Funny vs. Comedy
Anna Kathleen brings up an interesting distinction between humor and comedy in her blog. Like "all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares," she comparatively states that all comedy is funny but not all things that are funny are comedy. Of course this is hypothetically speaking because not all people find the same things funny. Perhaps the difference is comedy has the intent of being funny, whereas things that we find funny can simply happen as Anna Kathleen stated in her blog post. I believe this to be true as well.
Comedy is a noun whereas funny is an adjective. This is how a comedy can be perceived as funny, but not everything described as funny is a comedy. Comedy is most typically used to describe film, literature, or stand-up-- all of which have been written, edited, and presented to an audience in a certain way to make them laugh. Comedy as an adjective (literally "relating to comedy") implies intent as well. Film or literature that is not a comedy, but has funny parts, is described as having "comedic elements" because the funny parts were still purposefully placed into the narrative to make the audience laugh or relieve tension (comic relief).
Funny on the other hand can describe both premeditated and spontaneous humor. The romantic comedy you watched the other day was funny, but so was that time your dog barked at its own reflection. Your dog probably wasn't trying to make you laugh, but the writers of 27 Dresses were.
Relating back to Anna Kathleen's blog post, in Don't Send a Man to the Grocery Store, Jeanne Robertson reaches her main punchline when she tells the audience she had realized she numbered the list. As the audience connects the implications, Jeanne looks at the ceiling as if to say "lord, help me with this man." Ordinarily, this would be funny. However since she uses this gesture in her stand-up routine to emphasize her husbands lapse in common sense, it becomes comedic effect.
Comedy is a noun whereas funny is an adjective. This is how a comedy can be perceived as funny, but not everything described as funny is a comedy. Comedy is most typically used to describe film, literature, or stand-up-- all of which have been written, edited, and presented to an audience in a certain way to make them laugh. Comedy as an adjective (literally "relating to comedy") implies intent as well. Film or literature that is not a comedy, but has funny parts, is described as having "comedic elements" because the funny parts were still purposefully placed into the narrative to make the audience laugh or relieve tension (comic relief).
Funny on the other hand can describe both premeditated and spontaneous humor. The romantic comedy you watched the other day was funny, but so was that time your dog barked at its own reflection. Your dog probably wasn't trying to make you laugh, but the writers of 27 Dresses were.
Relating back to Anna Kathleen's blog post, in Don't Send a Man to the Grocery Store, Jeanne Robertson reaches her main punchline when she tells the audience she had realized she numbered the list. As the audience connects the implications, Jeanne looks at the ceiling as if to say "lord, help me with this man." Ordinarily, this would be funny. However since she uses this gesture in her stand-up routine to emphasize her husbands lapse in common sense, it becomes comedic effect.
That is true that dogs are not trying to make us laugh, but then again dogs and cats are also naturally funny and therefore a popular topic of humor. Intent is also essential to this difference. I wonder though if a true Freudian would argue that funny things always show some intent to be funny, even if it is unconscious
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