Week 4: Comedy as a Mode / Parody
This week we explored parody. I learnt that parody is about being aware of the conventions of a certain genre and working with them in a different way to create comedic effect. Toplyn (2014) describes it as “the concept of commenting on the original work” so it is vital to be aware of the conventions of a form before making an effective and comedic parody of it.
This was the first week that we did sketches as a group and I really enjoyed riffing off of Zach and Nia’s ideas to come up with a parody sketch. We decided that a form we already find funny is the reaction videos that have been in abundance on platforms such as YouTube. In order to make our parody close to the original form, we used ‘funny videos’ that are commonly used by reaction YouTube channels in it to stay true to the form and Zach’s commitment to the character made it all very believable. We flipped the form/genre by using incongruity and making it seem like the YouTuber had a stalker. In order to make it still fit within the genre, however, we made a plot twist at the end, where it was all a planned ‘prank’ by the YouTuber.
Our parody sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxHbgMgsxNE
This week we also had comedian, writer, and performer Hannah Camilleri come in to talk to us about working in the industry, and we watched her web series Little Shits which was a series of short episodes that introduce a few characters who live in a share house. I was quite inspired by the form, and the small ensemble, which is something that I want to consider when it comes to the final project for this studio.
References:
- Toplyn, J. (2014), “Parody SketchesLinks to an external site. to an external site.” in Comedy Writing for Late-Night TV, New York: Twenty Lane Media, pp. 239–261.