of professional comedians compared to amateur comedians, comedy writers, and college students." Personality and Individual Differences 47.2 (2009): 79-83. Science Direct. 5 Mar. 2009. Web. 2 Feb. 2010..
Jerry Seinfeld: Comedian. Dir. Christian Charles. Perf. Jerry Seinfeld and Greg Giraldo. Bridgnorth Films, 2003. DVD.
Limon, John. Stand-up comedy in theory, or, Abjection in America. Durham, NC: Duke
UP, 2000. Print.
Simpson, David L. "Comedy and Tragedy." Students.depaul.edu. 1998. Web. 12 Mar. 2010..
Ziv, Avner. "The Social Function of Humor in Interpersonal Relationships." Society 47.1
(2010): 11-18. EBSCOhost. Web. 3 Feb. 2010..
Note: Use of images for historical sections will be cited
Google Images:
Greek images from Library of Congress
Ajaye, Franklyn. Comic insights the art of stand-up comedy. Los Angeles: Silman-James, 2002. Print.
Greengross, Gil, and Geoffrey F. Miller. "The Big Five personality traits of professional comedians compared to amateur comedians, comedy writers, and college students." Personality and Individual Differences 47.2 (2009): 79-83. Science Direct. 5 Mar. 2009. Web. 2 Feb. 2010.
Jerry Seinfeld: Comedian. Dir. Christian Charles. Perf. Jerry Seinfeld and Greg Giraldo. Bridgnorth Films, 2003. DVD.
Limon, John. Stand-up comedy in theory, or, Abjection in America. Durham, NC: Duke
UP, 2000. Print.
Simpson, David L. "Comedy and Tragedy." Students.depaul.edu. 1998. Web. 12 Mar. 2010.
Ziv, Avner. "The Social Function of Humor in Interpersonal Relationships." Society 47.1
(2010): 11-18. EBSCOhost. Web. 3 Feb. 2010.
Note: Use of images for historical sections will be cited
Google Images:
Greek images from Library of Congress
Script for Doc
Scene 1:
Interview begins with asking question: “How was your first time?” in reference to stand up comedy. Screen is black and it opens with commentary from one of the comedians that I will be interviewing. I have gotten a hold of four up coming comedians from the Athens area and plan on using maybe three twenty second clips of them talking about their first experience. It will be the lead in to the titles and focus of the stand-up documentary.
Scene 2:
History of Comedy: It is not certain exactly when the idea of Comedy was first created. Whether Comedy was something that started in the Stone Age, as Mel Brooks parodies in his “History of the World: Part 1,” or in advanced societies that first developed the idea of performance and the arts. However, the advent of Comedy is often attributed to Ancient Greece. The word “comedy” is associated with the komos, a ritualistic drunken procession performed by revelers in ancient Greece, whose participants were known as komasts. The procession would consist of high-spirited celebration of human sexuality where men would sing and dance in the image of a large phallus. Thus, it is not hard to see the association between comedy and the perverse. But not all comedy has to be perverse. When Aristotle defined comedy in “Poetics”, he defined comedy as a play with a happy ending. Comedy often contains elements of surprise, incongruity, conflict, repetitiveness, and the effect of opposite expectations to bring about laughter (Simpson, “Comedy and Tragedy”). These same elements are evident in the stand-up comedy that we see today. Use cut scenes of Greek and Roman “comedians,” and painted pottery of festivals.
Scene 3:
“What is funny? What makes something funny?” Gather opinions of people from all over campus. Gather opinions of amateur stand up comics. “Stand-up comedy in theory, or Abjection in America”: In this book, Limon theorizes that comedy grows out of the “abject.” That which is “abasement, groveling prostration” or another way to put it, anything “of those aspects of oneself that one cannot be rid of, that seem, but are not quite, alienable—for example, blood, urine, feces, nails, and the corpse.” Thus, what is often seen as inappropriate is made appealing. In David Greene’s analysis of The Big Five personality traits of professional comedians compared to amateur comedians, comedy writers, and college students, he compares professional comedians, amateur comedians, writers, and college students in order to determine the types of personalities that stand out in a stand-up comic. His results related the idea that stand-up comics use “humor to disparage others and create and enjoy hostile and aggressive humor, including at the expense of the presenter, in the form of self-deprecating humor, or the audience.” Think about the comedians you have seen before. Ask students opinion of this description. About thirty seconds of response.
Scene 4:
Question asked for my amateur comedians: “Who were you’re role models as comedians growing up and what has caused you to become a stand up comic.” I will use excerpts from each and possibly show five-second bits/punch-line of their favorite stand-up performances.
Scene 5:
History of Comedy Recent: Though stand-up comedy can be traced back to music halls in the 1800s, the advent of stand-up, as we know it today did not arrive until the 1970s. The 70s greatly changed the way that comedy was approached. It went from set-ups, hooks, and punch lines to fast confessional, social, and political commentary. Jerry Seinfeld is a notable comic who has had a great deal of success due to his observational style of humor. But the scene is still shifting. Stand-up comedy of today is often called “alternative” or “new wave” comedy although really it’s making its way into the mainstream. It consists of sketch comedy, improvisation, and monologue. Alternative comedy is considered to have sprung up in the mid-90s with people such as Sarah Silverman, and Patton Oswalt. This type of comedy, which made its way out of local laugh clubs and bars, has really changed the face of much of the comedy we recognize today. Patton Oswalt defined alternative comedy as, “comedy where the audience has no pre-set expectations about the crowd, and vice versa. In comedy clubs, there tends to be a certain vibe—alternative comedy explores different types of material” within this common ground.
