Annotated+Bibliography

Kuhn, Sarah, et al. "Can Comedic Timing Be Taught, or Is It Innate?" //backstage.com//. N.p., 13 Aug. 2009. Web. 28 Sept. 2010. . The article is about how important expressing real emotion is for an actor to know and its impact comedic timing as well as the quality of the show. It is intended to educate the reader about the significance of really emotion on stage. The author's thesis is the most important thing in comedy is truthful response to imagined circumstances which if done properly timing will follow. Genuine emotion allows the audience to connect with the audience on stage on a more personal level which makes jokes funnier and drama more powerful. The author says, "What's important is your awareness of the moment and the courage to try something new, even if you've already found a way to make it work." This article is a reliable well researched work that was written by directors who have had experience in the field they discuss. It adequately addresses my topic of using actual emotion and comedic timing on stage and how affective it can be in a performance. This source helped understand the significance of comedic timing and emotion in shows.

Riad, Mahmoud. "Developing Artistic Identity: The Comedic Timing of George Azmy." //www.suite101.com//. N.p., 25 Sept. 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. . The main purpose of this article is to inform the reader of the ideas of comedy and comic timing presented by George Azmy. The auther gives example of famous comedians like Richard Pryor and George Carlin and examis why they are found funny to their audiences. The article is well researched and refers to several people with experience in the field of comedy. The topic gets addressed adequately in each of the subtopics. The author seems to be in favor of Amzy and his comedic techniques as well as others which he mentions in the article. This article is helpful in my research because it depicts aspects of comedy and comedic timing that are essential to know for my show as well as my research.

Martin, Reed, and Austin Tichener. //ALL THE GREAT BOOKS (abridged)//. New York: Broadway Play Publishing Inc., 2005. Print. The authors of All the Great Books (abridged), Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor have written, directed, and stared in many popular plays. Some of their most popular shows are The Complete World of Sports (abridged), Completely Hollywood (abridged), Western Civilization: The Musical (abridged), The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged), The Complete History of America (abridged), and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged). These are all hilarious and widely respected shows. The show is about a gym teacher, a theater teacher, and a student teacher who are responsible for teaching a group of high school seniors (the audience) who have failed English and need pass their course to graduate. They act out each book in very brief skits and touch on the key events of each book with the occasional summary. While acting out the books they include witty jokes and shenanigans that keep the audience in a light and happy mood. This book is extremely significant to my research. Not only will I be performing it with two other people, but this show has perfect examples of comedic timing. Reed and Austin are masters of comedy and within the script they write very specific blocking and timing notes so it I will be able to perform the show exactly the way it was intended to be preformed. I learned how essential timing is in a show like this and examples that I can site in my paper.

"What is comedy and what makes something funny?" //www.languagefoundry.co.uk//. N.p., 2010. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. . The purpose of this article is to educate the reader about what comedy is. They break down comedy into different ideas and concepts. They author gives examples of what comedy is and what makes something funny. One of the main arguments presented in the article is that there is no exact definition of comedy and something being funny is a completely subjective notion. The author says that something is funny if it is expected, unexpected, familiar, or unfamiliar presenting both sides of their argument. This article is important to my research, because to understand comedic timing I need an understanding of what comedy is and what exactly makes something funny.

"What Makes Something Funny? Clarke Clarifies Pattern Recognition Theory." //Science Daily.com//. Pyrrhic House, 26 Mar. 2009. Web. 16 Oct. 2010. . The author of this article discusses Clarke Clarifie's pattern recognition theory and how it pertains to humor. This article presents a scientific approach to the idea of humor. The author gives scientific explanations for the brain activity that acknowledges something as funny. One of Clarke's   arguments is that humor is the circumstance. The circumstance creates the atmosphere and the all around effectiveness of a joke. This article is   slightly biased as it only discusses Clarke's point of view on the subject. The information presented in this article is important to my project and research because it gives a scientific reasoning to humor and what makes something funny. All my research regarding comedy so far has been subjective observations of what makes something funny. This is a factually based source and my help me further understand comedic timing.

