Comedic genres

comedians can fit into multiple genres. For example, deadpan

comics often fall into observational comedy, or into black comedy or blue comedy to contrast the morbidity, or offensiveness of the joke with a lack of emotion.

List

Genre	Description	Notable examples
Aggressive humour^[1]	Insensitive to audience sentiment by igniting criticism and ridicule on subjects like racism, sexism or anything hurtful; differs from blue humor or dark comedy as it inclines more towards being humorous than being offensive	Daniel Tosh, Brendon Burns, Anthony Jeselnik, Kunal Kamra, Bill Burr, Sarah Silverman, Paul Mooney, Don Rickles, Rufus Hound, George Carlin, Bill Hicks, Ricky Gervais, Doug Stanhope, Frankie Boyle, Roseanne Barr, Jon Stewart, Brad Garrett, Denis Leary, Chris Morris, Patton Oswalt, Ari Shaffir, Lisa Lampanelli, Ian Cognito
Alternative comedy	Differs from traditional punchline jokes which features many other forms of comedy such as observation, satire, surrealism, slapstick and improvisation. In its content, Alternative Comedy emerged as a counter to the establishment entertainment figures from the previous generation: It was often cited for its disregard to established comedic movements and ranged from the surreal to slapstick, usually with a combination of both.	Robert Newman, Kevin Eldon, James Acaster, Kenny Sebastian, Hannah Gadsby
Anecdotal comedy^[2]	Named after the Greek term for anecdote, meaning "unpublished"; personal stories that may be true, or partly true but embellished^[2]	Kevin Hart, Louis C.K., Patrice O'Neal, Russell Peters, Norm Macdonald, Aries Spears, Hannibal Buress, Deon Cole, John Mulaney, Bill Burr, Roy Wood Jr., Dave Chappelle, Cedric the Entertainer, Bernie Mac, Gabriel Iglesias, Alonzo Bodden, D. L. Hughley, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Griffin, Hasan Minhaj, Patton Oswalt, Jim Gaffigan, Tom Segura, Biswa Kalyan Rath, Trevor Noah, Daniel Kitson, Danny Baker, Romesh Ranganathan, Chris Rock, Zakir Khan, Hiroyuki Miyasako, Theo Von, Annie Lederman, Wanda Sykes, Kathleen Madigan, Tig Notaro
Anti-humor	Indirect humor derived from the comedian delivering something intentionally not funny, or lacking in intrinsic meaning	Eric Andre, Will Ferrell, Edward Aczel, Paul Putner, Richard Herring, Albert Brooks, Steve Martin, Martin Mull, Bill Bailey, Noel Fielding, Mark Silcox
Black comedy or dark comedy	Deals with disturbing subjects such as horror movie genre. Black comedy is usually said by a disliked character.	Jim Norton, Lenny Bruce, Bill Hicks, Dave Chappelle, Frankie Boyle, Jimmy Carr, Louis C.K., Kevin Smith, Denis Leary, Dennis Miller, Monty Python, Richard Pryor, Ricky Gervais, George Carlin, Chris Rush, Jim Jefferies, Mike Ward, Penn & Teller, Seth MacFarlane, Christopher Titus, Sacha Baron Cohen, Trey Parker/Matt Stone, Quentin Tarantino, David Cross, Judah Friedlander, Pete Davidson, Anthony Jeselnik, Daniel Tosh, Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg, Bobcat Goldthwait, Brendon Burns, Mark Normand, Jerrod Carmichael, Fin Taylor, Chris Dangerfield
Blue comedy	Typically sexual in nature (risqué) and/or using profane language; sometimes using gender- or race-based humor.	Roy 'Chubby' Brown, Frankie Boyle, Dave Chappelle, Cheech & Chong, Jim Davidson, Derek and Clive, Jenny Eclair, The Firesign Theatre, Redd Foxx, Jason Biggs, Lisa Lampanelli, Martin Lawrence, George Lopez, Bernard Manning, Monty Python, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Joe Rogan, Bob Saget, Sarah Silverman, Frank Skinner, Doug Stanhope, Robert Schimmel, Amy Schumer, John Valby, Ron White, Felicia Michaels
Burlesque^[1]	Nonsensical or ridiculous treatment of serious works of art, music, literature or theatre to make a statement, in a humorous and entertaining way; prior knowledge of the subject is required by the audience	Burlesque, The Play That Goes Wrong, A Modest Proposal, The Rehearsal, Beggar's Opera, The Rape of the Lock, Morgante, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Tale of Sir Thopas, Chrononhotonthologos
Character comedy	Derived from a persona invented by the performer, often stereotypical	Andy Lauer, Kate Berlant
Cringe comedy	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; TV shows: The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Peep Show, People Just Do Nothing, The Larry Sanders Show
Deadpan comedy	Not strictly a style of comedy, it is telling jokes without a change in facial expression or change of emotion	Elliott Goblet, Aubrey Plaza, Zach Galifianakis, Michael Redmond, Judah Friedlander, James Acaster, Richard Belzer
Heritage comedy	The comedian discusses humorous traits or stereotypes about their own culture or heritage	Pat Cooper, Bill Engvall, Jeff Foxworthy, Johnny Hardwick, Gabriel Iglesias, Eddie Murphy, George Lopez, Jackie Mason, Russell Peters, Richard Pryor, Yakov Smirnoff, Henning Wehn, Nigel Ng, Jarlath Regan
Improvisational comedy	Largely unplanned routines, featured on television shows such as: Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Thank God You're Here	Robin Williams, Jonathan Winters, Joan Rivers, Eddie Izzard, Bob Nelson, Paula Poundstone, Paul Merton, Tony Slattery, Josie Lawrence, Jim Sweeney, Steve Steen, Lily Tomlin, Wayne Brady, Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, Drew Carey, Greg Proops, John Sessions, Neil Mullarkey, Kathy Greenwood, Brad Sherwood, Charles Esten, Jeff B. Davis, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Stephen Colbert, Jonathan Mangum, Mark Meer, Larry David, Peter Kay, Johnny Vegas, John Valby, Kaneez Surka
