Complete 14 pages APA formatted article: Comedy A Serious Business. In this essay, we are going to analyze what is a comedy with reference to a screwball genre of comedy. After we have a look at various types of genres in comedy we will look into the screwball genre with the help of two movies ‘Pretty Woman’ and ‘Maid in Manhattan’.

It can be in various formats such as plays, films, television shows, etc. Comedy comes in various types. What makes us laugh while we are watching a comedy? We laugh when we find something funny especially when something in front of us is twisted and crooked than our expectations from a situation. Forex: We laugh when we see someone stepping on a banana skin and having a fall. Do we expect people to fall tripping over a banana skin? Yes, we do. But what if someone does step on a banana skin and doesn’t fall? Or the person even tries to balance himself or herself awkwardly to avoid the fall? The entire gesture of regaining balance and composure becomes hilarious than the actual fall. It is contrary to our expectations of a person tripping over a banana skin. This is one of the many situations which gets funny and causes humor or comedy. There is no definite situation why a person may or may not feel humorous or funny. Comedy hence is very difficult to predict. In literature or other art forms, all other forms are definite, be it a tragedy, anger, frustrations, seriousness, etc. The audience reaction is predictable because the form is designed with a distinct purpose. For Ex: A tragedy like Othello or Macbeth is definite in its purpose which makes the audience feel strongly about the vanity of values and ethics in life. Hence making people laugh or comedy becomes a business seriously done.

Although the basic purpose is to make an audience laugh, the shades of humor change from each type. Ranging from a very light effervescent humor to black dark comedies, comedy is a medium used to comment on the paradoxes of society. It is often said that comedy is essentially a good tool to put a point across because it acts like a fist in a velvet glove. Considering this we can state that comedy has different styles and types or genres.