I'd Like to Teach the World to Fart! Quiz

Answer: Deadpan

This is dry humour at its best. The lack of expression is usually accompanied by a monotone voice from the deliverer, and it places the audience or listener in a position where they're wondering "Is he for real? Is he being serious... or what?" Depending on the comedian, the joke can be blunt or laconic and there's a good chance that it would be laced with irony.

Good examples of deadpan on television include "My Name is Earl" (2005-09) and "Arrested Development" (2003-06) in the US and, in the UK, you need to look no further than John Cleese. Cleese has such a wide range as a comedian, from the absurd with his Mr Teabags character ("Ministry of Silly Walks" - 1970) to his quixotic Black Knight ("it's just a flesh wound") in "Monty Python & the Holy Grail" (1975) to characters with rage issues such as Basil Fawlty ("Fawlty Towers" 1975 & 1979), that we overlook the fact that he is one of Britain's best deadpans. When his Mr Praline closes out the "Dead Parrot Sketch" (1969) with a fit of apoplexy we tend to remember the ending, which, in turn, overshadows the wonderful opening half duel of words between Michael Palin's oily shopkeeper and the straight-faced Cleese character. Evidence, also, his no-nonsense sex education teacher ("The Meaning of Life" - 1983) whose matter of fact delivery is so at odds with the graphic nature of the act he performs in front of his students. However, the classic Cleese deadpan would have to be his BBC Announcer ("Monty Python's Flying Circus" 1969-74) who would segue between sketches with his very straight laced catchphrase "and now for something completely different".

In stand-up comedy, one of the best in this art is Steven Wright. Imagine the following being delivered without expression or inflection; "I used to work in a fire hydrant factory. You couldn't park anywhere near the place".

Answer: Anecdotal

The premise of anecdotal comedy may sound simple... all the comedian needs to do is to find something in his life and tell the story to the audience and then embellish it a little. On the surface that sounds fine but here's the tough part. The comedian is standing before his audience and revealing something about himself and then he must be prepared to be laughed at. That's a big ask and not all comedians are able to reach into this part of their soul and reveal it. However, there is an upside here in that the audience has the ability to identify better with the comedian's stories, and some say that this leads to stronger performers and performances.

One of the best exponents of this art form is US comedian Kevin Hart, whose early career was spent trying to imitate other comedians without too much success. He found his own way and style when he started to tell audiences about his own insecurities and the rest is history.

Neil Armstrong would go to parties, and he'd try to entertain people with his anecdotes of his walk on the moon. Trouble was, no one laughed, so he'd just shrug his shoulders and say "well, I guess you had to be there".

Answer: Blue

These are also called "off-colour" jokes or, more familiarly, "risqué" jokes; however, there is a fine line between a blue joke, and vulgarity. It is believed that the term "blue" may have arisen from the "blue laws" in the eighteenth century that essentially were the rules by which you observed the Sabbath.

Blue jokes can be unrestrained and unsubtle. They may focus on things such as sex, bodily fluids and other corporeal matters but, in the hands of really clever comedians they can push the envelope in respect to social issues and bring them to the fore-front of public discussion.

A good example of a blue comedian is Bob Saget. He's probably better known as the squeaky-clean Danny Tanner on television's "Full House" (1987-95). Prior to this he'd been a stand-up comic and he would, eventually return to his original love. However, everyone associated him with Danny Tanner and he needed to find a way to put some distance between himself and that character's persona. His solution was to lace his stage act with explicit material and obscenities.

As this is a family site, I struggled to find a joke that was suitable as an example so you will have to make do with this one:
How is sex like air?
It's not that big a deal until you're not getting any.

I was so relieved to find out that make up sex is the best sex... because all of my sex is made up.

Answer: Epigrammatic

An epigram is generally short, to the point and, as described above, tends to put forward a paradox. Some great one-liners are epigrams, but epigrams do not need to be one-liners. Take this limerick as an example:

"There once was a woman named Bright
Who travelled much faster than light.
She set out one day
In a relative way
And came back the previous night!" (Author unknown)

One of the greatest exponents of the epigram was Oscar Wilde. For instance, "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about". Here Wilde presents the idea that being gossiped about is a bad thing. The listener would expect then that being kept out of gossip is the desired result and that's where Wilde throws in his paradox.

I will leave the final word on this to Rodney Dangerfield: "I haven't spoken to my wife in years. I didn't want to interrupt her".

Answer: Burlesque

The above definition has come, in part, from the website literaryterms.net. Burlesque is closely linked to parody, satire, caricature and to travesty. It has a habit of taking a serious matter, adding irony and/or a sense of the ridiculous to it. In gifted hands this can easily lift the original subject matter. Burlesque has its roots in the Italian word "burla", which means mockery, and as a term, has been in use since the 16th century.

Burlesque was common in the Victorian era, where it was known as travesty or extravaganza and took on elements of music hall, pantomime and parody. American burlesque grew out of this and presented programmes built around songs, ribald sketches, acrobatics and chorus numbers that took pot shots at current politics or popular shows of the time. A number of notable US comedians cut their teeth in this environment. Among them were Mae West, Abbott & Costello, Danny Kaye and Sid Caesar. Burlesque seemed to die a natural death by the 1970s but, in recent years, it has had a form of resurgence with the introduction of Neo-burlesque, which gives a nod to the traditional forms but adopting new styles of performance in respect to strip tease, modern dance and mayhem.

A good example of burlesque humour would be the line that is often attributed to the late great Mae West: "Is that a pistol in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?"

Answer: Gallows

The world can be a horrible place with its smorgasbord of wars, disease, sexual assaults, pain, COVID and a litany of other ills. Focussing on these is likely to cause stress and anxiety and attempts to make jokes about these situations can often be met with stern looks and the reprimand that "this is no laughing matter". The alternate (and more palatable) view is that "laughter is best medicine". There is a healing power in comedy that helps to minimise the effect of the ill at hand without detracting from its ultimate consequence.

By definition, gallows humour comes from the perspective of the victim or, failing that, is created to induce some empathy for the victim. Consequently, death is a common or popular theme in gallows humour and one of the comedians who has been prominent on this subject is Woody Allen who has produced numerous one-liners about it. However, I will leave with just this one gem: "I am not afraid of death. I just don't want to be there when it happens". Finally, should the author choose to create laughter at the victim's expense then we tend to move out of the realm of gallows humour toward black comedy.

One of the finest examples of gallows humour was presented to us in 1979 by the crew from Monty Python in their film "The Life of Brian". At the end of the film the lead character, Brian Cohen (played by Graham Chapman), has been crucified. The character beside him, played by Eric Idle, has also been crucified and he tries to cheer Brian up by singing the song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life".

Whenever the subject of death rears its head around me, I'm inclined to inform people that "I wish to die in my sleep, just like my grandfather... not screaming like all his passengers".

Answer: Observational

It would be easy to confuse this with anecdotal, but the major difference is that anecdotal is based on the happenings within the comedian's life. Observational could focus on anything that is glaring obvious or trivial. It may poke fun at the colour of London taxis and New York cabs. It is not uncommon for observational humour to start with a phrase such as "have you ever noticed how..." or "did you ever wonder why..."

One of the world's best exponents of observational humour is Jerry Seinfeld; however, my closing piece of wit comes from another great, Chris Rock:
"You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named 'Bush', 'Dick', and 'Colin'. Need I say more?"

Answer: One Liner

Comedians will use one liner jokes to warm up the audience and display their skills or it may be a clever way to break up an anecdote to maintain the continuity of the laughter. A good one liner must be concise, and it should be meaningful. Some of the greatest exponents of the one liner include Groucho Marx ("I've had a wonderful evening, but this wasn't it"), Robin Williams ("why do they call it rush hour when nothing moves"), Henny Youngman ("take my wife... please") and my personal favourite, Rodney Dangerfield ("My wife and I were happy for twenty years... then we met").

Answer: Self-deprecating

As an Australian, self-deprecating humour is pretty close to my heart. Why? Because, as Australians, we are good at it, and it seems to be innate amongst us. If you want a good view of Australian culture, you need only see the film "The Castle" (1997). Whilst this film celebrates our simplistic lifestyle, our convict past and our lack of class awareness it also has great fun in mocking those attributes. In the hands of a skilled comedian, self-deprecating humour will cut through pretention, exposes humility to an audience and builds a sense of trust and closeness. The audience will start to think "here's a guy that can laugh at himself, he must be ok". Historically we had jesters who entertained kings and queens by mocking themselves. In the 1950s there was Phyllis Diller and, in more recent times, Jim Gaffigan who'll stand in front of his audience and say "Yeah, I'm fat and it's my fault".

For me the king in this area is Rodney Dangerfield. "I got lost at the beach and I asked a police officer, 'do you think you'll find my parents'. He said, 'I don't know kid, there's so many places here they could hide'".

Answer: Slapstick

Slapstick comedy is more about the action than the words and its roots can be traced back to Ancient Greece and Rome, where mime was a popular format. Moving forward in time, one of the best early examples of slapstick was the "Punch and Judy Show". Slapstick involves exaggerated "mock" violence to produce its comic effect and, though this has been seen as "low" comedy for many years, it is looked upon with much more favour these days and, in some circles, is seen as fine art. The advent of silent films in the early twentieth century introduced the world to masters of the genre such as the Keystone Cops and Charlie Chaplin. By the mid-century these were overtaken by the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy (whom Steve Martin cited as a strong influence on his career) and the incomparable Three Stooges.

Because of its physical nature, it would be nigh on impossible to provide you with an example of slapstick here so, the following, will have to do.

The Three Stooges decided to spend the night in a haunted house. They were up to their usual shenanigans, the odd slap on the back of the head, the occasional poke in the eye and a merry sprinkling of "nyuk-nyuks". They go into a pie fight and in the middle of this a ghost appears. Curly throws a pie at it but before it reaches it, the ghost screams at the pie, the pie turns around and flies back to hit Curly square in the face. Curly turns to Moe and says, "Hey, I think that ghost must be from Australia".
"Oh yeah, why" says Moe.
"Because it just threw a Boo-Meringue at me"!