Inside humor	Requires special knowledge in order to be appreciated by the audience	On their first two albums, the Firesign Theatre quoted lyrics and parodied character names from songs found on Beatles albums,^[3] which did not appear on the popular Top 40 list. They also created their own inside jokes on later albums by referring to events which occur on their earlier albums.
Insult comedy	Offensive insults directed at the audience or other performers, usually in response to audience hecklers. Don Rickles famously built most of his career on the grouchy persona he developed in his insult comedy days.	D.L. Hughley, Greg Giraldo, Goundamani, Kathy Griffin, John Valby, Gilbert Gottfried, Harry Hill, Daniel Tosh
Mockumentary	Parody using the conventions of documentary style	Films and TV shows: Fubar 2, Borat, This Country, This Is Spinal Tap, The Monkees, The Rutles, Summer Heights High, Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo, The Office, Brüno, Parks and Recreation, Modern Family, Come Fly with Me, Angry Boys, The Compleat Al, Trailer Park Boys, What We Do in the Shadows
Comedy music	Derived from music with or sometimes without lyrics	Spike Jones and His City Slickers
Observational comedy	Pokes fun at everyday life, often by inflating the importance of trivial things or by observing the silliness of social conventions	George Carlin, Cheech & Chong, Jerry Seinfeld, Louis C.K., Bobby Lee, Amy Schumer, Craig Ferguson, Larry David, Ken Jeong, Mitch Hedberg, Billy Connolly, Michael McIntyre, Russell Howard, Cedric the Entertainer, Steve Harvey, Micky Flanagan, Gabriel Iglesias, W. Kamau Bell, Matt Groening, Ray Romano, Chris Rush, Dane Cook, Seann Walsh, Pete Davidson, Chris Rock, Jim Gaffigan, Kathy Greenwood, Ellen DeGeneres, Russell Peters, John Mulaney, Peter Kay, Victoria Wood, Jack Whitehall, Kanan Gill, Richard Belzer, Mark Normand
One-line joke	A joke delivered in a single line. A good one-liner is said to be pithy (concise and meaningful).	Shappi Khorsandi, Dan Mintz, Groucho Marx, Jay London, Mark Normand, Mark Simmons
Physical comedy	Similar to slapstick, this form uses physical movement and gestures; often influenced by clowning	Andy Lauer, Luke Rollason, Jordan Brookes, Jimeoin
Prop comedy	Relies on ridiculous props, casual jackets or everyday objects used in humorous ways	Tape Face, Howie Mandel, Tommy Cooper, Harpo Marx, Bruce Baum, Sam Simmons, Spencer Jones
Shock humor	A style of comedy that uses shock value to invoke a strong negative emotion	Eric Andre, Andy Dick, Tom Green
Sitcom	Television series with scripted dialogue set in a thematic situation	Dinner Ladies, Modern Family, Two and a Half Men, Miranda, All in the Family, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Sketch	A short scene on television or standup, similar to the sitcom, practised and typically performed live. Sketches sometimes spawn sitcom series, e.g. The Honeymooners, Mama's Family	Little Britain, The Kapil Sharma Show
Spoof/Parody	Humorous Recreation of a book, film or play, either to pay homage or to ridicule the original	Shriek, Look Around You, Onion News Network
Surreal comedy	Based on bizarre juxtapositions, absurd situations, and nonsense logic	Firesign Theatre, Shaun Micallef, Emo Philips, Hans Teeuwen, Tony Law, Chic Murray, VanossGaming, Brandon Rogers, Charlie Chuck, Trevor Lock
Topical comedy/Satire	Relies on news headlines and current affairs; dates quickly, but is a popular form for late night talk-variety shows	Mock The Week, The News Quiz, Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, The Tonight Show, Late Show with David Letterman, Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, South Park
Ventriloquism	Involves character comedy; the comedian uses the skill of ventriloquy to "throw his or her voice" into a dummy or puppet character. The ventriloquist generally speaks as the " blue comedy .	Fred Russell, Arthur Prince, Keith Harris, The Great Lester, Edgar Bergen, Paul Winchell, Jimmy Nelson, Shari Lewis, Señor Wences, Willie Tyler, Nina Conti, Darci Lynne, Jeff Dunham
Wit/Word play	More intellectual forms based on clever, often subtle manipulation of language (though puns can be crude and farcical)	Firesign Theatre, Myq Kaplan, Crazy Mohan, Bugs Bunny, Ronnie Barker, Stanley Unwin

References

^ ^a ^b "45 Types of Humor with Examples".
^ ^a ^b "20 Types and Forms of Humor". www.dailywritingtips.com. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
^ Simels, Steve (1993). Putting It Simply, There's Never Been Anything Like The Firesign Theatre Before or Since (liner notes). Laugh.com. Archived from the original on December 15, 2017. Retrieved November 28, 2017.

[:1-1] "45 Types of Humor with Examples".

[:0-2] "20 Types and Forms of Humor". www.dailywritingtips.com. Retrieved 2016-11-14.

[Stereo_review-3] Simels, Steve (1993). Putting It Simply, There's Never Been Anything Like The Firesign Theatre Before or Since (liner notes). Laugh.com. Archived from the original on December 15, 2017. Retrieved November 28, 2017.

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