Humor:
When being introduced in our last unit of English, we were faced with a significant challenge. We started off in school then went into quarantine having to rely on online schooling. For Humor itself, we were given the prompt of creating out own skit, with prior research and insight of certain comedians. For my project personally, I found it really challeging to come up with my skit and find the right amount of actors. I found that I had to change my script multiple times and had some actors not show up. I realized late into the project that I was lacking actors and I had no film equipment. On top of that I was a Design Student that know absolutely nothing about film. The angles of my shots were poor, most of them were not in focus and the audio was scuffed. From this experience, it taught me a lot about dealines and taking advice from my friends who are in film.
Humor Script:
Brent Abe-Titcomb
English
Humor Script
Narrator: During these troubling times it is easy to find that you are bored. But when you find that you are trapped in the house with your family things can get out of hand. Trapped in the mudd room in his house lies Brent working on Hw work to say the least. In his room he is working on a project that he likes to work on during his free time. In other words, his youtube channel.
Brent: Hello guys and welcome to the top 5 things you can do in quarantine. So starting right off the bat are video games with the guys. At this time we have been really bored and we are also confined in the house primarily. It really doesn’t matter what video game you are playing as long as you are having a fun time with-
Narrator: There is thudding in the distance. Brent pauses his recording and gets out of his chair. He looks around his room and sees that his phone is ringing. It’s his friend Derek.
Derek: “Hey dude just wondering how you are doing and what not. I am really bored and was wondering if I could borrow your attic in the next two days. Preferably when your parents are gone.”
Brent: “Ummm well you know that we are in the middle of a quarantine right?”
Derek: “Well yeah but you know, who really follows that sort of thing right?”
Brent: “Right…” (enthusiastically)
Derek: “Ok DUDE so whenever you stop contemplating on your life decisions, can you just tell me if I can or can’t because I kind of need an answer now. I also heard your parents will be out of town so I think this would be the most ideal opportunity.”
Narrator: Brent hadn’t seen Derek for months and missed the social interaction of seeing his during lunch time at school.
Brent: “Ok fine.”
Derek: “Yes! Ok I’ll be over by 5.”
Narrator: Brent leans against the wall and lets out a big sigh.
Brent: “SighHHHHHHh”
Mom: Is everything alright sweetie?
Brent: “Yes mother.” (Eyes roll)
Narrator a little past 5, after his parents leave, and Brent is left alone in his house. Or so he thinks. He hears a knock on the door. When he walks to the door he sees 4 masked men with robes and a briefcase. Brent shuts the door but before he could a hand reaches out and Brent instantly recognizes Derek’s face.
Brent: Hello Derek odd to see you like this.
Derek: We will be in and out just get us a few minutes
Well little did he know that minutes would turn to hours and Brent would become weary of what was actually happening up in his attic. He could hear loud grunts ,screams, and moaning. As it grew later in night Brent finally had it and proceeded with confronting whatever they were doing. When he started to climb up the ladder he grew more nervous and scared. He stopped at the top. Took one deep breath and then busted right through to see a very different image.
Derek turns to Brent
Derek: Care to play dungeon and dragons? We couldn’t help ourselves.
Comedian analysis:
Part 1 – The Humorist Study
For my study I choose to look at Dave Barry. Upon watching his videos I noticed that his style of comedy when speaking in front of large audiences revolves around humor that can be related towards his own age group. For example, when looking at his content, he reviews his experience of having a colonoscopy. (Something I can’t really relate to) He reveals his experience of living in Miami and talks about having to deal with drivers around his age group who aren’t really the best. Lastly he talks about parenting which mainly sums up his ban base. Throughout the videos I have watched I noticed the main style that Mr. Barry uses his Exaggersim as he finds experiences in his own life and morphs everyday interactions in society and twists them to his own liking. Amongst his humor I have also found examples of Caricature and Exaggerism. I never really understood his humor growing up, but my parents seem to like him alot. I think one takeaway is that Barry tries his best to appeal to his audience. Whether he tries to appeal through his age demographic of parents and the struggles of being one. For example he talked about taking his daughter to a Justin Beiber Concert. He talked about his daughter liking him one year then absolutely hating him the next. This can be seen as relatable because parents who have kids have to endure their child; boy or girl and in a sense come to accept their personal interests. (I remember when my parents had to). Or if he tries to talk about sensitive or personal topics like colonoscopy and takes it marketable towards a large audience by taking small factors and hints the experience like for example the music that was being played or what was going while making be appealed towards his audience.
Another humorist I found upon research was Demetri Martin. He can be primarily seen in the Comedy Central Stand-Up Youtube Channel. I have noticed that Demetri Martin has an elaborate method with his timing when it comes to his humor. He will often start with some sort of story then conclude with a punch line. However the timing of the punchline is what makes it funny. I have noticed that Martin tries to cater towards all age demographics however this can severely limit his plethora of jokes knowing he can’t appeal to everyone in the crowd. Themes that I have seen Martin using in his comedy are satire, irony, and blunder. He fuses all of these to create his own style of comedy. Some of his most famous comedy acts include “Why swimming is a confusing sport.”, and “Demetri Martin-Jokes” featured on Netflix. I have noticed through Martin’s style of comedy that he takes the most simple interactions between people or his overall experiences in life transforms it into something more elaborate by establishing roles in his jokes or stories. This role style that he introduces into his comedy is what makes his jokes funny according to the mass media. I have also noticed he uses roles as stepping stones to deliver the “Final Punchline”. For example, something that is already established earlier in the plot can circle back around and then established as funny. It’s almost like a boomerang effect. What comes around will eventually return to where it started. Although this Martin’s Primary source of humor he has been seen with other forms throughout my research most of them stick to one primarily style while following manners and roles put in place by the comedian.
Part 2 – Description of Proposed Project
As for my proposed projects, I have no idea what I am going to do for my project. I am not really the person to take what I find funny off the internet and translate it into my own sense of comedy. I have researched for a while now, I haven’t found a single comedian that is funny nor unique. They all seem to have the same format. Intro, statement, punchline, then laughter. This can be achieved in many ways with awkward timing or random punch line. My point is that I find stuff funny that traditional comedians do not. I’m not sure what I will do for this project. If anything, I will try to make my own sketch through my own sense of humor. I don’t really care if people laugh or don’t laugh for what I find funny just as long as I can get by with a few chuckles. As for the project, I know I need to try my hardest to appeal as “relatable and funny”. I also have no clue what my sketch will be about. As for my style of comedy, I am looking forward to using a fusion of both Martin and Barry Style’s. Not only will I cater towards people my age but I will also try to use the boomerang effect that Martin portrays. Some topics that I have thought of are worth going into when delivering my plot are getting into college, Running, and School. Below are the answers to the prompt:
Production photos:
Here are some of the actors shown in the film:
