Earnest Blog

"The Importance if Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde is full of humor, as it should be since it's a comedy. My favorite bit of humor came at the very beginning of the play, when Algernon is having Jack, Lady Bracknell, and Miss Fairfax over for tea. He specifically makes his butler, Lane, prepare cucumber sandwiches for Lady Bracknell because they're her favorite. Algernon then proceeds to eat them all, but when Jack asks if he can have one Algernon replies, "Please don't eat the cucumber sandwiches. They were ordered specifically for Aunt Augusta." The irony here is that Algernon won't let Jack eat the sandwiches, since they are specifically for Lady Bracknell, but he himself ends up eating them all before she arrives.

One of my favorite comedies to watch is Modern Family. Like clockwork, every Wednesday night at 9 my family gathers around the TV to watch every episode, new or re-run. One of the funniest episodes was just a few weeks ago, and the entire episode is filmed in personal electronic devices, like iPhones and computers. The whole episode is a filled with situational irony and sarcasm, and it had my father and me in tears from laughing so hard. Here is a link to the show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1P-W6Qoxag

Comedy Blog- Genghis Goodman

In The Importance of Being Ernest, Oscar Wilde entertains readers with humor derived from satire, word play, irony, or even plain ridiculousness. One of my favorite parts of this play is both satirical and ridiculous. My favorite part is when Cecily describes her diary and her engagement with Algernon. This joke begins by Cecily explaining her fabricated engagement with Algernon 3 months before he had any idea what was going on. Somehow, this scene gets more ridiculous as it unfolds and the audience learns that not only has Cecily created an engagement by herself, but she also broke up with herself, then reestablished the engagement only to provide the necessary drama "all legitimate engagements require." This is not only plain ridiculous, but it also pokes fun at the fantasies people sometimes create for themselves.

I appreciate many forms of humor from satire to terrible puns. After considering plethora of TV shows, websites, and Youtubers, I  decided to write about the TV series "How I Met Your Mother." How I Met Your Mother is a TV series about Ted Mosby's journey to find his soul mate. It's full of light hearted humor containing puns, irony, or even plain crude sex jokes from Barney. One thing I appreciate about the series is that very important life lessons can be delivered in such a fun, humous way. For instance, the night before his wedding, Barney drinks too much, runs away, and ends up teaching two young strangers the "way of the bro." As you can imagine,  high jinks ensues; however, at the end of the night, the final lesson Barney teaches (before running off again) is "Whatever you do in this life, it's not legendary, unless your friends are there to see it." I would definitely recommend watching the entire show, but since I can't put a link for that I put a link to a "best of HIMYM" compilation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrfUAb3mDks

The Importance of Being Earnest

The play by Oscar Wilde, the Importance of Being Earnest, is unique because it has humor that appeals to all types of audiences. It has "low" humor such as slapstick and farce, and "high" humor like situational irony and comedy of manners. One of my favorite lines from the first act is when Algernon says, "Some aunts are tall, some aunts are not tall. That is a matter surly an aunt may be allowed to decide for herself." The notion that people, particularly aunts can pick their height is absurd, making the statement funny.

Personally, my favorite type of humor is political satire. I was first introduced to political satire during the 2008 presidential election (my favorite skit- https://screen.yahoo.com/palin-rap-000000488.html). Along with SNL, I am a Stephen Colbert fan. Although the Colbert Nation came to an end a few months ago he will always have a special place in my heart(the best of Colbert- http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/features/best-of-colbert-report). With Jon Stuart also leaving, I will have to find my political humor in other places.

Comedy Blog- Cassadi Cordea

One moment I thought was particularly clever was when Algernon responded to Jack telling him that his name was not Ernest: "You look as if your name was Ernest. You are the most earnest-looking person I ever saw in my life." Here, Wilde create's a double entendre with Ernest's name. Another part that I found amusing was where Lady Bracknell describes Lady Harbury's response to her husband's death.  Losing a spouse is not typically an event that would cause a person to look "twenty years younger", so this could be a comment on the true quality of the marriage. I respond to both "low" and "high" comedy, it really just depends, but overall I think I prefer "high" comedy out of the two.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BignPBV32Sk

This clip comes from one of my favorite TV shows, "The Office". One element of comedy immediately observed in this show is that the show itself it is a parody of a documentary, a "mockumentary." "Today, smoking is gonna save lives" is an ironic statement made by Dwight at the beginning of the scene right before he starts a trash can fire in the office. This show is filled with satire, sarcasm, and dry humor and that is why I love it. "Parks and Recreation", which has a similar style to "The Office", is another favorite of mine.

All in Good Humor

Although there are quite a few things in The Importance of Being Earnest that made me chuckle while I was reading it, one of the things I found the funniest was how Algernon order cucumber sandwiches just for his aunt and wouldn't let Earnest eat any even though he himself was eating them. This later led to another part I found to be humorous as when Lady Bracknell finally does arrive Algernon has eaten all the sandwiches and Lane doesn't miss a beat when she's asked about them and tells Lady Bracknell that there simply weren't any cucumbers at the market. The fact that Lane was so ready with an answer makes me think that that wasn't an uncommon occurrence which, to me, made it even funnier.

Even though I think I'm probably one of those people that is a bit too easily amused and find most things to be funny, a tv show that I've watched (somewhat) recently that I found to be highly humorous was Community. Centered around a bunch of community college students who are all in a way failures a lot of absolutely insane things go down at the college. It's pretty rare that there's a serious episode and since all the characters have some kind of quirk to them watching the show is one of my favorite past times.

Comedy-Zac Byrd

Oscar Wilde does a great job throughout this play introducing different puns and double entendres.  When Algernon was talking to Ernest saying "You are the most earnest-looking person I ever saw in my life", Algernon used a double entendre with the name Ernest and the characteristic. I prefer high comedy, especially satires. I enjoyed when Wilde talked about marriage, while not directly its about the relationship between Lady Harbury and her deceased husband.

I really enjoy some of the comedy in older movies.  While some of it is not intended comedy because the special effects and acting just aren't great I find it funny.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za7bHIKsxc4 This is a clip from an Austin Powers movie.   The bantering between the two was nice. This is an extreme exaggeration of a male trying to impress a female.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eMkth8FWno  This is a clip from Month Python and the Holy Grail.  I think this is dramatic irony because of the stubbornness of the black knight.