For our humor project, we had to choose a project based around humor. Our options were standup, a skit, satire, or something else. I feel that this project is important because we don’t get a lot of chances to practice being funny in school. Being funny and writing humorous material is challenging, and I’m glad that we have the opportunity to practice these skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humor Study<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \tHumor can come in many different forms, and is also incredibly subjective. Chances are that something that is hilarious to one person isn\u2019t funny to everyone. For me, my taste in comedy ranges from absurdist anti-humor to traditional standup. For this analysis, I wanted to compare Eric Andre and John Mulaney not only because they\u2019re two of my favorite comedians, but also because their approaches to comedy are so different. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Eric Andre is a controversial figure within the world of comedy. His outlandish, absurdist humor can be offensive to many due to the subject matter and his use of blue humor. A great example of this kind of approach is when Andre visited the Republican National Convention in 2016. In this video, he walks around the RNC talking to various people and even getting on stage with Alex Jones, a well-known conspiracy theorist. He utilizes blue humor quite a bit; a quote that particularly sticks out in my mind is \u201cAre you anti abortion? \u2018Cause I\u2019m uncle abortion. How \u2018bout I knock you up and let\u2019s get rid of the dang thing?\u201d This not only works because of the black\/blue humor, but it also works due to the shock value that he actually said this to a person in real life. It also works because of the contrast against the rest of the RNC, who are either presented as uptight, or in the case of the Jones rally, insane conspiracy theorists. Nothing is off-limits for Andre; his comedic persona comes across as untouchable because nothing anyone says seems to matter to him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n John Mulaney is very far-removed from Eric Andre. Unlike the former, Mulaney seems to be universally adored. He does more of a traditional standup act in which he recounts stories from his childhood, encounters with quirky individuals, and general commentary and anecdotes. The subject matter may not be particularly funny on its own sometimes, but the way he delivers it sets him apart from other comedians. Some of his best bits include caricatures of unusual people he\u2019s met. One of my favorites is his J.J. Bittenbinder bit. Bittenbinder was a former cop who would come to Mulaney\u2019s elementary school and discuss the horrors of living out in the world. His catchphrase was \u201cstreet smarts!\u201d and the way Mulaney delivers this line is so true to himself; he utilizes exaggerism quite a bit, painting Bittenbinder as, quite frankly, insane. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These two comedians are probably as different as you can get. While Andre excels in making the audience and those in his presence uncomfortable, Mulaney is great at making people feel like they\u2019re listening to their eccentric uncle tell them a story about some crazy lady he met on the subway (in the best way possible). While they both utilize black and blue humor to some degree, Andre utilizes it in order to completely shock the audience, like when he threw up on his desk and slurped it back up. John Mulaney uses it in a more refined way as part of stories. This is not to say that either one is better than the other, they\u2019re just different. Mulaney and Andre both know how to make an audience laugh, even though they have almost no similarities in their approaches to achieving that goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Description of Project<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n satire<\/p>\n\n\n\n