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A pregnant pause (as in the classical definition, "many possibilities") is a technique of comic timing used to accentuate a comedy element, which uses comic pauses at the end of a phrase to build up suspense. It is often used at the end of a comically awkward statement or in the silence after a seemingly non-comic phrase to build up a comeback.
A reader is not expected to 'find' or 'discover' a humorous moment within the reality of the text, rather, humor is the ongoing mood, like a comedy movie, rather than a movie that has some comedy or laughs within it. Literary scholars distinguish textual analysis on this basis; the theory being that a story by Mark Twain that is a satirical ...
A comedy of embarrassment derived from inappropriate actions or words; popular in television shows and film, but occasionally in stand-up Steve Carell , Stephen Colbert , Ricky Gervais , Stephen Merchant , Richard Herring , Ben Stiller , Larry David , Steve Coogan , Bob Saget , Nathan Fielder ; TV shows: The Office , Curb Your Enthusiasm , Peep ...
Also apophthegm. A terse, pithy saying, akin to a proverb, maxim, or aphorism. aposiopesis A rhetorical device in which speech is broken off abruptly and the sentence is left unfinished. apostrophe A figure of speech in which a speaker breaks off from addressing the audience (e.g., in a play) and directs speech to a third party such as an opposing litigant or some other individual, sometimes ...
Repetition is the essential comedic device and is often used in combination with other devices to reinforce them. The "callback" in comedy writing—in which a statement or theme is recalled as the punchline or close of a scene—is a classic example of the tension and release that are possible using repetition. It is also the basis for ...
In comedy, the rule of three is also called a comic triple [14] and is one of the many comedic devices regularly used by humorists, writers, and comedians. The third element of the triple is often used to create an effect of surprise with the audience, [ 14 ] and is frequently the punch line of the joke itself.
High comedy or pure comedy is a type of comedy characterized by witty dialogue, satire, biting humor, wordplay, or criticism of life. [1] The term high comedy was coined in England in 1877 by George Meredith for his Essay on Comedy .
The satiric purpose of the comedy of humours and its realistic method led to more serious character studies with Jonson’s 1610 play The Alchemist. The name derives from the then-prevalent concept of bodily humours that controlled emotional disposition, but were also associated with psychological characteristics; [ 2 ] the result was a system ...