Scene 6:
“How has comedy changed in your opinion? Where is it heading?" I will ask the amateur comics what they believe is most influential on comedy right now and to provide examples from recent movies or their own bits perhaps.
Scene 7:
Comedy takes the mundane and turns it into a surreal adventure that is hopefully relatable in order to cause laughter. Based on the responses I receive from my interviewees and what I discover for myself about the direction that comedy is going in, I will determine how the comedy scene is changing and what really makes people laugh. As of right now, I think that although there is a large focus on the abject and the crude. Comedy is something more artistic than just a fart joke. It explores those things in our lives that are strange to us and makes those things that are ordinary something just as strange. Stand-up is a way to vent and critique, and I believe it is headed in the direction of much more performance style.
Interview begins with asking question: “How was your first time?” in reference to stand up comedy. Screen is black and it opens with commentary from one of the comedians that I will be interviewing. I have gotten a hold of four up coming comedians from the Athens area and plan on using maybe three twenty second clips of them talking about their first experience. It will be the lead in to the titles and focus of the stand-up documentary.
Scene 2:
History of Comedy: It is not certain exactly when the idea of Comedy was first created. Whether Comedy was something that started in the Stone Age, as Mel Brooks parodies in his “History of the World: Part 1,” or in advanced societies that first developed the idea of performance and the arts. However, the advent of Comedy is often attributed to Ancient Greece. The word “comedy” is associated with the komos, a ritualistic drunken procession performed by revelers in ancient Greece, whose participants were known as komasts. The procession would consist of high-spirited celebration of human sexuality where men would sing and dance in the image of a large phallus. Thus, it is not hard to see the association between comedy and the perverse. But not all comedy has to be perverse. When Aristotle defined comedy in “Poetics”, he defined comedy as a play with a happy ending. Comedy often contains elements of surprise, incongruity, conflict, repetitiveness, and the effect of opposite expectations to bring about laughter (Simpson, “Comedy and Tragedy”). These same elements are evident in the stand-up comedy that we see today. Use cut scenes of Greek and Roman “comedians,” and painted pottery of festivals.
Scene 3:
“What is funny? What makes something funny?” Gather opinions of people from all over campus. Gather opinions of amateur stand up comics. “Stand-up comedy in theory, or Abjection in America”: In this book, Limon theorizes that comedy grows out of the “abject.” That which is “abasement, groveling prostration” or another way to put it, anything “of those aspects of oneself that one cannot be rid of, that seem, but are not quite, alienable—for example, blood, urine, feces, nails, and the corpse.” Thus, what is often seen as inappropriate is made appealing. In David Greene’s analysis of The Big Five personality traits of professional comedians compared to amateur comedians, comedy writers, and college students, he compares professional comedians, amateur comedians, writers, and college students in order to determine the types of personalities that stand out in a stand-up comic. His results related the idea that stand-up comics use “humor to disparage others and create and enjoy hostile and aggressive humor, including at the expense of the presenter, in the form of self-deprecating humor, or the audience.” Think about the comedians you have seen before. Ask students opinion of this description. About thirty seconds of response.
Scene 4:
Question asked for my amateur comedians: “Who were you’re role models as comedians growing up and what has caused you to become a stand up comic.” I will use excerpts from each and possibly show five-second bits/punch-line of their favorite stand-up performances.
Scene 5:
History of Comedy Recent: Though stand-up comedy can be traced back to music halls in the 1800s, the advent of stand-up, as we know it today did not arrive until the 1970s. The 70s greatly changed the way that comedy was approached. It went from set-ups, hooks, and punch lines to fast confessional, social, and political commentary. Jerry Seinfeld is a notable comic who has had a great deal of success due to his observational style of humor. But the scene is still shifting. Stand-up comedy of today is often called “alternative” or “new wave” comedy although really it’s making its way into the mainstream. It consists of sketch comedy, improvisation, and monologue. Alternative comedy is considered to have sprung up in the mid-90s with people such as Sarah Silverman, and Patton Oswalt. This type of comedy, which made its way out of local laugh clubs and bars, has really changed the face of much of the comedy we recognize today. Patton Oswalt defined alternative comedy as, “comedy where the audience has no pre-set expectations about the crowd, and vice versa. In comedy clubs, there tends to be a certain vibe—alternative comedy explores different types of material” within this common ground.
Scene 6:
“How has comedy changed in your opinion? Where is it heading?" I will ask the amateur comics what they believe is most influential on comedy right now and to provide examples from recent movies or their own bits perhaps.
Scene 7:
Comedy takes the mundane and turns it into a surreal adventure that is hopefully relatable in order to cause laughter. Based on the responses I receive from my interviewees and what I discover for myself about the direction that comedy is going in, I will determine how the comedy scene is changing and what really makes people laugh. As of right now, I think that although there is a large focus on the abject and the crude. Comedy is something more artistic than just a fart joke. It explores those things in our lives that are strange to us and makes those things that are ordinary something just as strange. Stand-up is a way to vent and critique, and I believe it is headed in the direction of much more performance style.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Documentary Finished
So I finished my documentary and have had a bit of trouble uploading it to video sites, but I will probably split it up into pieces. In the meantime- check out some of my friend's stand-up comedy : Dylan Schettina and Jeff Dearman.
links posted at top of page
links posted at top of page
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Side Splitting Comics Documentary
So this is my first blogspot and hopefully there will be more to come. I've been working on a short documentary for a class at UGA that I am enrolled in. My focus is on the history of stand up comedy, and it includes responses from amateur comedians around Georgia on what they think is funny and where they think that comedy is heading.
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