"Acting for the Comedy Genre." //www.sft.edu//. The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, 2008. Web. 22 Oct. 2010. . There is no specific author given however The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts is a very reputable organization regarding theater and the performing arts so I know that the information given will be helpful to me when it comes time to put on my show. The article is about comedic acting in the performing arts and gives tips, advice and instructions on how to successfully use comedy in a show. The article breaks down comedy into different ideas such as what comedy is, how to be funny, when delivering a comedic line don’t be funny, and different styles of comedy. The author writes a few paragraphs about each topic. For example, one of the subtopics is titled “How to Laugh.” The author gives step-by-step instruction about how to fake laugh. It starts with the actor maintain their focus on the scene and what is going on so the laugh will be appropriate and relevant. If you maintain a character and are able to stay in the moment, the laugh will flow organically. This seems like an obvious notion; however, many actors struggle with the concept of fake emotion so advice like this is useful and relevant to my topic. This entire article is targeted at actors and actresses who want to improve their comedy skills on stage. Throughout the entire article the author maintains a complete neutral view and simply gives instructions and advice. This information will be very useful in making my show as well as my research. Understanding comedic acting techniques will allow learn about the different types of methods that can be used to achieve comedic timing.

Ryan, Paul. //The Art of Comedy: Getting Serious About Being Funny//. Ed. Mark Glubke and John A. Foster. New York: Back Stage Books, 2007. N. pag. //Google Books//. Web. 22 Oct. 2010. . The author's name is Paul Ryan. The book is an informative writing that describes what comedy is and how to successfully use it. The book guaranties that it has every tool a person needs to become funny. He breaks it down into five different levels. Each level gives a different idea about comedy and describes various comedic exercises to allow you to hone your comedy skills. The book is well written and states all of the information in a clear and relatable fashion. This book is exactly what I need for my project because it gives perfect examples of comedic timing and has exercises to help understand the topic by doing.

Carter, Judy. //The Comedy Bible: From Stand-Up To Sitcom : The Comedy Writer's// //Ultimate how-To Guide//. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001. //Google Books//. Web. 26 Oct. 2010. . The author's name is Judy Carter. She has appeared in clubs across the country, as well as on many TV shows, has coached over 5,000 comics in comedy workshops, and has brought her message of "turning problems into punch lines" to Fortune 500 companies. She has been featured in The Wall Street Journal and on Oprah. Judy uses a hands-on workbook format. She offers a series of exercises that takes advantage of her years as a successful stand-up comic. Also includes tips and advice from today's top comedy professionals such as Bernie Brillstein, Christopher Titus, and Richard Lewis. She analyzes various comedy fields such as stand-up, script, speech and joke writing, one-person shows, and humor essays. Judy shows how to tailor your material for each of these forms of comedy. She tells how to find your "authentic" voice -- the true source of comedy. Carter explains how to take a finished product and make money from it. The book is completely based on her personal experience and shares her knowledge doing her best not to delude the facts. This book is useful to my research project because it gives instructions to achieve comedy from someone who has succeeded in the field.

Parker, David J., and Samuel Stoddard. "How To Be Funny." //rinkworks.com//. N.p., 1999. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. . The authors of this article are named David Parker and Samuel Stoddard. This is the only article that I know of written by them. The article is an instructional guide on how to be funny. It is broken down into the different areas of humor. The categories are: pain, the unexpected, lies and other untruths, wordplay, and puns. The article gives examples of each section to help the reader understand. For example, in the pain category they use the loony toons characters Tweedy Bird and Sylvester the cat. In their scenes Sylvester constantly tries to get Tweedy with some weapon which always turns on him and he is the one who gets hurt. This is a prime example of the comical power of pain. This is useful to my project because it show comic methods that I may base my research products off of.

Sedita, Scott. //The Eight Characters of Comedy: A Guide to Sitcom Acting and// //Writing//. Los Angeles, California: Atides Publishing, 2006. Print. The author of The Eight Characters of Comedy is Scott Sedita. He is one of L.A.’s most well-respected acting coaches. He has years of experience in the field of comedy. The book is a detailed guide to sitcom comedy. This style is briefer because it has to fit into a time slot of about 30 minutes. The book over two hundred pages long and is divided into eight chapters. Each section describes a different type of comedic character and how to make said character as funny as possible. Some of the chapters are titled: Who’s Funny, The Four C’s of Comedy, The Lovable Loser, The Neurotic, The Dumb One, and so on and so forth. Each chapter goes into great detail, providing examples and bits of wisdom the author pulls from personal experiences. This could be the most useful source I have found. It is the largest amount of comedic wisdom I’ve found and is written by a well-respected professional who knows what he is talking about. I can use this source to elaborate on the different situations comedic timing can be used and its significance to those situations.