History of the Comedy Genre

Comedy can be dated to the era of silent films in 1895. During this era there was no speech so during 1895 and 1930 comedy relied heavily on slapstick and burlesque comedy. The difference between slapstick and burlesque humour is that burlesque contained comical sketches and was usually aimed at adults due to scenes that included stripteases, whereas slapstick contained comical conventions such as chases, collisions and practical jokes. The first known silent film was called Watering the Gardener by the Lumiere brothers and 1895, it only lasted 49 seconds. One famous slapstick director is Charlie Chaplin, he was born on April 16th 1889, He revolutionised slapstick by directing and creating his own comedy films, his career lasting over 75 years. His first comedy film was called Making a Living (1914) and was about a person whole stole a photo and claimed it as his own, the film is about him being chased. Comedy in the 1930s 50s was different from the silent film era as there was now speech included in films, verbal humour was used more than physical humour, verbal humour includes puns, innuendos and parodies.