Satire is High Comedy mixed with ridicule exposes and Humour
Satire is the ability to exaggerate, highlight, mock, and expose poignant issues, celebrities, public figures and politicians in society at large. It is a great tool to bring awareness towards the faults of salient topics.
A major key element to the use of satire is timing, where often late night comedy shows such as Saturday Night Live, Steven Colbert/Stewart, etc) stars are all accomplished satirical comedians.
The political satire of The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, and Last Week Tonight have really changed the satirical and political game.
Most of these shows are hosted by white males very successfully. But after watching Ellen’s fabulous satirical commercial about Bic for Her pens, I there is room to see more female comedians getting credit for their clever comedy.
The female cast of Saturday Night Live proves that women are incredibly adept at satire, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey’s skit portraying Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin’s view of politics in the early to mid 90’s exemplify this.
Their satire speech across party lines and the famous; “I can see Russia from my house” went viral throughout the world and was a phenomenon.
Also noting the wonderful satire created by more modern comedians such as South African born Trevor Noah, from the Daily Show. We are spoilt with rich examples of great comedy and satire.
Satirical comedy is integral in our society when attempting to highlight social and political unrest.
Satire offers A Palatable Blow
Satire allows people to be more willing to welcome an idea or opinion different from their own.
The humor that is part of satire lightens the shock or the blow in a particular way, which doesn’t jar as much as if the point was made in all seriousness.
A person is who is laughing and in a good mindset, is more willing to see the point being made instead of feeling personally attacked, if or when the topic is brought up without humor.
Satire draws in attention with its humor and then uses that attention to make a point more easily accepted.
Satire uses irony, which is typically seen as comedic, to show others things like social injustice, inequality, racism, and political bullying to name a few.
Think about the number of Karen’s that are inhabiting the social media sphere and how they are being exposed to the ridiculous ideas they have. Note the many satirical Youtube posts which satire these people and their warped perception of reality.
This type of comedy is considered satire due to the often racist and sexist view points from the females depicted – see below.
Karen’s Who Dominate our Commonsense Satire
The Karens of our world infest with their entitlement, and skewed and loud voices saying,” I need to see the manager!” The stereotype is that they wear a blonde bob and always ask for the manager.
The satire of these women serves to expose their folly, judgments, entitlement, and stupidity in a, particularly humorous and revealing way.
Types of Satire
Exaggeration
Exaggeration satire serves to enlarge, increase, or over represent beyond normal boundaries. This can also be seen as ridiculous or over the top.
Particular countries represent their satire in particular ways, some more ‘dry’ than others, but always humorous.
Australian satire such as Kath and Kim which are exaggerations of a character or a caricature.
Kim is the spoilt, narcissistic, and highly opinionated daughter or Kath, who represents the White buoyant middle-aged unambitious suburban wife. A funny script and great acting.
Summer Heights High
The brainchild behind this satire is an Australian actor and writer Chris Lilley. He plays a number of characters from Jonah the Tongan teen, to Mr. G the self-absorbed Drama teacher to a narcissistic private school exchange female student.
He plays each character to a tee, where cringe is the order of the day. However he pulls off his characters well, due to his ability to truly inhabit each character and often with a deadpan portrayal.
UK Satire
‘The Office’ is a Perfect Example of a Mockumentary and Satire
I remember when I first saw this show on late night tv. I guenuinely thought that it was a documentary of some kind, folliwng that of a middle aged annoying boss worked in an office.
The portrayal by Riky Gervaise of the character David Blunt portrayed a dry, sarcastic office boss, in which he was very believable in the role and launched him into international stardom.
His humour which is very English, often has a deadpan feel, where the the humor is sometimes underplayed, but evident. This type of satire is brilliant comedy.
The American version although similar, played the Office in a more mockumentary style, with less subtly and more overt humour. Which is more typical of American humor and suited to all nationalities to understand and appreciate.
Gervais cleverly wrote the script, acted and created the show, which remains a modern day satire staple with people from all over the world.
The following are examples of great television shows and movies which feature satire. Click on the each picture to rent or buy from Amazon.
A book to teach you how to write comedy in stand up, presentations and in script writing.
One of the most iconic satire performances are performed by non humans, (to a degree). Spitting Image the satirical puppet show Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in February 1984.
The series features puppet caricatures of contemporary celebrities and public figures. They’ve recently make a come back with a roar.
Their hilarious show, portrays different personalities, politicians and celebrities, as life sized puppets, with exaggerated facial features and body language.
Some of the hilarity is more overt and in your face, however, audiences’ love seeing public figures and politicians taken down a peg or two.
Check out the modern version in the video below.
I personally laughed out loud at least three times watching the old re-runs on youtube. But here we have a modern version shorts here. This is part of the Britbox series.
Spitting Image the Complete Series form the 80’s and 90’s. A brilliant watch! You can get this sent to you from Amazon. Make sure you have a DVD player.
Check out the modern version of the show here. Its release was in September 2020, and highly relevant.
Satire is High Comedy
It’s late night and you’re tired. You turn on the television to find a great comedy take on national political figures that you feel needs a boot up the proverbial. You cackle and enjoy the feeling of irony mixed with fun and shock.
Satire is a means to highlight, expose and make comedic commentary on contemporary and political issues which are affect society at large.
Many people recognise characteristics of satire and enjoy the genre because it exposes the idiosyncrasies and irony in a manner which can be humorus, but in a comedic way.
Check out my blog post on the difference between high and low comedy. Also check out the following posts for more information about theater, styles and genre.
- Sketch Shows That’ll Leave You in Stitches!
- The Benefits of Drama in Education – Innovative ideas for all subject areas
- Spotlight on Parody: Unmasking the Hilarity in Theatrical Satire
- The Beauty of the Black Humour Genre
- Maori Legends are Fantastic for your Theater Productions
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